Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine
He’s been my fourth man in the fire, time after time
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood
And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough

… I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail…

(Elevation Worship, Songwriters: Brandon Lake / Christopher Joel Brown / Mitch Wong / Steven Furtick)

Remember when we thought our lives were over and all was lost—but then God turned it all around in ways that was beyond our thinking?  Remember that time our loved one was so sick at death’s door—but then God changed the agenda and life fully returned in a matter of hours?  Remember that time when an individual began a gossip campaign against you because you held a position in the company they wanted to have—but then God gave us strength to respond with kindness, patience to endure it, until the person’s heart changed and became our ally?  Remember that time we knew something didn’t seem right with church leadership and we didn’t know why—but then God opened eyes to see the disparities in our leader as truth rose to the surface and made things right?  Remember that time we went our own way and did our own thing instead going God’s way and we ended up where we didn’t want be—but then God showed his mercy and compassionate love, brought us out of trouble, provided what we needed, and protected us while preparing the next generation to follow Him?  The list of God’s glory at work goes on and on…

Moses writes Deuteronomy as a memory book for the Israelites.  Remember what God did and is still doing!  Moses highlights the highs and lows along with the pain and victories of their lives.  When they followed God’s lead and agenda with committed hearts on the journey with complete trust in God; all was well.  When they did not trust God with their lives; all did not go well. God wants His People (and us) to remember how trusting God opens the doors to His goodness, guidance, and blessings in all circumstances of our brief life on earth.  God delivers what He promises—that is the history proclaimed that must be remembered as HIS STORY and our Song of Rescue!  God’s faithfulness is for all generations!  We need only to trust Him!

… Perfect submission, all is at rest
I know the author of tomorrow has ordered my steps
So this is my story and this is my song
I’m praising my risen King and Savior all the day long

… I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail

Deuteronomy 2

Wanderings in the Wilderness

Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir.

² Then the Lord said to me, ³“You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north. ⁴ Give the people these orders: ‘You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. ⁵ Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. ⁶ You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.’”

⁷ The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

⁸ So we went on past our relatives the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.”

¹⁰ (The Emites used to live there—a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. ¹¹ Like the Anakites, they too were considered Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites. ¹² Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their possession.)

¹³ And the Lord said, “Now get up and cross the Zered Valley.” So we crossed the valley.

¹⁴ Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ The Lord’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.

¹⁶ Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”

²⁰ (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. ²¹ They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The Lord destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place. ²² The Lord had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day. ²³ And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)

Defeat of Sihon King of Heshbon

²⁴ “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. ²⁵ This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

²⁶ From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying, ²⁷ “Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. ²⁸ Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot— ²⁹ as the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, did for us—until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.” ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to give him into your hands, as he has now done.

³¹ The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his country over to you. Now begin to conquer and possess his land.”

³² When Sihon and all his army came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz, ³³ the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, together with his sons and his whole army. ³⁴ At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them—men, women and children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ But the livestock and the plunder from the towns we had captured we carried off for ourselves. ³⁶ From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the gorge, even as far as Gilead, not one town was too strong for us. The Lord our God gave us all of them. ³⁷ But in accordance with the command of the Lord our God, you did not encroach on any of the land of the Ammonites, neither the land along the course of the Jabbok nor that around the towns in the hills.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Moses recalls all the ways of God in this passage:

• I will do for you what you cannot do.
• I will tell you where to go with specific directions.  And I will go with you.
• I am giving you this land—go and take possession of it.
• I will deliver you from your enemies as you take possession of the land.
• “The Lord our God gave us all of them.”  Remember!

Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be joy-filled in all circumstances!

Something of great importance to remember from our past studies of the books of the Law—In every moment of decision making, Moses sought the Lord.  Jesus did the same when He walked the earth to seek and to save the lost, heal the sick, choose disciples to mentor, speak wisdom to Pharisees and other religious leaders who had all but forgotten God, teach the masses and then passionately prayed to God the night before He was to complete His mission to redeem us by the sacrifice of his life. 

But here is the difference: Moses was equipped by God to be a great leader—but he was a human who sinned, made mistakes in judgement along the way as we all do, confessed to God, and learned valuable lessons.  Jesus was born the Son of Man but was also the Son of God who never sinned; Only Jesus was qualified to be the perfect, “without blemish” sacrifice once and for all for all the sins of the world!   

But both sought God before doing anything of significance for God.  Godly leaders seek the Lord.

… I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered
I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered
That’s why I trust Him, that’s why I trust Him…

Seeking God first, often, and always is a disciplined trait that builds our complete trust in God!

… That’s why I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
Oh, I trust in God, my Savior
The one who will never fail
He will never fail
I sought the Lord…

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3

Trust God—He knows!

Lord,

Thank you for reminding us to trust you in all circumstances. Thank you for listening to our seeking prayers for wisdom, clarity, and vision. Thank you for stilling our troubled hearts with your peace. Thank you for saving us with the blessed assurance of your relentless love, amazing mercies, and unending grace!  Thank you for helping us learn from our mistakes as you use our messes to bring out the best in us for your glory!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I trust you with my life because you are Life!

In Jesus Name, Amen