“See, I have taught you statutes and rules as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who when they hear all these statutes will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”
– Deuteronomy 4:5–8
And as I read Deuteronomy 4:5–8, listen to the why. Why has God given His people, His word, His statutes, and His rules? Deuteronomy chapter four, verse five. Why has God given us His word?
God gives His law to His people for our good and ultimately for His glory among the nations.
These Verses Remind Us That God’s Word is Good
Did you hear it? I love these verses. God is saying, I am giving you My word, My rules, and My statutes, and they are good. My word is good. It will make you wise and understanding. And not just make you wise and understanding, but the peoples, the nations around you as you enter into the promised land, will see your wisdom, and they’ll see your understanding, and they’ll see in your obedience to My word, a reflection of who I am, such that they will say, “What great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord, the one true God, is to them? What great nation is there that has statutes and rules so righteous, so good as all this law?”
In other words, God gives His law to His people for our good and ultimately for His glory among the peoples, among the nations. So bring that into your life, my life today. God has given us His word and His word is so good. It is good for us so that when we follow it, we will experience life, and people around us, the nations might see that there is true life found in those who know and obey the word of God.
Deuteronomy 4:5–8: Asking God to Help Us Live by His Word
So we pray Deuteronomy 4:5–8. God help us to obey Your word, to receive Your word and tomorrow and the next day, and the words of Joshua one, to meditate on it day and night, to live according to it. And as we do, God, we pray that we would show to the world around us, to the people around us, that Your word is life, that Your word is good, that Your word is true. And that You are the God who is near to us when we call upon You.
You are the God who cares for us so much that You have not left us alone in this world to figure things out on our own. You have given us your word to be our guide. It’s a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It is rewarding. It’s better than food. It’s our daily bread.
Asking God to Help Us Grow in Our Love For His Word
God, we love Your word. Help us to grow in our love for Your word. To meditate on it, memorize it, study it, understand it, obey it, put it into practice. And we pray that as we do, Your glory would be seen in us and Your word would spread through us.
Praying For the Nations
Among the nations, o God, we see mention of the peoples here. So we pray for the nations. We pray for the Nggwahyi people in Nigeria. This small people group, hardly any followers of Jesus, most Muslim, in a country where there is increasingly persecution of Christians and challenges to coming to faith in Christ for a Muslim. God, we pray for the spread of Your word among the Negwahi and for the building up of Your church, living according to Your word in Nigeria. Lord, we pray for that in our lives and our churches, our families. Lord, help us to obey Your word and show the goodness of it. With the way we live in ways that resound to your glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Deuteronomy 4:5–8. 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.
