Deuteronomy 7-9; Psalms 55 - Prayer Tents

Deuteronomy 7

The Privilege of Holiness

7"When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you.H3068H430H935H776H935H3423H5394H7227H1471H6440H2850H1622H567H3669H6522H2340H2983H7651H1471H7227H60992When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy.H3068H430H5414H6440H5221H2763H2763H3772H1285H26033You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters,H2859H1323H5414H1121H1323H3947H11214for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you.H5493H1121H310H5647H312H430H639H3068H2734H8045H41185This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols.H6213H5422H4196H7665H4676H1438H842H8313H6456H7846For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.H6918H5971H3068H430H3068H430H977H5459H5971H5971H6440H1277"The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!H3068H2836H977H7230H5971H4592H59718Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.H3068H160H8104H7621H7650H1H3068H3318H2389H3027H6299H1004H5650H3027H6547H4428H47149Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.H3045H3068H430H430H539H410H8104H1285H2617H157H8104H4687H505H175510But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him.H7999H8130H6440H6H309H8130H7999H644011Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.H8104H4687H2706H4941H6680H3117H621312"If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the LORD your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors.H6118H8085H4941H8104H6213H3068H430H8104H1285H2617H7650H113He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.H157H1288H7235H1288H6529H990H6529H127H1715H8492H3323H7698H504H6251H6629H127H7650H1H541414You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young.H1288H5971H6135H6135H92915And the LORD will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!H3068H5493H2483H7760H7451H4064H4714H3045H5414H813016"You must destroy all the nations the LORD your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you.H398H5971H3068H430H5414H5869H2347H5647H430H417017Perhaps you will think to yourselves, 'How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?'H559H3824H1471H7227H349H3201H342318But don't be afraid of them! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt.H3372H2142H2142H3068H430H6213H6547H471419Remember the great terrors the LORD your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The LORD your God will use this same power against all the people you fear.H1419H4531H5869H7200H226H4159H2389H3027H5186H2220H3068H430H3318H3068H430H6213H5971H3373H644020And then the LORD your God will send terror to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!H3068H430H7971H6880H7604H5641H6440H621"No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the LORD your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God.H6206H6440H3068H430H7130H1419H410H337222The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.H3068H430H5394H411H1471H6440H4592H4592H3201H3615H4118H2416H7704H723523But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed.H3068H430H5414H6440H1949H1419H4103H804524He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.H5414H4428H3027H6H8034H8064H376H3320H6440H804525"You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the LORD your God.H6456H430H8313H784H2530H3701H2091H3947H3369H8441H3068H43026Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.H935H8441H1004H2764H8262H8262H8581H8581H2764

Deuteronomy 8

A Call to Remember and Obey

8"Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors.H4687H6680H3117H8104H6213H2421H7235H935H3423H776H3068H7650H1 2Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.H2142H1870H3068H430H3212H705H8141H4057H6031H5254H3045H3824H8104H4687 3Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.H6031H7456H398H4478H3045H1H3045H3045H120H2421H3899H905H4161H6310H3068H120H2421 4For all these forty years your clothes didn't wear out, and your feet didn't blister or swell.H8071H1086H7272H1216H705H8141 5Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.H3045H5973H3824H376H3256H1121H3068H430H3256 6"So obey the commands of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.H8104H4687H3068H430H3212H1870H3372 7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.H3068H430H935H2896H776H776H5158H4325H5869H8415H3318H1237H2022 8It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey.H776H2406H8184H1612H8384H7416H776H8081H2132H1706 9It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.H776H834H398H3899H3808H4544H2637H776H68H1270H2042H2672H5178 10When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.H398H7646H1288H3068H430H2896H776H5414 11"But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.H8104H7911H3068H430H8104H4687H4941H2708H6680H3117 12For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,H398H7646H1129H2896H1004H3427 13and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!H1241H6629H7235H3701H2091H7235H7235 14Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.H3824H7311H7911H3068H430H3318H776H4714H1004H5650 15Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock!H3212H1419H3372H4057H8314H5175H6137H6774H4325H3318H4325H6697H2496 16He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.H398H4057H4478H1H3045H6031H5254H3190H319 17He did all this so you would never say to yourself, 'I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.'H559H3824H3581H6108H3027H6213H2428 18Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.H2142H3068H430H5414H3581H6213H2428H6965H1285H7650H1H3117 19"But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.H7911H7911H3068H430H1980H310H312H430H5647H7812H5749H3117H6H6 20Just as the LORD has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the LORD your God.H1471H3068H6H6440H6H6118H8085H6963H3068H430

