Deut. 24, Psalms 114-115, Isaiah 51, Revelation 21

DateVersionReading Plan
@June 19, 2024ESV (2016)M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Deut. 24

Deuteronomy 24:19–22 (ESV) 19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.

The Israelites were commanded to leave whatever sheafs, olives or grapes that were missed during harvest for the sojourner, fatherless and widow. Similar to the commands of Deut. 23:24-25, these statutes further reinforce to the kind of care and consideration the people were to have for one another and especially for the disenfranchised. As they worked the ground to provide for themselves, they were to reflect same compassion God has for the lost in providing for others. It is convicting to read of these commands and forces me to ponder whether I am properly appropriating a portion of what He has given me for those in need.

Psalms 114-115

Psalm 115:1 (ESV) 1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

The psalmist humbly pleas for the LORD’s name to be glorified for the sake of His steadfast love and faithfulness. The repetition of “not to us” represents heavy emphasis on the part of the psalmist that he receive no part of the recognition. This again prompts deep conviction of whether my heart reflects the psalmist’s in aiming for every deed to be for His glory and not my own. Lord, help me to be mindful of You in all that I do, that every plan laid, every word spoken and every move made would be to bless my Lord and bring glory to your great name.

Isaiah 51

Isaiah 51:21–23 (ESV) 21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: 22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; 23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.”

The people had become drunk with the fury of God’s wrath, but it would now be given to their tormentors (Babylon). The idea of being drunk on God’s wrath is admittedly difficult to process. God’s wrath is often portrayed as a cup (Ps. 75:8; Jer. 25:15; Rev. 14:10) from which His enemies drink or is removed as an act of His grace. However challenging this imagery may be, it fosters a sense of appreciation that Christ has taken this cup from us by His propitiatory work on the cross. He drank it all on our behalf, bearing the full weight of the wrath of the Father, in order that we would seen as blameless in Him and restored to right relationship with Him.

Revelation 21

Revelation 21:26–27 (ESV) 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

To combine the prohibition of unclean things with the allowed entry of those written in the Lamb’s book of life infers that God’s elect have been made entirely clean from anything detestable or false. This He has done through the work of His Son to remove from us all that keeps us separated from Him. It is a wonder that God has chosen a remnant from among His sinful, rational creatures to refine and perfect. What praise is due our God who has bestowed such a blessing.

Carson on Deuteronomy 24

These verses demand close reading. Where people live in the fear, love, and knowledge of God, social compassion and practical generosity are entailed; where God fades into the mists of sentimentalism, robust compassion also withers

Carson draws a important connection between the fear of God and societal compassion and generosity. It becomes more evident everyday that the drift away from God leads to the languishing of expressing compassion. Ignoring or actively denying Christ’s sacrifice for others removes from us the foundation on which to build an enterprise of selflessness and sacrifice for others.

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