Deuteronomy 9:4
“Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you.”
The Lord is doing a good thing for Israel. He has for a long time. The largest motive is to bless and have a people and a model through which the messiah can come and offer redemption to all the world. This passage seems to indicate that some thought it was a reward for their goodness. Not at all.
God wants to bless us. David says in Psalm 23, “my cup runneth over”. He wants to bless us to the extent that our lives over flow with goodness. He will provide for us, but it usually doesn’t mean we’ll be rich. It’s the joy and peace in our hearts and the richness of our relationships and circumstances.
While He does reward our obedience, but we aren’t blessed because we are so good. It’s by who we are associated with, Jesus. His death and resurrection made it possible for us to be His children. He loves us greatly and wants to be a father to us. But we shouldn’t take pride in the fact that we are more special than others. It’s because of God’s great love and Jesus’ work.
We are special and important to The Lord, but so is everyone. Psalm 139:17, 18 says that God has many great thoughts about us. The number is so great that they out number the sand on the sea shore. This again is true for everyone.
Lord, thank You that You love us greatly. Not because we are better. You love us all. Help us to know and rest in that.