Deuteronomy 9

Victory by God’s Grace

9"Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky!H8085H3478H5674H3383H3117H935H3423H1471H1419H6099H5892H1419H1219H80642The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You've heard the saying, 'Who can stand up to the Anakites?'H5971H1419H7311H1121H6062H3045H8085H3320H6440H1121H60613But recognize today that the LORD your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the LORD has promised.H3045H3117H3068H430H5674H6440H398H784H8045H3665H6440H3423H6H4118H3068H16964"After the LORD your God has done this for you, don't say in your hearts, 'The LORD has given us this land because we are such good people!' No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way.H559H3824H3068H430H1920H6440H559H6666H3068H935H3423H776H7564H1471H3068H3423H64405It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The LORD your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.H6666H3476H3824H935H3423H776H7564H1471H3068H430H3423H6440H6965H1697H3068H7650H1H85H3327H32906You must recognize that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.H3045H3068H430H5414H2896H776H3423H6666H6203H7186H5971

Remembering the Gold Calf

7"Remember and never forget how angry you made the LORD your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have been constantly rebelling against him.H2142H7911H3068H430H7107H4057H4480H3117H3318H776H4714H935H4725H4784H5973H30688Even at Mount Sinai you made the LORD so angry he was ready to destroy you.H2722H7107H3068H7107H3068H599H80459This happened when I was on the mountain receiving the tablets of stone inscribed with the words of the covenant that the LORD had made with you. I was there for forty days and forty nights, and all that time I ate no food and drank no water.H5927H2022H3947H3871H68H3871H1285H3068H3772H3427H2022H705H3117H705H3915H398H3899H8354H432510The LORD gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain.H3068H5414H8147H3871H68H3789H676H430H1697H3068H1696H2022H8432H784H3117H695111"At the end of the forty days and nights, the LORD handed me the two stone tablets inscribed with the words of the covenant.H7093H705H3117H705H3915H3068H5414H8147H3871H68H3871H128512Then the LORD said to me, 'Get up! Go down immediately, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted gold and made an idol for themselves!'H3068H559H6965H3381H4118H5971H3318H4714H7843H4118H5493H1870H6680H6213H454113"The LORD also said to me, 'I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.H3068H559H559H7200H5971H6203H7186H597114Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.'H7503H8045H4229H8034H8064H6213H854H1471H6099H722715"So while the mountain was blazing with fire I turned and came down, holding in my hands the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.H6437H3381H2022H2022H1197H784H8147H3871H1285H8147H302716There below me I could see that you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had melted gold and made a calf idol for yourselves. How quickly you had turned away from the path the LORD had commanded you to follow!H7200H2398H3068H430H6213H4541H5695H5493H4118H1870H3068H668017So I took the stone tablets and threw them to the ground, smashing them before your eyes.H8610H8147H3871H7993H5921H8147H3027H7665H586918"Then, as before, I threw myself down before the LORD for forty days and nights. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the great sin you had committed by doing what the LORD hated, provoking him to anger.H5307H6440H3068H7223H705H3117H705H3915H398H3899H8354H4325H2403H2398H6213H7451H5869H3068H370719I feared that the furious anger of the LORD, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me.H3025H6440H639H2534H3068H7107H8045H3068H8085H647120The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he wanted to destroy him, too. But I prayed for Aaron, and the LORD spared him.H3068H3966H599H175H8045H6419H175H625621I took your sin—the calf you had made—and I melted it down in the fire and ground it into fine dust. Then I threw the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.H3947H2403H5695H6213H8313H784H3807H2912H3190H1854H6083H7993H6083H5158H3381H202222"You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.H8404H4532H6914H3068H710723And at Kadesh-barnea the LORD sent you out with this command: 'Go up and take over the land I have given you.' But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to put your trust in him or obey him.H3068H7971H6947H559H5927H3423H776H5414H4784H6310H3068H430H539H8085H696324Yes, you have been rebelling against the LORD as long as I have known you.H4784H3068H3117H304525"That is why I threw myself down before the LORD for forty days and nights—for the LORD said he would destroy you.H5307H6440H3068H705H3117H705H3915H5307H3068H559H804526I prayed to the LORD and said, 'O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy them. They are your own people. They are your special possession, whom you redeemed from Egypt by your mighty power and your strong hand.H6419H3068H559H136H3069H7843H5971H5159H6299H1433H3318H4714H2389H302727Please overlook the stubbornness and the awful sin of these people, and remember instead your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.H2142H5650H85H3327H3290H6437H7190H5971H7562H240328If you destroy these people, the Egyptians will say, "The Israelites died because the LORD wasn't able to bring them to the land he had promised to give them." Or they might say, "He destroyed them because he hated them; he deliberately took them into the wilderness to slaughter them."H776H3318H559H3068H3201H935H776H1696H8135H3318H4191H405729But they are your people and your special possession, whom you brought out of Egypt by your great strength and powerful arm.'H5971H5159H3318H1419H3581H5186H2220

