“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed [happy] is the man who trusts in Him!” (Ps 34:8).
Moses, in explaining the purpose of God’s covenantal commands, says the following: “Be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deut 4:6). This goes to the heart of God’s reasoning in selecting Abram from among the nations so long ago. Contrary to the anthropologists’ argument that ancient man evolved from pantheism to monotheism, it was the other way around. A relationship with the one true God was rejected, and humanity chose instead to worship the impersonal forces in nature—like the fertility goddess, the gods of love and of war—turning religion into an attempt to manipulate these forces to one’s own advantage. So the Lord’s intent was to raise up a nation as a divine protest to this idea. No, the universe is not run by impersonal forces working on mindless matter! There is a personal God who may be known and loved. Or as we read here, “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?” (v 7). Ah, that’s the big idea! If such a nation would manifest by their life choices to the nations around that “this great nation is a wise and understanding people,” it would stir their curiosity to find the secret. And what was it? Not only that they had a superior code of ethics, but that they had their “God so near” that “for whatever reason [they] may call upon Him.” This was the key, the grand plan, as God said to Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen 22:18). It’s still true that our enjoyment of God is our greatest testimony.