February 21, 2026 - Deuteronomy 1-4

Deuteronomy 1-4 is comprised of Moses’ first “sermon” to the people as he prepares them to go into the promised land:  “Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them” (1:3).  It is always good pay attention to what the Lord says to us.  But the people did not listen.  As Moses recounts the wilderness history, he remembers that, first, they refused to go up and take the land.  And then, when they later decided to give it a try, the Lord told them not to go.  But they would not listen.  They rebelled against the Lord and presumptuously went up into the hill country (1:44).  The Amorites beat them down because the Lord was not with them.

But as soon as that unfaithful generation died out, Moses and the people began moving toward Canaan.  The Lord gave into their hands Og the king of Bashan and Sihon the king of the Amorites.  Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, even before the tribes entered the land, received inheritances east of the Jordan.  Not to be lost in all these historical details, though, is the key to Israel’s blessing.  Moses explained to them:  You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you” (3:22).  Furthermore, “the Lord your God is a merciful God.  He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them” (4:31).

Israel’s God is our God.  Israel’s hope is our hope.  We need not fear because our God fights for us.  He is a merciful God.  He will not leave us or forget us.

Let children hear the mighty deeds

which God performed of old,

which in our younger years we saw

and which our fathers told.

He bids us make his glories known,

the works of pow’r and grace,

that we convey his wonders down

through ev’ry rising race.

Our lips shall tell them to our sons,

and they again to theirs,

and generations yet unborn

must teach them to their heirs.

Thus shall they learn, in God alone

their hope securely stands,

that they may ne’er forget his works,

but practice his commands.   -- Isaac Watts (1719)