Coming to the end of Deuteronomy. Moses lays out the way of blessing and the warning of curses for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Blessings follow obedience . . . but if their hearts turn away and are drawn to worship and serve other gods, then they would perish in the land God is giving them. Moses sets before them life and death, blessing and curse . . . “Therefore,” Moses says, “choose life” (Deut. 30:15-20). But there’s a verse in chapter 29 that has kind of captured me this morning . . . . insight as to the nature of the heart of man and the need for a sovereign work of grace by God . . . or, as a songwriter once said, “I can’t even walk, without You holding my hand.”

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.   (Deuteronomy 29:2-4 ESV)

They had all the facts and data . . . the “delivered-from-Egypt” experience was their experience . . . been there, done that . . . yet, apart from God giving them a heart to understand, they would remain in bondage. Though GREAT GOD + GREAT DELIVERANCE + GREAT PROMISES should have resulted in GREAT DESIRE TO FOLLOW GOD, somehow their hearts were still prone to wander. Somehow they grew to believe they deserved deliverance . . . over time the promises of a future were drowned out by the pleasures and pressures of the day . . . and God became one of many gods — others, for whatever reason, being deemed more worthy of their worship. Though they had experienced the power of God, their eyes failed to see it . . . their ears were stopped from hearing it . . . their hearts failed to process it . . .

Apart from God giving us ears to hear, we miss the obvious. Apart from God opening up our eyes, we fail to see the glorious. Apart from replacing hearts of stone with hearts of flesh, and then implanting His word within it, we come up short of desiring Him who first desired us.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us . . .    (Deuteronomy 29:29a ESV)

It’s the things that are revealed that make the difference. Less about high halls of learning than it is about Spirit enabled illumination. Not so much what you know but HOW you know it. And for that, the child of God can take no credit.

No boasting on our part . . . nothing to claim. But our boasting is in the God who gives sight to the spiritually blind . . . who speaks words to the spiritually deaf . . . who gives new hearts to the spiritually dull.

I can’t see apart from Him providing the light . . . I can’t hear without Him unstopping my ears . . . I can’t understand unless He tunes my heart to to heaven’s frequency . . . I can’t even walk, without You holding my hand.

All by His grace alone . . . and for His glory alone . . .

Amen?