RISING FROM ROCK BOTTOM
Opening Prayer
Lord, keep me afloat, and do not allow me to sink.
Read DEUTERONOMY 30:1–10
Prosperity After Turning to the Lord
30 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Footnotes:
a Deuteronomy 30:3 Or will bring you back from captivity
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Reflect on these words of David’s: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psa. 51:12).
Think Further
Today’s passage looks to the future, to that terrible time when God’s people will hit rock bottom. References to being dispersed, scattered and banished (1b,3b,4) point to the exile—the worst of the covenant curses, with which yesterday’s reading concluded (Deut. 29:28). J. K. Rowling once said, “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life” (Commencement Address, Harvard Alumni, 2008). Four words remind us of how God rebuilds his people when they hit rock bottom: repentance, restoration, renewal, reward.
Grace is always God’s initiative. Repentance—turning from sin and turning to God—is our right response. The prodigal son (Luke 15:11–24) reached rock bottom in a “distant country.” When he “came to his senses” and returned to his Father their relationship was restored. When the exiles take to heart what has befallen them (1) and “return” to the Lord (2), then he can begin the restoration process (3). As in Eden (Gen. 3:23,24), the great tragedy of banishment was the loss of God’s presence (for the land was regarded as the place where God made his dwelling). Restoration is not about Israel as a political entity; it is about God’s people being reinstated in right relationship with their Sovereign. Human beings are flawed and frail, however. Will they break covenant yet again? Knowing “how we are formed,” remembering that “we are dust” (Psa. 103:14), we are promised renewal—power from within to remain faithful. Circumcision is the sign that identifies God’s covenant people; inward circumcision of the heart (6) would empower them to live out this new identity. You and I have already received a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (Ezek. 36:26–28). Is it love or legalism that compels our obedience (6,8)?
Repentant, restored and renewed, God’s people will enjoy rich rewards—the fullness of life (6) and covenant blessings (9).
Apply
Are you complacent about the sin in your life? Or are you weighed down with guilt, struggling to receive God’s forgiveness? Take to heart 1 John 1:8–10.
Closing prayer
Lord, we have indeed received a new heart and a new spirit. In Your mercy, bring us into the fullness of what You have for us.
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