Deuteronomy 32:15-18 – Don’t be derailed by prosperity

In Deuteronomy 32:15, Israel is referred to as Jeshurun.  This is an endearing term meaning “the dear upright one” or “the blessed one.” God had endeared the children of Israel to Himself and made them His covenant people. He blessed them bountifully, and so they prospered and lacked nothing. They were described as “fat, thick, and sleek.” The sad consequence was that they became ungrateful. They forsook Him, spurned His love, and showed contempt for His salvation by their careless, utter disregard for Him. Irresponsibly and ungratefully, they disavowed and rejected God.

In referring to the nation of Israel as Jeshurun, God was in fact being more sarcastic than endearing. One can almost detect a tint of regret. For in the abundance of Israel’s  prosperity, they turned “to bite the hand that feeds them.” They forsook and scorned the LORD, the one who saved them and brought them stability. To add insults to injury, they provoked the LORD to anger by venerating foreign gods and idols. As if that was not enough, they even sacrificed to demons instead of being faithful to God. They had the audacity to pander to gods which they hardly knew, preferring them to the true God who had set them free and prospered them. They neglected God, strayed from Him, and behaved like children who had totally forgotten their origin.

The contrast presented in Deuteronomy 32:15-18 is the faithfulness of God and the ingratitude of His people. Instead of being grateful for the blessings bestowed on them, the children of Israel had shown contempt to God. They became ungrateful people who had abused the goodness of God. We sense in these verses, God’s call for us to be people who will remain faithful to Him. There is a danger when people forget the source of their blessings. When they shift their focus from the one who has blessed them to the blessings that He has so generously given them, they run the risk of having misplaced priority.

We must all be on a watch out for the  Laodicean syndrome in our walk with God. This is how the Lord Jesus described this syndrome in Revelation 3:17-19. He says, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked….” The action of gratitude we must emulate is that of the woman described in Matthew 26:7. Many believe that she was Mary Magdalene. She came to Jesus “with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head….” Here’s how Cece Winan expresses it in her song, "The Alabaster Box":

The room grew still
As she made her way to Jesus
She stumbles through the tears that made her blind
She felt such pain
Some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper
There's no place here for her kind
Still on she came
Through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last, she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no words
Everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the Master
From her box of alabaster
 
And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren't there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When he wrapped his love all around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box
 
I can't forget the way life used to be
I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
And I spent my days 
Poured my life without measure
Into a little treasure box
I'd thought I'd found
Until the day when Jesus came to me
And healed my soul
With the wonder of His touch
So now I'm giving back to Him
All the praise He's worthy of
I've been forgiven 
And that's why
I love Him so much
 
And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren't there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When he wrapped his love all around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box
 
And I've come to pour
My praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears
And dry them with my hair (my hair)
You weren't there the night Jesus found me
You did not feel what I felt 
When He wrapped his loving arms around me and
You don't know the cost of the oil
Oh, you don't know the cost of my praise
You don't know the cost of the oil
In my alabaster box