May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this morning as we look at his word together. Let's
turn to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8, and we'll read verse
2. The book of Deuteronomy, chapter
8, and reading the second verse. And thou shalt remember all the
way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the
wilderness. to humble thee and to prove thee
to know what was in thy heart whether thou wouldest keep his
commandments or no the book of Deuteronomy is a
very instructive book and as we think that Moses wrote
it very shortly before he was to have his life taken from him. And he was therefore able to
look back and to recount the amazing blessings and favours
and mercies which the Lord had granted to Israel really, for many, many years,
but especially since he'd been in charge of them for those 40
years. And he'd seen how they'd reacted,
he'd seen their response to the Lord's commands, the Lord's favour,
the Lord's blessing, and again and again he'd had to rebuke
them for their rebelliousness, for their hard-heartedness, for
their turning against the Lord. And again and again he has to
remind them to remember and to keep the commandments of the
Lord God. Those commands which God had
given to his people for their good, for their benefit and for
their blessing. And also that which would bring
honour and glory to the Lord. And so we have this chapter which
gives us a detail of the Lord's favour as we look and see the
promise which Moses sets before the people, the promise which
God had told them they should come into this good land which
flows with milk and honey. And of course he's reminding
them also the Lord has been gracious and has been mindful of them
and indeed how wonderful to think how they've been supported over
all those years and he tells them and he humbled thee and
suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna which thou knewest
not neither did thy fathers know that he might make thee know
that man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." So not only did
the Lord provide manner for them in a natural way, in an amazing
way, and in a wonderful way, but he also goes on to tell them
that man is not lived by bread only. Indeed, he wanted to direct
them to the spiritual aspect that they've been favoured with.
those wonderful ceremonies that had been instituted, the erection
of the tabernacle and all that it contained, and those things
that were spoken by the Word of God. And so he brings this
to their attention, that man doth not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord
doth man live. And really that is something
that we should not pass over. To think that every word that
the Lord records has come forth from his mouth in the word of
God and it is through that word that we indeed are encouraged
and blessed and spiritually fed. So we live really by that. Well,
that's an important perspective and that was what Moses was bringing
before the Israelites. And then he reminds them, he
tells them, their raiment didn't wax old. It never got old. 40
years. Can you imagine wearing your
same shirt or your same dress for 40 years? Well, there wouldn't
be much left, would there? There wouldn't be any left, would
there? And yet, this miracle which the Lord granted to the
Israelites, their clothes, their raiment. It didn't become old. What an amazing evidence of God's
favour towards them. And neither did their feet swell
those 40 years either. It was a wonderful provision. It goes on, Thou shalt also consider
in thy heart. That's really one of the points
that Moses makes in this second verse. He says that they should
remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty
years. And then he itemises these points. First of all, to humble thee. Secondly, to prove thee. And
thirdly, to know what was in thy heart. And that's exactly
what we read here. Thou shalt also consider in thine
heart how important it is for us to know that the Lord is dealing
with us and instructing us by his Spirit in those things which
we find in our heart. Now, he says, and thou shalt
remember. Now, in this case, of course,
they were to look back over 40 years. They've been in the wilderness
40 long years. And no doubt they did seem long
years to them because the environment in that desert was not really
a conducive environment to want to live in. But it was that which
God had ordained for them because of their disobedience. When they
refused to go up at Kadesh Barnea and to possess the land after
they'd only been travelling for about a year. and they ignored
the favour of God, they turned their back on him, they wouldn't
listen to the encouraging words of Caleb and Joshua, they listened
to the evil report of the other ten spies who'd spent 40 days
spying out the land and as such they were therefore told they
would spend 40 years, a year for a day, wandering in the wilderness. But they didn't wander aimlessly. They didn't wander aimlessly.
God led them and God directed them. And although they had been
disobedient, although they turned their back upon the Lord, he
didn't forsake them. He brought all those who were
20 years or under, safely into the promised land. The others,
they died in the wilderness, but God was faithful to his promise
and he brought those young people safely through the wilderness. Day by day, they were led. Sometimes they stayed in one
place for a year or so, sometimes a very short period. but nonetheless
they were led and they were directed. And so, as he says here this
morning, Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy
God led thee. Well, what a blessing if you
and I today can look into our lives and see the way the Lord
has led us. It may be in the wilderness,
we may have been disobedient to our God, we may have rebelled
against the word of the Lord, America rebelled against the
commands of the Lord. And as such, we've been wandering
in the wilderness. But my friends, what a blessing
if the Lord nonetheless has led us in our wanderings. And that's the mercy of the Lord.
