Deuteronomy 12:12: “And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.”

February 27th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Throughout Deuteronomy 12 the people of God were told to rejoice, both in all that they did and their worship of God Almighty. It is clear that God wants His people to have joy in their lives. It should be a normal response when the worshipper comes to understand all the love God has for His children and His desire for their good. This truth seems to have escaped much of the church for many centuries, especially from the 1500s through the 1800s. One has only to look at the facial expressions of church leaders in old paintings to see that this truth of joy was lost on them. The attitude during that time must have been that it was a sin to smile!

But God tells us to rejoice and be happy as we worship the One who has given us life both here and into eternity. Of course there are difficult times, storms and trials blow through every life. There are times when difficulties crowd in on every side. That is when we must press in and choose a correct attitude. We can always choose to be thankful, to forgive, to release, and to rejoice before God. This reality, that we can choose our attitude, is one that continues to grow in importance the older we get. There is a natural accumulation of bumps and bruises along the road of life that, if not handled correctly, will turn into resentments and even bitterness. We believe that’s why God places so much emphasis on joy in worship.

When we lift our eyes off of our own current, thorny circumstances, set them on the One who dwells in eternity, and choose to be thankful for what He’s given us (easy and difficult), then everything else is brought into correct perspective. We all have a choice, each day, regarding the attitude we will hold on to. We cannot change what happened yesterday. We cannot control most of the factors coming at us tomorrow, but there is this one thing, this one, critical thing we can control today, and that is our attitude. God says to us today, “Rejoice before the LORD your God.”

“We chose to rejoice before You this day, LORD. Thank You for giving us breath and strength to rejoice in what we do have—a personal relationship with the living God.”

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Deuteronomy 12 KJV

¹ These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. ² Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:  ³ And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.  ⁴ Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. ⁵ But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: ⁶ And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: ⁷ And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. ⁸ Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. ⁹For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. ¹⁰ But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORDyour God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; ¹¹ Then there shall be a place which the LORDyour God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: ¹² And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that iswithin your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. ¹³ Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: ¹⁴ But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. ¹⁵Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. ¹⁶ Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. ¹⁷ Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: ¹⁸ But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. ¹⁹ Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.  ²⁰ When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. ²¹ If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. ²² Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. ²³ Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood isthe life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.  ²⁴ Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. ²⁵ Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which isright in the sight of the LORD. ²⁶ Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose: ²⁷ And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORDthy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. ²⁸ Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. ²⁹ When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; ³⁰ Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.  ³¹ Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.  ³² What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.