“The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will lie down with your ancestors. Then this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst, the gods of the land into which they are going; they will forsake me, breaking my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷ My anger will be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them and hide my face from them; they will become easy prey, and many terrible troubles will come upon them. In that day they will say, ‘Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not in our midst?’ ¹⁸ On that day I will surely hide my face on account of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. ¹⁹ Now therefore write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.” Deuteronomy 31:16-19

There is a real sense of sadness as I read these last verses of Deuteronomy – as we witness the last days of Moses. Notice the response of Moses. G-d says to him, “Your time to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him.”  There is no complaining from Moses. There is no sense of anger toward G-d at his plight that he will not see the promised land, but Joshua will. Moses had been through a lot in his service to G-d. But Moses is stoic in his obedience to the will of G-d.  He is 120 years old, he can no longer get around, and he knew all along that it was not to be his privilege to see the Promised Land. And in the midst of all of the emotions that must be running through him, he writes a Song – not because he is sad, but because the Lord commands him to do one more thing for these people who will continue to turn their faces away from G-d. 

What song would you write for the Lord in response for what G-d has done for you?  My song would be “I am the Laugh-Man” by Harry Chapin.  The first line of the song goes something like this, “I am the laugh-man; half clown and half man.”  Why this song?  Because I often feel like I am a clown for the Lord, who wants the people to laugh and respond to me, yet the people don’t respond.  I think it is the cry of all Christians, wanting the un-churched to respond to us, yet our efforts too often fall on deaf ears.

Pastor Dave