“An Unexpected Journey” Deut 8:7–18; Psalm 107:1–8

Deuteronomy 8:7–18

7. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills;
8. a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;
9. a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
12. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,
13. and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,
14. then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
15. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.
16. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
17. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
18. But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Version: NIV

Psalm 107:1–7

1. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
         his love endures forever.
2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this—
         those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3. those he gathered from the lands,
         from east and west, from north and south.
4. Some wandered in desert wastelands,
         finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5. They were hungry and thirsty,
         and their lives ebbed away.
6. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
         and he delivered them from their distress.
7. He led them by a straight way
         to a city where they could settle.
8. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
         and his wonderful deeds for men,
9. for he satisfies the thirsty
         and fills the hungry with good things.

Version: NIV