Deuteronomy 7:21; 8:14 Thou shalt not be afrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you…Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God
It is obvious, isn’t it, that things change? Routines change; challenges change. The world is changing every day and faster than it ever has before. So, whether you have been doing what you are doing for many years or whether this is the first time you have ever done it, things are changing all the time. There are certain seasons when there are pronounced changes, the beginning of a school year, the beginning of college, the beginning of a new job. People tend to approach change with one of two kinds of confidence, either over-confidence, which we might call pride, or under-confidence, which we might call fear. So, we can come to the unknown future either smug or fearful.
Where does balance originate? Where do we come to the place where we are neither smug nor fearful all the days of our life? Deuteronomy 7:8 tells us over and again to remember. “Remember” seems to be one of the keywords of Deuteronomy 7-8. Moses is remembering what God has done, who God is, and who the children of Israel were. In short, a good memory is the key to the balance that we need in life, seeing the past clearly and stepping forward into the unseen future with the right kind of confidence.
In particular where does this balance originate? It originates from the right kind of memory. A good memory does not mean that you can remember everything but that you can remember what matters. There are two things in particular to notice here. First, remember who you are. When you are coming into the future and are tempted to be arrogant or fearful, remember who you are.
In Deuteronomy 7 the first word is “when.” It says, “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it.” Verse 2 says, “And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee.” So, there is a when/then kind of proposition here. You find this more than once in these two chapters. When this happens, then this is what you are to do. Verse 6 in particular says, “For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
Now, I am not Jewish, but if you belong to God by faith in the Lord Jesus, you are the seed of Abraham by faith in God’s Christ. So, remember who you are. This is not a matter of arrogance. This is actually a matter of humility. Verse 7 says, “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the LORD loved you.” So, God doesn’t love you because you are great; He loves you because He loves you.
It is wonderful to come into the unseen, unknown future and remember who I am. I may not be much or have accomplished much. It doesn’t matter. I belong to God. God made me who I am. God will guide me where I need to go. I belong to God. That is what Moses is telling these people, “When you come to this new land, remember who you are.”
Second, remember who God is. This naturally precedes from verse 7 because Moses basically says, “God loves you because of Him not because of you.” We are to remember who God is. Verse 9 says, “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandment to a thousand generations.” He is God, a faithful, good, covenant-keeping, merciful God. Aren’t you glad that is true?
Verse 21 says, “Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you.” I can go into the future without fear, not because of who I am primarily but because of who I am in God. Verse 22 says they would take the land little by little, not all at once. It was a step-by-step process, one day at a time. God will take care of you as you honor Him. There is no fear, and in contrast there is no pride. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 says, “And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee.” Then he tells them to obey Him, love Him, follow Him, remember Him.
So, memory of who you are and of who God is keeps me from fear and from pride. He goes on to say that they were coming to a land they didn’t deserve, own, or build. When that happened, they were to “remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.” And verse 19 reminds them to not forget God.
You may not be Israel on the end of forty years of wandering or on the cusp of the Promised Land, but like these dear people who have been given us as examples, the balance of under-confidence and over-confidence, fear and pride, is in a good memory. Remember who you are. Remember who God is. Don’t have fear. Don’t have pride. Follow God.