God will have a people from all nations who serve him. He will see to it that his gospel is taken to the ends of the earth. Our job is not to ponder into the hidden mysteries of God’s will and presume on his favour. Our job is to respond to that which we have heard, to submit to Christ as King and welcome all those whom he would add to his church. Today, if you will hear his voice, then harden not your heart.

In terms of application, there are three things which we can pray in response to God’s Word. First, let us pray for God’s Word to be faithfully proclaimed in our midst and in the wider church. It is so easy for preachers to assume the gospel and proclaim the law. Sermons which tell us to pull up our socks again and again. We love to hear these sermons—we like to be guilt tripped and told to get our house in order. But the law is not the gospel, the law does not justify us in the sight of God. Only Christ can do that. Pray that Christ would be faithfully proclaimed.

Secondly, let us pray for our response to God’s Word. Pray that he will help us to respond with faith. Pray that he will soften our hearts and humble us, that we would be willing to submit to Christ as our King in all aspects of our life and not only as far as we find comfortable. Like the Jews, we are all naturally prone to reject God’s truth where it calls us to change. We need God’s Spirit to transform us; let us pray that he will do so.