Monday after Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 18, 2023 by under
Scripture: Deuteronomy 4:4-7 (NKJV)
4:4 “But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 6 Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
7 “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”
Devotion
Prior to this, Israel had an episode of unfaithfulness. Numbers 25 records how some had taken part in the Moabite worship of Baal: “So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.” As a result, “those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand” (Num. 25:3, 9). “But,” says Moses in our text, “you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.” At certain times God punished unfaithfulness with death. This is a stumbling block for some, not fully understanding that, in God, jealousy is a virtue: “The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34:14).
Jealousy is the proper feeling of protectiveness that a man has for his wife, hence, “Jealousy is a husband’s fury” (Prov. 6:34). A husband should jealously protect his wife so that no other man may touch her; that is his duty and his joy, because of the marriage union. God rightly feels jealousy for His Church, because He has united Himself to her, hence verse 7: “What great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us?” God’s saints rejoice in His jealousy because it means He is close to them and He protects them from those who would harm them.
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee, let Thy continual pity cleanse and defend Thy Church; and because it cannot continue in safety without Thy succor, preserve it evermore by Thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
