“Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people saying, ‘Keep the whole commandment that I command you today.”
– Deuteronomy 27:1
Keep the whole commandment, the whole commandment, so God, in his word through Moses and elders of Israel here does not call his people to keep most of his commandments or part of his commandments. God deliberately, specifically, intentionally says, “Do not be selective with my commandments. Keep them all. Keep the whole commandment that I command you.” And I read Deuteronomy 27:1 and I think about how selective I can, we can, be with God’s word, and how we can obey the parts of God’s word that come more naturally to us.
Well, really supernaturally. Anything good in us as a result of his spirit in us. But some of the parts of God’s word that we tend to rebel against more, we think, “Okay, well I may not be doing good in that area, but at least I’m doing good in all these other areas.” And God says, “I’m calling you to keep my whole commandment to obey me in every single way.”
While you and I are not able to keep all of God’s commandments, the good news is that Jesus did on our behalf.
We Should Obey Everything We See In His Word
And even as I say that we know this is the whole picture in the Old Testament, nobody apart from Jesus has done this, is able to do this. But this is the beauty of the Gospel. You and I are not able to keep the whole commandment, God has commanded us. But Jesus is, and Jesus did. He is completely righteous and he has died on a cross for the sins, for the disobedience of everyone who trusts in him.
And he has forgiven us of our sin. And he has filled us with his spirit. His spirit inside of us so that we might do what? So that we might keep the whole commandment of God by his grace, by his power, by his spirit in us. And so we pray, God, may it be so in us today. So God, we pray that you’d help us not to be selective in our obedience to your word. God, help us to obey everything we see in your word. God, we pray that when we fall short knowing we will, God, forgive us, have mercy on us.
Deuteronomy 27:1 Helps Us Confess Our Disobedience Quickly
Help us to confess our disobedience quickly with the smallest thought or smallest desire, which we know is infinitely offensive in your sight. God, we pray that you would help us to confess our sin quickly and to repent and to run from it and to walk in obedience. We pray to your whole commandment. God, that’s our desire. That’s my desire. That’s our desire. We want to walk in obedience to your whole commandment.
And even when we think about your old commandment and what we often pray for in this podcast, how we pray for unreached people because we’ve not been obedient. God, we’ve not been obedient to your command to make disciples of all the nations. We have lived and given in such a way that sorry, 7,000 people groups in the world still have little to no access to the Gospel. God, we pray that you’d help us to keep your whole commandment, you would help us to make the Gospel known among all the people groups of the world.
Deuteronomy 27:1 Prays For The Andi People Of Russia
God, we pray today for the Andi people of Russia. Please cause the Gospel to go to them, help us to obey your whole commandment, to make the Gospel known among the Andi people and among the Baloch and among Somalis, God, among every people group in the world. God, we pray. Help us to keep your whole commandment to obey the great commission wholly, completely, to the ends of the earth.
So God, use our lives, our families, your church, our part and every part we have to play in it toward that end. God, help us to keep your commandment, your whole commandment, that you command us today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Until by your grace, we see your face, and dressed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we enjoy and exalt you for all of eternity. In his 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.
