The Goodness of God

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Whenever I want to praise God about something I remember Deuteronomy 32, which contains the song of Moses. I have always had a warm place in my heart for Moses. As a kid I felt sorry for him because the Lord took him to Mount Nebo and showed him the promised land and told him He would let him see it with his eyes, but not cross over into it. I thought that was such a sad way to die. To see the promise of the Lord before you and know that it will not be given to you in your lifetime. However, after he is shown the Promised Land and he dies, the Lord buries him and it is written about him that the Lord knew Moses face to face and since then there has been no prophet like Moses. Those are some very special words to have written about your life. And you know that when the Lord God himself tends to your burial, you have been blessed from above.

On to my point, I love Moses and I love Deuteronomy 32: 3-4. It reads, "I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God. He is the Rock, his works are perfect and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." Now the rest of this passage isn't as lovey dovey. It is a chastisement from Moses as he reminds the people of how good God has been to them and how they have forgotten him. But I just love verses 3 and 4. I love that Moses praises his goodness and greatness and trumpets his works as perfect. He is faithful and He is so good to us. At the end of Moses song, he reminds the Israelites to teach these commands to their children and to obey the Word of God, for they are not just idle words, but words of life. Oh, how I love that. They do breathe life into my soul.

Before Moses dies, he blesses the people of Israel and leaves them with his parting farewell speech. As he closes, right before he goes to climb Mount Nebo, he says to them, "The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out the enemy before you, saying, "Destroy him!" . . . . "Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord. He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. "

These words are so dear to me, because I know the Lord has drawn His sword for our family over the past few weeks. We were given disheartening news when we first went for our ultrasound a few weeks ago. There was a slight abnormality on the baby's bowel that the doctor said could be perfectly normal and absolutely nothing to worry about, or it could be a marker for Downs Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis. We chose to do some further testing and today we stand before you just as Moses stood before Israel, declaring that we are a people saved by the Lord. He was our shield and our helper and he drew his sword and defeated our enemy. We praise Him for his goodness to us and declare, just as Moses did, that He is faithful and his works are perfect. The test for CF came back that I am not a carrier and the genetic testing all came back normal. For this we are so very grateful and we know that our God is merciful and good and He fights for us. Praise His goodness.

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