Deuteronomy 2, Psalms 83-84, Isaiah 30, Jude

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@May 29, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Deuteronomy 2

Deuteronomy 2:30 (ESV) 30 But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

The chapter is largely a summary of the history of the people as they left Kadesh Barnea until defeating Sihon, king of Heshbon. Moses sent messengers to Sihon with words of peace that the people would pass through the land, paying for the food they ate and water they drank. However, Sihon refused passage because the LORD hardened his heart. Sihon’s hardening provides a parallel account to Pharaoh’s hardening in Exod. 4:21 in which he refused to let the people leave Egypt. As the FSB notes elaborates, “Yahweh sometimes hardens the disposition of a rebellious (or evil) person as a means of judgment.” It can be difficult for us to understand how or why God would harden a heart in this way, but God is perfectly just and proceeds in accordance with His divine plan for His ultimate glory.

Psalms 83-84

Psalm 83:17–18 (ESV) 17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, 18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

The psalmist pleads with the LORD that He put His enemies to shame, to be dismayed forever and to perish in order that they may know that He alone is the LORD and the Most High over all the earth. The purpose behind the psalmist’s desire for their destruction goes beyond temporal deliverance. More than obtaining relief from persecution, the psalmist wants the LORD’s name to be known and exalted. It is the humility of God’s people to be willing to sacrifice personal well-being to bring awareness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 30

Isaiah 30:20 (ESV) 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.

Isaiah speaks of how the LORD waits to be gracious to the people and, though He gives them the bread of adversity and water of affliction, their eyes will be on their Teacher. Adversity and affliction are presented here as sustenance God provided to promote growth and health. We tend not to think of trials on such terms, wanting instead for life to be without obstacle or struggle, but this yields little development. As C.S. Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Jude

Jude 17–21 (ESV) 17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Jude calls the church to remembrance of the predictions of the apostles that there will be scoffers that cause division. The church is to protect themselves from such worldly people by 1) building themselves in the faith, 2) praying in the Holy Spirit, 3) keep themselves in the love of God and 4) wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. These are practical admonitions for modern day followers of Christ as well who face the same scoffing today as in the first century, thus having great need to remain steadfast in our pursuit of God and spiritual disciplines.

Carson on Psalm 84

Much of this psalm exults in the sheer privilege and delight of abiding in the presence of God, which for the children of the old covenant meant living in the shadow of the temple. “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Ps. 84:2). To have a place “near your altar” is to have a home, in exactly the same way that a sparrow finds a home or a swallow builds a nest (Ps. 84:3).

How wonderful it is to reflect on the eternal home we have been given in the presence of our Lord. What joy it brings that we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. May we be as the psalmist to yearn and even faint for the courts of our LORD, crying out for the living God with all our being.

Justin Houtz