But this command I gave them: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.”
– Jeremiah 7:23
This is maybe one of the most important verses in the entire book of Jeremiah and one of the most important words in the entire Bible.
Jeremiah 7:23 teaches that true worship begins with obedience.
So verse 23 says, “This command, I gave them”. The contrast just to get the context and the verses right before this. God is talking to his people about how they worship him. They bring offerings before him, sacrifices. They do all these things, but he says, “This is the command I gave you. Obey my voice”. This word “obey”, it’s such a beautiful word in the Old Testament, “shama“.
It means to both hear and obey. So when you look back at one of the most thematically significant verses in all of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6, “Hear, oh, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength”. That word here is the same word that’s translated here as “obey”.
And so it’s this word that implies both hearing and obeying. And this is the command God has given his people. Hear. Listen to me and obey what I say. Obey my voice, which necessitates hearing his voice. God says, I will be your God. You shall be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you. God is giving us this command so that it will be good for us. God, who made u,s knows what is best for us.
Jeremiah 7:23 invites us into the way that leads to life.
So hear this word in your life, in a fresh way. In this moment, God has given you a command. Hear him and obey him, and live. Like experience life to the full with God as your God. You, as his child walking with him and things going well with you. Obviously not meaning that everything will be perfect in your life, in this fallen world. But this is the way to life, not just in this fallen world, but forever. “Hear and obey my voice”.
So God, we pray this word over each of our lives today. Help us to hear and obey you. Help us to listen to your voice. Yes, right now, help us to listen to what you’re saying to us. Help us to meditate on your Word all day long today, day and night, to meditate on your Word, to memorize it, hide it in our hearts, and to do what it says to live according to it.
This verse pictures a life marked by faithful response to God’s Word.
Help us not to be content with just getting information from your Word. God, we pray for transformation according to your Word, of every facet of our lives. Help us to hear it, and it helps us to listen to it and obey you all day long. Hear your voice. Obey your voice and live. We trust that it will go well with us when we do this.
God, we pray that this word would mark us today and every day, hear and obey, hear and obey. God, we know that your voice has spoken. You’ve told us to make disciples of all the nations. Your voice has spoken. You told us to pray earnestly for more workers for the harvest field, for the open doors for the spread of the gospel, and for bold proclamation of the gospel. So we hear you and we obey you.
Prayer for the Dasnami Gosain People
God, we pray today according to your Word for the Dasnami Gosain people of India, for half a million Dasnami Gosain people. God, we pray, raise up laborers to spread the gospel to them. We pray according to your Word for open doors among the Dasnami Gosain people. And we pray for boldness for those who are there and anyone you’re calling to go to them for the spread of the gospel among them. We pray that you would help them to listen to your voice and obey and to trust in you. God, we pray this word over the Dasnami Gosain people.
Oh God, we love your Word. We pray that you would help us to do exactly what you commanded your people to do in Jeremiah 7:23 in our lives today. Hear and obey. In Jesus’ name, amen.