Sermon Central
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Call On God For Guidance Series
Contributed by John Dobbs on Oct 5, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: The Bible tells us in many ways that we need God to make it in this life. So many people try to make it without God's guidance and help, but it usually ends up in a mess when we just try to do things our own way.
Call On God For Guidance
Deuteronomy 5:1-21;6:4-9
Introduction
The Bible tells us in many ways that we need God to make it in this life. So many people try to make it without God's guidance and help, but it usually ends up in a mess when we just try to do things our own way. There are several reasons why we need to call on God for Guidance - think about these:
Because we usually veer to the wrong path when left on our own.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.
Because my understanding is limited as a human being.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Because without God’s help, I’m walking in darkness.
Psalm 119:105 NLT Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Because God desires to lead us and guide us through the troubles of our lives.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not
forsake them.
Last week we started a series called CALL ON GOD and we talked about calling on God for help. We talked about how God heard the prayers of the children of Israel and some events leading up to the Exodus.
Israel walked out of Egypt and into the wilderness where due to unfaithfulness they wandered for 40 years.
Deuteronomy comes at the end of the Pentateuch - the five books of law, books of Moses. It includes some reviews of the history of Israel and God’s teachings about how they were called to live. Today we are going to visit Deuteronomy 5 and 6, where Moses reviews the ten commands, the greatest commands, and some ways to keep them before us. It's a message about calling on God for Guidance in this life!
1. God Has a Will: Ten Guiding Principles For Godly Living (5:1-21)
The Ten Commands in short form. Let’s say them out loud.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
A few observations about the ten commands:
-These are the bedrocks of civilization. The first four relate to our relationship with God, the last six to our relationship to humans.
-These give us insight into holiness - how God wants us to live. “All the demands of the Decalogue are a reflection of the nature of God.” - Brown
-These are not all intuitive - we need to learn/become aware of them.
Romans 7:7 … I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
-The Ten commands are valuable to our walk with the Lord today.
-The Ten Commands are not Capricious.
2. God Has a Reason (5:29, 32; 6:3)
Three times in this discourse on the law, Moses gives the same reason for God’s instructions.
Deut. 5:29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
Deut. 5:32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the
left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Deut. 6:3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
Experience tells us that when we fail to follow God’s ways, it doesn’t go well with us at all.
God Has a Will for Our Lives and a Reason for His Laws…
3. God Has a Plan (6:4-9)
Listen (Hear, O Israel…” 6:4a) If God presents his will to us and we do not listen, it is of no avail! There are many Scriptures about listening. Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28).
