“You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone for the judgment is God’s. In the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring it to me and I will hear it.”
– Deuteronomy 1:17
This is Moses speaking to people that he was raising up to help judge cases across God’s people. There were so many people, so many cases to address. It’s far too much for one person to handle. So Moses was appointing other leaders. Wise, understanding, experienced leaders who would judge in different cases and as he’s encouraging them, I just love this phrase, you shall not be intimidated by anyone for the judgment is God’s.
All Glory Be to Christ
We cannot fulfill what God has called us to on our own. However, by God’s grace and power at work within us, we can. All glory be to Christ.
I just think about the assignment not just these guys in Deuteronomy 1 were facing, but assignments you and I face in our lives where we are tempted to be intimidated. Maybe intimidated by men, women around us. Intimidated by odds against us or intimidated just by the task before us. It seems too big. I was talking with Heather just this morning about tasks that we, contemplating before us, and we’re thinking, “Oh, can we do that? Can we handle that?”
Deuteronomy 1:17 Reminds Christians of God’s Call to Us
It is a good reminder what Moses said here that ultimately we don’t need to be intimidated because, well, in this case Moses says the judgment belongs to God. Looked to him, this is ultimately on him and the reality is that is true for every task to which God calls us. Everything God calls us to, he promises to give us the grace, the strength, everything we need, the sufficiency to carry out that assignment to do that work.
So how encouraging is this? There is nothing that God has called you to that you have on your plate right now or will call you to, that you will have on your plan in the future. Now again, the key is what he calls us to. Sometimes we jump into things that maybe he’s not leading us into, but when we know, when we believe God is calling us to something or we just look in our lives like …
I mean, just think marriage, parenting, work, things that we know God has called us to at this point, like these tasks feel intimidating sometimes. I know it does for me. Marriage, parenting, work, pastoring, church-like, ah, I feel very intimidated, overwhelmed. It is good to remember in those moments that ultimately everything belongs to God and that which he has called me to, you to, he will be faithful to provide.
Deuteronomy 1:17 Prays for God to Deliver Us from Fear and Anxiety
So we look to you, oh God. We look around us and we easily find intimidation. Oh God, we look in front of us and we are easily intimidated. We look at obstacles, we look at odds. We look at the people. God, we look at all kinds of things and they intimidate us. These things tempt us to step back. We are anxious, we fear, we worry.
So God. Deliver us from all of these things through trust in you. Through looking to you. Because all these things look far less intimidating in your light, in light of who you are, in light of how great you are, in light of how good you are, in light of how powerful you are, in light of your promises, God, all these things in you, flowing from your word, totally overcome intimidation in this world and for that we praise you and we trust you.
We trust that everything you call us to. You will prove sufficient for us in and for that we give you glory. We give you glory in advance for the way you will continue to show yourself strong on our behalf as we walk into assignments we cannot fulfill on our own, but we can by your grace and your power at work in us. Oh, glory be to your name. 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.
