“And Noah did all the Lord had commanded him.”
– Genesis 7:5
That’s a really simple, significant verse, much like Genesis 6:8, when the Bible tells us that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And we prayed according to that. Now Genesis 7:5 is God commands Noah to build a boat because a flood is coming. And the Bible says Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. I think there’s relationship between Genesis 6:8 and Genesis 7:5. Certainly, God’s favor accompanies those who obey God’s word. That it’s in obeying God’s word that we experience the favor of God.
As believers, we are called to obey all that God commands of us through His Word.
Genesis 7:5 Reminds Us That God is With Us
Now, we pray according to Genesis 6:8 knowing favor from God is only possible by the mercy of God. But even that, think about it. God’s mercy is expressed in His word coming to Noah saying, “Build a boat so that you and your family can be saved.” God’s word is an expression of God’s mercy. And it’s in obeying God’s word that Noah experiences salvation from God for him, for his family, blessing from God, favor from God.
And so think about your life today and the mercy of God toward you, toward me, in His word that we have in front of us. God has not left us alone in the dark about how to experience life to the full, how to experience salvation, how to experience joy and peace and the strength and sustenance and satisfaction that comes from God alone. It’s found in abiding in Him and His word, in obeying His, word in doing all that He commands us to do.
Don’t you want Genesis 7:5 to be true of your life? And David did all that the Lord had commanded him. And insert your name did all the Lord had commanded him or her. May that be true of your life, my life today. And as we do that, may we experience the life that God has designed, created, intends us to live with Him, in obedience to Him, walking with Him, experiencing His favor through obedience to His word by His grace.
We Ask God to Place Genesis 7:5 on Our Hearts
So God, we pray for Genesis 7:5 in our lives today. Help us, we pray, today, tomorrow, to do all that You command us to do. Help us to walk in obedience to Your word, God, we pray. We praise You for Your word. I praise You for giving it to us. We praise You for the revelation we have of who You are and how You’ve designed us to live. So help us to read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it day and night. Help us to learn it and help us to do it, help us to obey it, and Help us not just to read Your word and walk away forgetting what we’ve heard. God help us, we pray, to obey Your word, and in so doing, to experience life and joy and peace, and all that You’ve designed for us according to Your word.
Genesis 7:5 Commands Us to be Disciples Wherever We Are
And oh God, I think about the Great Commission You’ve entrusted to us, to make disciples of all the nations. And we want to do all that You have commanded us to do, right where we live and far from where we live. God, when we think about 7,000 nations, ethnic groups, people groups that have yet to be reached by the Gospel, including today, the Torget Mongolians, 200,000 of them, most of whom have never even heard the Gospel. 95% of them never heard the Gospel.
No known believers, no scripture translations, no Jesus film, no Gospel recordings, no Christian broadcasts available. They are a gospelless people, and You have commanded us to make disciples of all the nations. So we want to do all that You’ve commanded us to do. God, help us, as Your church, to take the Gospel to the Torget Mongolians. God, we pray that You would raise up, send out laborers who will take the Gospel to the Torget Mongolians. And, God, help us not to neglect this Great Commission that You’ve given to us.
Let Us Pray…
We pray for the spread of the Gospel among the Torget Mongolians and to every people group in the world. We want to do all that You’ve commanded us to do in the Great Commission, starting right where we live and then going far from where we live. May it be true of our lives what was said of Noah in Genesis 7:5, that we did all that You commanded us to do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
