Deuteronomy 22 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 22.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/22/1/s_175001

Meditate on verses 1 and 3-4.

 

You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep

 straying away and pay no attention to them; you shall

 certainly bring them back to your countryman.

 Thus, you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the

 same with his garment, and you shall do likewise

 with anything lost by your countryman, which he has

 lost and you have found. You are not allowed to neglect them. 

You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox

fallen down on the way, and pay no attention to

 them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.

 

These verses address the sin of doing nothing.  All three verses contain the Hebrew word alam, translated as “pay no attention” and “to neglect.”  Alam literally means “to hide yourself.”¹ 

 

Let that soak in for a moment—neglecting a noticed need, deliberately hiding rather than assisting is sin.  Ouch!  God’s Word is convicting, making us evaluate our attitudes.  Do we really care, or do we turn the other way, pretending not to see?

 

Ask the LORD to give you His heart for others, and when He does, ask Him to strengthen and equip you to help.

 

As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), pray for yourself and those you love not to be people who alam, using the words from Deuteronomy 22:1 and 3-4.

 

“LORD, help ________ and me not see others straying away

 and pay no attention to them.  Help us bring them back to You.

 LORD, do not let us be people who neglect.

  Help us pay attention and help others, raising them up.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

 

 

 

1.     Retrieved from www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5956&t=NASB

 

 

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Deuteronomy 21 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 21.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/21/1/s_174001

Meditate on verses 18-19 and 21.

 

If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will

 not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him,

 he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall

 seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his

 city at the gateway of his hometown.

Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death;

 so, you shall remove the evil from your

 midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.

 

Do these verses make you squirm?  They should because God has not changed His mind about stubborn, rebellious children.  It is grievous in the sight of God for children to rebel against their parents, and on the cross, Jesus took our deserved stoning for stubborn rebellion.  

 

Teach your children what the Bible says about honoring and respecting parents (Exodus 20:12; 21:15; Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Matthew 15:4; Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20).  Pray for their salvation, so their punishment for rebellion will be paid by the death of Jesus.  Teach your children what Jesus did for them, so they can choose to follow Him instead of dying in their sins.

 

Pray Deuteronomy 21:8-9 and 21 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“O LORD, please forgive _________ and me,

Your people, whom You have redeemed,

and do not place the guilt of innocent blood

 in our midst.  Help us do what is right in Your eyes, LORD,

and forgive our bloodguiltiness and remove the guilt of

innocent blood from our midst.  Remove the evil from

 our midst.  May others hear and fear You, LORD.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 20 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 20.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/20/1/s_173001

Meditate on verse 1.

 

When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses

and chariots and people more numerous than you,

 do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought

 you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

 

Whether you are an actual military member or a member of God’s army, engaged in spiritual battle, Deuteronomy 20 contains great advice for approaching a battle.  The chapter can be summed up with three exhortations:

 

·      Do not be afraid for the LORD your God is with you.

·      Do not be distracted.

·      Stay focused on the battle.

 

As a Christian, you are fighting a spiritual battle.  The enemy, Satan, wants to destroy those you love, so they do not have the opportunity to know Jesus.  He wants to distract you from praying for them and sharing the Gospel with them.  Be aware of his tactics and do not be fooled by his strategies.  Devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert in it (Colossians 4:2).  Stay focused on opportunities to tell others about Jesus.  When the LORD returns will there be people worshiping around His throne because you shared the Gospel with them?

 

Spiritual warfare is real.  Pray like a well-trained soldier, using God’s Word as your weapon (Ephesians 6:13-20).

 

Pray Deuteronomy 20:3-4 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, as __________ and I approach the battle against our

enemies today, do not let us be fainthearted.  Do not let

 us be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for You,

 LORD our God, are the one who goes with us to fight

 for us against our enemies to save us.

LORD, please save ___________.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Deuteronomy 19 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 19.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/19/1/s_172001

Meditate on verse 7.

 

“Therefore, I command you saying, ‘You

shall set aside three cities for yourself.’”

 

God made provision for those who unintentionally killed another to have a place to flee, a city of refuge, a place where the blood avenger could not stalk and kill them.  It was the only safe place for manslayers; they must run to the city of refuge and remain there in order not to die.

