New heart, new life. Jesus. Deuteronomy 30.1-10
Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Deuteronomy (7)
Pray Psalm 139.23. 24.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
Sing Psalm 139.23, 24.
(Ripley: Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul )
Search my heart, O LORD, and know me, as You only, LORD, can do.
Test my thoughts and contemplations, whether they be vain or true.
Let there be no sin in me, LORD, nothing that Your Spirit grieves.
Lead me in the righteous way, LORD, unto everlasting peace!
Read Deuteronomy 30.1-10; meditate on verses 8-10.
Preparation
1. What did God promise to do for His people?
2. What would this accomplish for them?
Meditation
Having commanded the people to circumcise their hearts—to remove the shield of sinfulness that kept them from obeying God’s Law—the Lord here promises to carry out that work for them (v. 6). He is not talking about the physical heart, of course, but the spiritual one, here representing the whole soul (cf. v. 10). This refers to the work of the Holy Spirit Whom Jesus and the Father would send once Jesus’ work had been complete (cf. Ezek. 36.26, 27; Jn. 14.15-17, 26; 15.26, 27).
This passage glimpses ahead down the corridor of Israel’s history to show why such a work is necessary. Israel would go into captivity to foreign nations because they would not keep the Law of God (v. 1). As they came to realize their sin and repented, God would bring them back to the land of promise again (vv. 2, 3). But this would be merely temporary, for God would drive them out again, scattering them throughout the nations of the Roman Empire under the directive of Pompey.
But God promised to gather His chosen people from every nation, that they might possess the promises together (vv. 4, 5) and have their hearts circumcised to know and love the LORD (v. 6). Jesus is both the promise of the Father and the physician of dead souls, Who quickens them to life by the cauterizing power of His Word and the breath of His Spirit. When that work begins, the great enemy of God’s people will be bound, and the plundering of his realm will begin (v. 7). The people whom Jesus heals will prosper in His salvation as they walk the path He walked in obedience to the commandments of God (vv. 8-10; cf. 1 Jn. 2.1-6).
Thus they will rejoice in the salvation of the LORD Who rejoices over them for good (v. 9), as they seek and serve Him with all their heart and all their soul (v. 10). This is the work of Jesus, Whom God has sent to fulfill and carry out all His precious and very great promises to us His people. In Him, all who believe undergo the circumcision of baptism, the sign and symbol of the cleansing of our sins and our union with the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 2.11-15).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
For every person who loves and obeys God, there is this abundant promise of always belonging to Him.
When we are trusting fully in our Savior’s ability to save and forgive, we are forever invited to return to Him from wherever we have wandered—whether it is a momentary flash of disbelief or a more cumbersome time of sin. God calls us to “return to the LORD your God and obey His voice,
according to all that I command you…with all your heart and with all your soul
that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity,
and have compassion on you,
and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.
If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven,
from there the LORD your God will gather you,
and from there He will bring you” (Deut. 30.2-4).
Therefore, our beloved Savior came to earth to fulfill this glorious promise of redemption.
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem,
and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed,
and be raised the third day” (Matt. 16.21).
Why would we ever willfully want to wander away from this kind of love?
Sheltered and gathered together with Him in His amazing love and grace.
And the compassionate gathering of God’s people is a promise for now and for later:
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds,
from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven” (Mk. 13.26, 27).
As soon as we become His, we never need fear being left on our own.
For He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31.6; Heb. 13.5).
But a covenant involves two parties, and our part of the covenantal promise is this: follow His Law; love Him with all our heart and soul; and continually repent and return when we have wandered away through disobedience or disbelief.
However, it is also true that if a person willfully and continually sins, without thought of repentance or remorse, if that person wantonly continues to sin, and leaves their first love permanently, then this is also a fate:
“Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the LORD. And again, ‘The LORD will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10.29-31).
But when we are following Jesus in a fearful, respectful, obedient way, we can snuggle up in the truth of God’s compassionate words: “For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in the Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deut. 30.9, 10).
“The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
do not forsake the works of Your hands” (Ps. 138.8).
Reflection
1. How can you tell when your heart before the Lord Jesus might be a little askew? What should you do at such times?
2. How would you try to encourage a fellow believer who was drifting from the Lord? What promises would you share?
3. Why does Jesus need to “circumcise” our heart before we can follow Him? How do we know when He has done that?
[H]e only wishes to teach us that, although God should pardon our sins, that blessing would be but transient, unless He should keep us in subjection to His Law. And, in fact, He regenerates by His Spirit unto righteousness all those whose sins He pardons. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Deuteronomy 30.1-10
Pray Psalm 139.1-5.
Give thanks to Jesus, the great Physician of your soul, who healed your soul and daily attends to its health and growth by His Word and Spirit. Devote yourself and your day to serving Him.
Sing Psalm 139.1-5.
(Ripley: Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah, O My Soul )
You have searched me, LORD, and known me, when I sit and when I rise;
from afar, my thoughts discerning, all my path before You lies.
Every word, before it’s spoken, You behold and know it well.
Both behind me and before me, Your sweet Presence I can tell!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