You see, the Lord could have annihilated Israel for their
sinful ways. for the way they opposed the
Lord. The Lord was gracious and fulfilled
his promise. And so that may be so in our
lives. God is faithful. What a wonderful
blessing it is to realise that. And so here we have this statement. And thou shalt remember. It's
good to remember. It's good to look back. and to
see God's hand upon us, even when perhaps we walk contrary
to the Lord. We've still seen His mercy, we've
still seen His favour, because we have a God who is ever gracious. And so may we remember today,
thou shalt remember all the way, not to miss sections out, We
perhaps sometimes only like to look on what we might term the
good things, when it may be that what we might term the bad things
are things which have been used for our spiritual profit, and
for our spiritual benefit, that have shown us what we deserved,
and what the Lord has done for us, and hasn't dealt with us
as our sins deserved. But it has been long suffering
in our wanderings, long suffering, which the Lord thy God led thee
these forty years in the wilderness. And in that leading time, all
those years, these things were being accomplished. They were
to be humbled. They were to be proved. and there
was to be found out what was in their heart. The truth is
that naturally we are not humble people. Naturally we are proud,
we think highly of ourselves, we rate ourselves far above what
we should. And that's where we're born and
that's how we live until the Lord graciously puts his hand
upon us. We think of Israel complaining
about the provisions that the Lord had granted to them. Having
been brought out of that land of Egypt. Again, a fulfilment
of the promise of the Lord. They've been brought out of it.
And now, as they travel through, they complain. They complain
that they didn't enjoy the food that they'd be used to in Israel,
in Egypt rather. And it may be that perhaps we've
complained in our spiritual life. We may have complained to God,
as it were, that we haven't been receiving what we thought we
needed for our enjoyment. We weren't prepared to acknowledge
that the Lord had provided for us. He provided an adequate diet
for these people. He had given them food from heaven,
manna, a wonderful provision, and they were to learn that it
was God's provision, and they were to be taught, and they were
not to complain, and they were not to rebel. God had provided
this for them. And it was, therefore, to humble
them, to bring them down in their own estimation of themselves. Well, what a blessing if God
takes us in hand and brings us into this position to humble
us. You know, we only have to look
around, don't we, in the world today, in our nation today. And
what do we see? We see pride. We see men, our politicians,
are utterly reluctant to humble themselves. They make every excuse,
they find every reason, or try to find every reason, and try
to make every excuse why that which they're doing is good and
right. They're not prepared to be humbled. And what a blessing if in our
spiritual life and the effect in our spiritual life will work
out in our natural life, to humble us, to be humbled as we refer
to in prayer, under the mighty hand of God. I believe that will
be when we recognise that we have an almighty God, an almighty
God, and then to be humbled his hand, to trace out his dealings,
his favours, his instruction. And what is he doing? He's bringing
us into conformity with himself. What an example we have in the
Saviour, don't we? The Saviour, the life He left,
how humble He was, He didn't please himself. No, he did the
will of his father. See, that's really being humble. It's when we submit to the will
of God. It's when we desire to do the
will of God. And it's when we follow the will
of God. That is humbling ourselves. Humbling ourselves. Now the Lord
calls Israel to walk in this path to humble them. They were
told to remember. This morning, we must remember
what God has done for us. He may have put his hand upon
us. Sometimes the Lord stops us doing things. His hand is upon us. We may have
wanted desperately to do something and His hand has been upon us
and it's stopped us doing things and it's humbled us. Yes, I remember in my life I
had some tickets to go to Wembley years ago to watch England play
football and I really wanted to go to that. I'm looking forward
to it. And then the Lord brought illness
upon me. And I was unable to go. Well, initially I was upset and
I was annoyed. But then as I was confined to
my bed, I remember then thinking, at the Lord's hand upon me. He'd
stopped me doing that. which I desperately wanted to
do. When it's a good thing in our
lives, if the Lord has stopped us doing things perhaps that
we wanted to do, you might say, well, there wouldn't have been
any harm in it. We have to ask the question,
don't we? Would it have been God honouring? Would it have
brought honour to God? Would it have been a blessing
to my soul." Well, thankful, isn't it, to realise here the
Lord humbles us. And you know, just a little bit
more information. I'd actually organised it myself
with other people. I'd organised the tickets with
other people. You see, the Lord dealt graciously.
