Day: April 11, 2026

Not Thy Righteousness, But Their Wickedness #2

Saturday, April 11, 2026

“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deuteronomy 9:5 KJV).

May we have the proper perspective of wickedness versus righteousness….

It is human nature to have a high opinion of our ourselves, to overestimate our worth. One classic biblical example is the Israelites at Mount Sinai, boasting they could work in the energy of their flesh to make themselves God’s people. Consequently, they insisted on having a Law-based acceptance system. “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do!” They could not have cared less about God’s grace, or all that He had done to rescue them from bondage to Egypt. In short, they would show God just what a “deal,” what a “bargain,” He had gotten when He selected them out from the nations!

Read Exodus 19:3-8: “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

Of course, the generation of “pious” Israelites here in Exodus had died off in rebellion against God by the time of Deuteronomy (today’s Scripture, reading especially verses 7-29)—perishing during the 40-year wilderness wanderings of Numbers 14:26-39. Their righteousness was insignificant, for they had none….