Psalms 55

55[For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.] Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not ignore my cry for help!H5329H5058H4905H1732H238H8605H430H5956H84672Please listen and answer me, for I am overwhelmed by my troubles.H7181H6030H7300H7879H19493My enemies shout at me, making loud and wicked threats. They bring trouble on me and angrily hunt me down.H6963H341H6440H6125H7563H4131H205H639H78524My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me.H3820H2342H7130H367H4194H53075Fear and trembling overwhelm me, and I can’t stop shaking.H3374H7461H935H6427H36806Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest!H559H5414H83H3123H5774H79317I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness. InterludeH5074H7368H3885H4057H55428How quickly I would escape—far from this wild storm of hatred.H2363H4655H7307H5584H55919Confuse them, Lord, and frustrate their plans, for I see violence and conflict in the city.H1104H136H6385H3956H7200H2555H7379H589210Its walls are patrolled day and night against invaders, but the real danger is wickedness within the city.H3119H3915H5437H2346H205H5999H713011Everything is falling apart; threats and cheating are rampant in the streets.H1942H7130H8496H4820H4185H733912It is not an enemy who taunts me—I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—I could have hidden from them.H341H2778H5375H8130H1431H564113Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend.H582H6187H441H304514What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God.H4985H5475H3162H1980H1004H430H728515Let death stalk my enemies; let the grave swallow them alive, for evil makes its home within them.H4194H5377H3451H3381H2416H7585H7451H4033H713016But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me.H7121H430H3068H346717Morning, noon, and night I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice.H6153H1242H6672H7878H1993H8085H696318He ransoms me and keeps me safe from the battle waged against me, though many still oppose me.H6299H5315H7965H7128H722719God, who has ruled forever, will hear me and humble them. Interlude For my enemies refuse to change their ways; they do not fear God.H410H8085H6030H3427H6924H5542H2487H3372H43020As for my companion, he betrayed his friends; he broke his promises.H7971H3027H7965H2490H128521His words are as smooth as butter, but in his heart is war. His words are as soothing as lotion, but underneath are daggers!H6310H2505H4260H7128H3820H1697H7401H8081H660922Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.H7993H3053H3068H3557H5769H5414H6662H413123But you, O God, will send the wicked down to the pit of destruction. Murderers and liars will die young, but I am trusting you to save me.H430H3381H875H7845H1818H4820H582H2673H3117H982