September 11, 2013
A GUIDE TO GIVING OUR HEARTS TO GOD
Deuteronomy 5:1-21
Jessica Davis
Central Truth
God's law is perfect, holy, trustworthy, and loving. We are given the gift of God's law so that we may have a guide to teach us what it means to give our hearts solely to the Lord.
Key Verse | Deuteronomy 5:1
"Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully.'' (Deuteronomy 5:1)
Deuteronomy 5:1-21
The Ten Commandments
1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
6 ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 ‘You shall have no other gods before 1 5:7 Or besides me.
8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands 2 5:10 Or to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave 3 5:15 Or servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
17 ‘You shall not murder. 4 5:17 The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
18 ‘And you shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘And you shall not steal.
20 ‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 ‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’
Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 5:1-21
You may have noticed that I've already used the word "guide" twice now. Guidance is exactly what our son needs most from us. It is loving for us to guide Jude through this life. He doesn't always understand our guidance, nor does he always want it, but in the end it is our guidance that will prepare his heart for what this world will bring him. Our guidance may also be seen as rules, statutes, or ordinances -- commandments even! All of this is for his well-being.
This truth is exactly why God created the Ten Commandments for His children. These commandments are listed again in Deuteronomy 5 (initially in Exodus 20) for the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.
What sets God's law apart from the ones that men create? These four attributes:
His law is perfect: "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." (Psalm 19:7)
His law is holy: "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." (Romans 7:12)
His law is trustworthy: "The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His precepts are sure. They are upheld forever and ever; they are performed in truth and uprightness." (Psalm 111:7-8)
His law is loving: "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (Romans 13:10)
God asks that our hearts be completely His. "For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." (2 Chronicles 16:9) How are we to define what it looks like to give our hearts to Him if we don't have a guide to do it by? So you see, the Ten Commandments are perfect, holy, trustworthy, and loving so that we may better understand how to give our hearts to God.
Discussion Questions
1. Have you given your heart to God?
2. Do you trust that God's law is perfect, holy, trustworthy, and loving?
3. Which law(s) of the Ten Commandments do you find hard to keep in your life?
4. What change can you make in your life today that helps you to keep and trust God's law?