Contemplative Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 32:20-21a (New Living Translation)

20 He said, ‘I will abandon them;
then see what becomes of them.
For they are a twisted generation,
children without integrity.
21 They have roused my jealousy by worshiping things that are not God;

God is speaking to the people through Moses. One condemnation about the people is that they are children without integrity.

When a person says they will do one thing, but does another, that is one sign of a lack of integrity. What were the people saying and then not doing? They said they worshiped Jehovah their God and Jehovah alone. Instead, they were worshiping other gods.

This is the great failing of the people of the time; they worshiped what the people around them worshiped. Need rain for crops? Don’t pray to the real God, worship the local god of rain. Need help in a battle in the hills? Don’t pray to the real God, worship the local god of the hills. The list went on and on.

David sinned in many ways. David, however, only worshiped Jehovah the true God. Other kings after David? They worshiped other gods. They were children without integrity.

God, bless me with integrity. Bless me with the strength needed to do what I say I will do. Bless me with the wisdom to say only what I can do.