Old Sandals

“The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised.”

The Lord is righteous. He is generous. He desires to bless.

“Let us go worship other gods, gods you have not known before.”

The Lord warned Israel again and again about being led astray to worship false gods. They were to always remember that the Lord alone is God, and there is no other—no other god, whether spiritual or material, no other fanciful idea, no other path that leads to true and everlasting happiness.

“For they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates.”

The Lord, the Almighty, the Unseen One, the Covenant Maker—Covenant Keeper is righteous. What an amazing, wonderful reality.

“Look, today I am giving you a choice between a blessing and a curse.”

Sometimes a blessing is a gift. Sometimes it is a consequence.

“It is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way.”

The sovereignty of God, the foreknowledge of God, and the eternal purposes of God are as inextricable as they are fathomless.

“Remember the Lord your God.”

It is ironic that such a command would ever have to be given. The Lord God is the Lord of heaven and earth, and yet he has hidden himself, as it were, so that it is all too easy to forget about him, although he is the Source, the Sustainer, and the Significance of everything there is.

“The Lord did not set his heart on you… because you more numerous than other nations…. Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you.”

Simply? The why of God’s love is life’s deepest mystery. It is the Great Unanswered Question – perhaps unanswerable through eternity – the sacred meditation of every believer, and the thread that runs through so many hymns of the church: “How can it be, how can it be – that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”