 

As God made provision for the Israelites to have cities of refuge, He was giving them foreshadowing pictures of Messiah.  Jesus is both the city of refuge and the blood avenger.  Jesus came to earth the first time as the city of refuge, the place of salvation for all who run to Him.  Remarkably, He welcomes not only those who sin unintentionally but those of us who are intentional sinners.  “Thank You, Jesus!”

 

When you run to Him in repentance, He becomes your city of refuge where you can remain and never die (Psalm 31:1).  He is your only safe place because a day is coming when He will return to earth as the blood avenger, slaying everyone who did not choose Him to be their city of refuge (Revelation 19:11-21).

 

Pray Deuteronomy 19:9 and 12 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, please let ________ and me carefully observe all

 this commandment that You command us today, to love

You, LORD our God and to walk in all Your ways always. 

You are our city of refuge.  Please let _________ choose You to be

 their city of refuge so they will not be delivered into

Your hand, Blood Avenger, so that they die.

Save them in Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Deuteronomy 18 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 18.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/18/1/s_171001

Meditate on verse 2.

 

They (the Levites) shall have no inheritance among their

 countrymen; the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.

 

There is a sense of relief in not receiving an earthly inheritance – no worries about what a family member did or did not leave you in their will – no worries about what you will or will not leave family members in your will.  There are no worries about squabbling with family members because of an inheritance – no worries about destroying family relationships over an inheritance.  Thankfully, if you are a Christian, you are considered a priest by God, a spiritual Levite (Revelation 1:6).  And, like the Levites in Deuteronomy, the LORD is your inheritance.  There is no inheritance on earth that compares to Him; He is more than enough.

 

Ponder what it means to have the LORD as your inheritance.  If you are concerned about an earthly inheritance, let it go.  Nothing you inherit on this earth is eternal, but the people you might be tempted to fight with because of a will are eternal.  Don’t risk your relationship with them and the opportunity to share the Gospel with them for a paltry sum of money, piece of land, or stuff.

 

Pray Deuteronomy 18:5 and 13 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD my God, please choose _________ and me to stand

and serve in Your name forever.

Make us blameless before You.

In Your name, Jesus, our inheritance~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 - Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

 

Deuteronomy 17 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 17.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/17/1/s_170001

Meditate on this phrase from verses 7 and 12.

 

Purge the evil…

 

God knows allowing evil to remain in the land corrupts people, desensitizing them to callously continue sinning.  In this chapter, the LORD tells you how to stop sinning.

 

·      Purge the evil from your midst (v. 7).

·      Write God’s Word, making a copy for yourself of verses you need to remember (v. 18).

·      Keep it with you, reading God’s Word every day of your life, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God by carefully observing all His Words (v. 19).

 

Ask the LORD to search and purge you of evil thoughts and actions.  Fill your mind with God’s Word: write it; read it; memorize it; tell it, so others can know how to please God.

 

Pray Deuteronomy 17:7 and 18-20 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD, please purge the

evil from ________ and me.

Help us write a copy of Your

 Word and keep it with us.

 Let us read it all the days

 of our life that we

 may learn to fear You by

carefully observing all the words

 of Your law and statutes, that

 our hearts will not be

 lifted up above others and

 that we may not turn aside

from the commandments

 to the right or the left, so

that our children may continue

 long in Your Kingdom, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell

Deuteronomy 16 - Praying God's Word

 

Please read Deuteronomy 16.

www.blueletterbible.org/nasb/deu/16/1/s_169001

Meditate on verse 2-3a.

 

You shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God

 from the flock and the herd, in the place where

the LORD chooses to establish His name.

You shall not eat leavened bread with it.

 

As you read Deuteronomy, notice God continues to talk about the place He will choose to establish His name.  Recall from Deuteronomy 12 He never names a geographical location because ultimately people are the place where God dwells through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins.

 

Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 

Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven,

nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the

 unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

—1 Corinthians 5:7b-8

 

As a Christian, you no longer sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God because Christ your Passover lives inside of you—the place—where the LORD chose to establish His name—Amazing!

 

In sincerity and truth, thank God for choosing you and ask Him to choose those you know who still need to invite Him to establish His name in them as His dwelling place.

 

Pray Deuteronomy 16:15 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

 

“LORD my God, I celebrate that I am the place You choose to dwell. 

Please choose _________ to also be the place You choose.

 Please bless ___________ and me in all our produce and

in all the work of our hands, so that we will be altogether joyful.

In Your name, Jesus~”

 

The WATCHMAN on the WALL, 4 – Dr. Ron and Marsha Harvell