Deuteronomy 9:4 “Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you.”
Observation: The Hebrews are poised on the edge of the Promised Land and Moses is deep into his long soliloquy, giving them one last download from the Lord before they would be permitted to cross over. Verse 4 is the first of three verses in a row where the Lord corrects their possible thinking as to His reason for giving them the land: It isn’t because of your righteousness. (v. 4) It isn’t because of the uprightness of your heart. (v. 5) It isn’t because of your righteousness. (v. 6)
Application: Really? I thought the Hebrews were your chosen ones, Lord, the apple of your eye. Sure, there were some bad apples in the bunch at the beginning, but they all died off during the last 38 years of desert wanderings, didn’t they? This current generation is the cream of the crop, right?
Well, maybe not. Psalm 99:8 is interesting to consider in this context: “O Lord…you were a forgiving God to them, yet an avenger of their evil deeds.”
It is so easy when things are going swimmingly for me to assume it’s due to my merit. When I make the big sale or win accolades for my potluck offering; when my team makes it to state or my child marries into a family of means. It is so easy to assume that I deserve these things. Isn’t that how the Hebrews must have felt at this final leg of their journey? Years pounding sand while waiting for grandpa and his generation to die; now we who are deserving of God’s bounty are ready to reap a sweet harvest.
Lest I ever begin to think like that, the Lord would bring a reminder that He has His purposes that differ from mine…purposes I cannot began to imagine. He says to the Hebrews repeatedly, it’s because they’re so wicked, not because you’re such hot stuff. This is a perspective I must embrace if I am to remain humble before Him.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your ways are higher than my ways, your thoughts infinitely higher than mine. Cause me to walk in genuine humility before you O Lord, holding all things loosely. Thank you for dispossessing the land of my enemies, Lord, that I might occupy places you have prepared for me. And keep me ever mindful that the blessings I enjoy come not by my might, not by my power, but by your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.