Deuteronomy 8:3
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
After winning the 200-meter race in the Olympics a few days ago, a reporter asked Tebogo from Botswana in Southern Africa if he aspired to become the face of track and field. His response was, For me, I can't be the face of track and field because I'm not an arrogant or loud person like Noah Lyles.
So I believe he is the face of track and field athletics. Before the race, Lyles predicted that he would take the gold and complete a double of the 100 meter and 200 meter, adding that when I come off the turn, they will be depressed. Tebogo won, and Lyles got third place. Our text tonight exposes that same sin of arrogance, pride, and self-sufficiency that no Lyles may have experienced.
Open your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 8. You can find it in the front of your bulletin or on page 153 of the pew or chair Bible close to you. So Deuteronomy 8. And while you find this verse, let me give you just a quick background of the text. Moses is preaching to the Israelites that will enter into the promised land. And he gives them instructions, encouragement, exhortations, recounting some previous history of God's people.
Now, as we live our lives as God's new covenant people, preparing to enter the new Jerusalem, let's heed God's instructions for us from this text tonight. So here's what the text says, Deuteronomy 8, verse 3. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
I believe the main truth that we see here from this text and the main truth for this devotional tonight is this. Live life to the fullest by trusting in God and his word. Live life to the fullest by trusting in God and his word. I want to meditate and break down this text into two points. Point number one, God is the fullness of life in and of himself, and he doesn't need us.
God is the fullness of life in and of himself, and he doesn't need us. And point number two later, acknowledge your dependence on God by trusting in him and his word. Acknowledge your dependence on God by trusting in him and his word. So point number one, God is the fullness of life in and of himself, and he doesn't need us. Our text puts the accent or the stress on God as the sovereign Lord, King, creator, and sustainer of all things.
Did you notice that? It says, and he, he, God, humbled you and let you hunger. And he fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know. That he, God, might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So in this text, we see this truth that God is independent, that he's self-sufficient.
We see a distinction between the creator, the Lord of the universe, and his creatures. And we see this truth not only in our text, but also throughout the scriptures. In Psalm 24, David declares God as the creator and owner of the universe. He says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
We not only see this truth in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament. When Paul was preaching in Athens, in Acts chapter 17, he said this. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man. Nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
This truth that God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of Himself and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, Not standing in need of any creatures which he has made, nor deriving any glory in, by, unto, and upon them, as the Westminster Confession of Faith says, has massive implications for our lives.
So let me point out just two brief things here about this truth. First, this truth gives us hope while we live in a world marred and marked by sin, war, death, and suffering. Brothers and sisters, while everything around us and sometimes even in us is screaming to us that sin and death reign, remember to look up. Remember to look up and embrace the truth that we worship the almighty God who is eternally blessed and has revealed himself to us and in his mercy has saved us and defeated our enemies.
And therefore, even in the midst of the chaos in our lives, there is hope. Our God reigns. He is supreme over all. Sin and death do not have the last word in our lives. Secondly, this truth also should fill our hearts with awe and praise to God. This truth that God is the transcendent Lord of the universe should cause us to worship, adore, and revere him.
I love what Anselm says about God. He says, only that which exists through itself and through which all other things exist is the being that is of all beings, supreme. This leads us to point number two. Acknowledge your dependence on God by trusting in him and his word. Acknowledge your dependence on God by trusting in him and his word.
our text again says and he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord now the text tells us that the Israelites depended on God for food and for their their existence in this life and the life to come so what is the application for us today remember that your physical needs and every breath of your life come from God now you may think Allison I know that that's that's a basic truth that is trivial why are you telling me this well let me encourage you brother and sister that we just like the Israelites we tend to forget this truth and one subtle cause of pride in our
lives is forgetfulness that we owe everything that we have in our very own lives to God so let me read you just a few verses later from our passage in Deuteronomy 8 Deuteronomy 8 11 says take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes which I commend you today. Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied then your heart be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna
that your fathers did not know that he might humble you and test you to do you good in the end. Listen to this, beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. Does that sound familiar to you? Perhaps you have had moments in your life when everything was going super well. You were getting good grades in school or you really enjoyed your job.
You had good friends, your health was doing well, your bank account was taking care of your bills, or maybe your parents continued to provide for you and you didn't have to worry about money. Your life was in cruise control of success, and you started to drift and think that the success and blessing was because you were smart, maybe hardworking, or you're better than other people, you ended up exalting yourself and forgetting that God is the one who was blessing you and giving you the energy and the opportunities to study, to have a good job, and to pay your bills. You forgot what we heard this morning from 2 Corinthians 3, 5. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything that's coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. Brothers and
sisters, that is the whisper of the serpent. This is what the serpent Satan said, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil. You see, when we forget that we were created to depend on God and to glorify Him, we usurp His throne, and we place ourselves on it. In what ways have you forgotten to acknowledge that everything that you have, and that your but every breath come from God.
In what ways or areas of your life are you living life in a self-existent way? Now, perhaps you're at the other end of the spectrum. Maybe some of you are experiencing tremendous suffering right now and not success. Let me be very clear that I don't know all the plans and details why God allowed that suffering in your life.
May God give you grace, mercy, comfort, and be your helper and refuge in your suffering. And may we as a church come alongside you to love you and help you in this time of need. Having said that, our passage also teaches us that God uses at least some suffering to humble us and to increase our dependence on Him and to kill pride in our lives. One of the most humbling moments in my life was last year when I broke my Achilles tendon.
After my surgery, the doctor said, Allison, I know you drove here with your Achilles broken to see me. But going out, you cannot drive. And you cannot drive for a while. And you cannot put weight on your leg for about two months. And when you're going to need a shower, you're going to ask your wife for help. Because you cannot get your leg wet. And you can all use that leg.
Did I enjoy going through this process? Of course not. But brothers and sisters, I can say with 100% confidence tonight that I'm much more aware that every step that my leg takes today is because of God's strength and power that he's giving to me. That I was not aware of that. A year ago. So if you're in suffering right now.
Remember that God will never leave you. Nor forsake you. Remember to go to him in humble dependence. And seek his grace in this time of need. Welcome help from others around you. Finally our text also points us forward. the one who can satisfy us and give us abundant life, life to the fullest. John 6 says this, our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Jesus then said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world they said to him sir give us this bread always jesus said to them i am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never shall never thirst friend if you are here visiting with us and you're not a Christian, my prayer to you is that you'd say the same thing of that response from Jesus' hearers when they said, sir, I want this bread. Go to him. Trust in him. He is the bread of life who can
sustain you now and give you eternal life because he gave his life for you and he rose again. And one day he will come back to establish the new heavens and the new earth. And who will be with him forever. Trust in him. Let's pray. Father, we praise you. That even though you are the almighty God who reigns over all.
Yet you chose to create us. you chose to also save a people for yourself. A people that have rebelled against you. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your mercy in our lives. Help us to live our lives depending on you and glorifying you. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.