I WILL SING

"Give ear, O heavens, while I speak; let the earth hearken to the words of my mouth!

May my instruction soak in like the rain, and my discourse permeate like the dew, Like a downpour upon the grass, like a shower upon the crops.
For I will sing the LORD'S renown. Oh, proclaim the greatness of our God!
The Rock--how faultless are his deeds, how right all his ways! A faithful God, without deceit, how just and upright he is!" Deut. 32:1-4

I appreciate the greatness of Moses, when I realize that he lifts up his voice and sings this song to God and the people of Isreal after God has revealed to him that he will not be going into the promised land. It is one thing to sing when the future is personally bright, but Moses, like David, another great Biblical figure of old, sings even when things are not going his way. Moses has just been commanded by God to climb the mountain and die there, in sight of the promised land he has been leading his people to all these years. He is not to enter the promised land, in his past he has dishonored God while serving Him and was told this would be the consequence. As I read the passage in Deuteronomy, the last song of Moses, I wept for the pain Moses must have felt and for the noble spirit he had; no anger with God, no bitterness, no whining, but acceptance, blessing and praising.

Moses sings of God as the rock, and Moses knows he has displeased God and that is why he can't enter Canaan, as recorded in Numbers 20:10). Rabbinical and Christian scholars have worked on the issue of exactly what happened at the waters of Meribah. Exactly how Moses disobeyed God, they are not sure. Was it striking the rock twice in disobedience or a lack of faith? These are only two of many reasons proposed as to why Moses "struck out" when he struck the rock. I do know though that there are many times I "strike out" in service to God and in my relationship with the Lord. Many times that I do things I shouldn't or do too much, not enough, or not at all what God asks. Naturally, lifestyle choices,may influence the span of my years if I ignore physicians advice. But this isn't about living longer, this is about pleasing God. There are the times I seek to do God's will my way, could that be what happened in the story about Moses? There was a seemingly "little" thing Moses was not faithful in and it was a "big" thing to God. Moses accepts Divine justice, Divine consequences for his actions and praises God. He accepts responsibility for his actions and then continues to seek and obey. Moses is a man who walked and talked with God, a man with human failings, whom God used in amazing ways. God loved Moses and Moses God. Moses went up on the mountain one last time to see the promised land in the distance and die with his Lord present.
Oh Lord, may I have the integrity of Moses and his ability to accept that God is always in control and that His ways are not my ways. May I accept responsibility for those areas in my life in which I fall short of the Glory of God, be faithful in the little things as well as the big, and walk in newness of life from there after.