And may we indeed, in our lives, trace out God's hand upon us
in this way to humble us. Thou shalt remember, it's good
if we remember situations which have come into our life to humble
us, to bring us down in our own estimation and to realise in
the good hand of the Lord is upon us, to humble thee and to
prove thee." What a question that is, isn't it? To prove us. To prove whether we are willing
to follow the gracious, loving commands of the Lord. Whether
we are willing to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. prove us. The Lord brings us into testing
times to see how we will react to the word of the Lord. Now
Israel, as we know often, needed to be tested, needed to be proved
in their life. Yes, they wanted their own way. They wanted provisions provided
for them in the way that they thought they needed them. The
Lord had his plan. The Lord had his purpose. And
the Lord was to prove them. To prove them. What a blessing
it is if we have the experience of the Lord proving us whether
we are willing to serve the Lord. when they're willing to obey
the Lord. There are so many times, so many
times, you cannot but be aware of it. As you may read through
the book of Deuteronomy, and it's good to often say read through
the Bible continually, or at least read through a book continually.
You read through Deuteronomy, and you will see Moses' great
concern for the children of Israel that they might keep the commands
of God. They might not turn away from
them. You know, my friends, you and
I today, you know, we live many years after this. But oh, how
important it is that you and I today are concerned to follow
the right way, the commands of our God. And the truth is, His
commands are not grievous. They will only benefit our spiritual
life. They may destroy, perhaps, your
natural pleasures, which you've been following and desiring to
go after. But as the good hand of the Lord
may be upon us for good, to direct us, to prove us, as the Spirit
of God shows us where we are going, We haven't been going
the right way. We've been listening to who? The devil. Listen to the devil. My friends, let us listen to
the Lord. Let us turn away from the devil. Israel, they followed the devil
so many times. They listened to what he was
stirring up in their minds. My friends, sometimes we listen
to the devil. He stirs up things in our minds and makes us rebel
against the Lord. My friends, His commands are
not grievous. Remember that. His commands are
good. His commands are gracious. And
we will never, ever regret following the Lord's commands. to prove
us. The Lord sets his word before
us, in all its comprehensiveness, to prove us. And there is no
room for you and me to make any excuse in any part of those commands
to think that, well, forget about that, that's not relevant to
me. The word of the Lord is true and we are to follow his commands. I'm not saying we follow today
all the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law is done away
in Christ. But what has replaced that ceremonial
law is very simply this. We are to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the New Testament command. And my friends, as there was
in the Old Testament, no room for manoeuvre, so in the New
Testament there's no room for manoeuvre. Thou shalt remember
all the way, for the Lord thy God hath led thee to humble thee
and to prove thee. Well, look back this morning,
in your life, short or long, and see whether that's being
or has been performed for his honour and for his glory. And
then he says, to know what was in thine heart. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Never think that your heart naturally
is pure, naturally Our natural heart is evil. And how we need to know that
we have received from God a new heart. The Lord says, a new heart
will I give you. And every true believer is given
a new heart. And that new heart is a spiritual
heart which seeks after spiritual blessings. We still possess an
old heart, an old nature that goes after natural things. And there is therefore that conflict
between the old nature and the new. And there will be a continual
conflict right down until we pass out of time into eternity. And therefore, we have this statement
here, to humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine
heart, to be able to discern whether God has given us a new
heart, a new nature, or whether we still just possess our old
heart, our old nature. Well, remember, look back in
your life today, remember, has there been the grant of that
new heart, that change, that desire after spiritual things,
after following the Lord, desire to do His will, to know what
was in thine heart. Our hearts are very deceptive. My friends, sin is mixed with
all we do. Or we have a wretched wretched
sinful nature. What a blessing if the Lord therefore
looks upon us and shows us our true nature, what was in our
heart, to know what was in thine heart. We look there and are
aware, despondent. We see there sin, evil, wrong
thoughts, wrong desires. Is that all that's in our heart?
Well, may we find also in our heart that true desire to know
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To prove and to know
what was in thine heart. Look into your heart. What do
you find there? Do you find that? That seeking
after Christ, that desire to know more of Him and the power
of His resurrection, a resurrection power within, power that belongs
under God, that power which is able, that power which is that
which enables us to do things which we thought we didn't have
the strength to do. He giveth power. He renews our strength. Those who are faint, remember
what Isaiah said in that 40th chapter of Isaiah. He comes and
concludes that chapter. He says, even the youths shall
faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they
that wait on the Lord. Now the new heart, the true heart
is waiting upon the Lord. Waiting upon the Lord shall renew
their strength, they shall mount up with wings of eagles, they
shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint,
to prove thee to know what was in thine heart, whether thou
wouldest keep his commandments or no, so how We see the position
with regards to Israel of old in keeping these commands of
the Lord God and we refer it to the New Testament into following
the example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Well, it would
be a great blessing, my friends, for you and me today if we are
able to follow out this, remember all the way that the Lord thy
God has led thee in the wilderness, to humble thee, to prove thee,
to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his,
the Lord's, the Lord Jesus' commands or no. Amen.