A Parent's Heart, God's Heart · Day 1
Deuteronomy 32:10-14 — a devotion
Deuteronomy 32
- 10여호와께서 그를 황무지에서, 짐승의 부르짖는 광야에서 만나시고 호위하시며 보호하시며 자기 눈동자 같이 지키셨도다He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.
- 11마치 독수리가 그 보금자리를 어지럽게 하며 그 새끼 위에 너풀거리며 그 날개를 펴서 새끼를 받으며 그 날개 위에 그것을 업는 것 같이As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers.
- 12여호와께서 홀로 그들을 인도하셨고 함께 한 다른 신이 없었도다So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.The LORD alone led him. There was no foreign god with him.
- 13여호와께서 그로 땅의 높은 곳을 타고 다니게 하시며 밭의 소산을 먹게 하시며 반석에서 꿀을, 굳은 반석에서 기름을 빨게 하시며He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;
- 14소의 젖 기름과 양의 젖과 어린 양의 기름과 바산 소산의 수양과 염소와 지극히 아름다운 밀을 먹이시며 또 포도즙의 붉은 술을 마시우셨도다Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine.
KJV and World English Bible — Public Domain · 개역한글 ⓒ Korean Bible Society
Background
Deuteronomy 32 is the song Moses left for the people of Israel before his death. Moses had led the people through the wilderness for forty years and witnessed God's faithfulness firsthand. This song looks back over Israel's past, recalling how God cared for His people. Verses 10-14 describe how God found Israel in the wilderness and protected and nurtured them like an eagle brooding over its young. The wilderness was a desolate and dangerous place, but even there God kept His people as the apple of His eye. This passage is one of the most beautiful expressions of God's parent-like love in all of Moses' song.
Reflection questions: 1. What comfort does it bring my heart that God keeps me "as the apple of His eye"? 2. Is there an area of my life right now where it feels like God is "stirring up the nest"? 3. Recall a moment when you experienced God's parent-like care, and express your gratitude to Him.
Today's reflection
In this passage, God is compared to an eagle. An eagle has the habit of stirring up its nest when the young are ready to fly, drawing them out — and then spreading its wings to catch them when they fall. God met Israel in the harsh environment of the wilderness, but He did not give up on them there; He guarded them as preciously as the apple of His eye.
What's worth noticing here is that God did not simply protect. Like an eagle stirring up its nest, He sometimes draws us out of our comfort zones — yet He holds us so that we never fall. This is a parent's heart: a love that does not only offer comfort but challenges us to grow, while always keeping watch close by.
God's parent-like heart holds a perfect balance. He protects without overprotecting; He grows us without leaving us on our own. The passage also says He fed them honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock — providing the finest food even in the wilderness. In the same way, God supplies what we need at just the right time. If you are going through a hard season right now, remember that God is spreading His wings beneath you like an eagle. He treasures us as the apple of His eye and carries us on His wings as He flies with us.
In the app
Reading is where it starts, not where it stops.
Today's passage and devotional are yours to read here on the web. The app takes it from there — a place to write what stayed with you, receive a reflection on top of it, and watch the days add up.
A reflection arrives on what you wrote
Write what stayed with you, and a paragraph comes back — read against the passage you just finished. It does not lecture, and it does not grade you.
Your devotions gather into a record
What you write and what comes back stay on the calendar. Your streak is counted for you, and any past devotion opens again whenever you want it.
Today's verse on your lock screen
The widget puts the day's passage up each morning, so you read it once more in passing without opening anything.
160 topical series and a reading plan
Start wherever you are — 'weakness', 'waiting'. The one-year Bible reading plan, a Proverb a day, and the anonymous prayer box are all in there too.