March 5 2026

March 5, 2026·24 min·1 clip

Pastor Wanda Bergen reminded host Michael Grove that bad things can happen even when you are being fully obedient to God.

1. OK Why is a daily Bible-reading podcast hosted by Michael Grove, covering Deuteronomy 32, 33, 34, and Psalm 64 in its March 5, 2026 episode. 2. Host Michael Grove is the sole speaker; he identifies Pastor Wanda Bergen and Pastor Mark Bergen as mentors whose influence shapes his commentary. 3. The episode's thesis is that faithful obedience to God produces lasting generational blessing, even when it does not protect the obedient from immediate suffering. 4. Grove opens by correcting a perceived implication from the previous day's episode, stating 'bad things can happen even when you're being obedient' and that hardship 'doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.' 5. Grove credits Pastor Wanda Bergen specifically with prompting this correction, framing her as a model of long-term faithfulness whose influence spans generations. 6. Deuteronomy 32 is presented as the Song of Moses, which Moses sings over the Israelites to urge obedience to God before his death: 'Let my teaching fall like rain, and my words descend like dew.' 7. The song details God's care for Israel in the desert — 'in a barren and howling waste He shielded him and cared for him' — contrasted with Israel's later idolatry after becoming prosperous. 8. Moses warns that Israel's unfaithfulness triggered divine judgment: 'I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them,' including famine, plague, and the sword. 9. Deuteronomy 33 records the tribal blessings Moses pronounces over each of the twelve tribes of Israel before his death, concluding 'blessed are you, Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the Lord.' 10. Deuteronomy 34 describes Moses ascending Mount Nebo and the Lord showing him the full extent of the promised land — from Gilead to Dan, Judah to the Mediterranean Sea — before Moses dies at age 120. 11. The text notes that 'no one knows where his grave is' and that 'since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.' 12. Psalm 64 is also read, depicting a prayer for protection from 'the conspiracy of the wicked' who 'sharpen their tongues like swords' and 'shoot from ambush at the innocent.' 13. Grove reflects that Moses, despite enduring the Israelites' 'rebellious, rough' complaints through decades of desert wandering, was barred from the promised land for his own disobedience at Meribah. 14. Grove frames this as a paradox: Moses experienced both punishment and reward simultaneously on Mount Nebo, stating 'he was seeing his reward of his faithfulness, even though his punishment was happening at the same time.' 15. Grove argues that 'God saves us so that we can help earth feel more like heaven has come down,' not merely to relocate believers to heaven after death. 16. Grove invokes author Mark Batterson's principle of 'only doing things that will matter seven generations down the road' as an example of generational faithfulness. 17. The episode's tone is devotional and conversational, with Grove reading directly from the NIV Bible and pausing between chapters to offer brief pastoral commentary. 18. The format is a solo reading podcast — no guest, no dialogue — with Grove's personal reflections bracketing the scripture passages. 19. This episode is well-suited to Christians following a chronological or annual Bible reading plan who want devotional commentary alongside the text. 20. Listeners who prefer expository preaching with deep exegesis or theological argument may find the commentary too brief and the scripture-to-reflection ratio too high.

As heard by us

A steady reading on faithfulness, brokenness, and the weight of legacy.

The episode moves from obedience to Moses' song, blessing, and final warning with a measured, restrained pace. It treats the passage as a sober account of faithfulness and fracture, and the choice to linger on Moses seeing the land from a distance gives the reading real weight.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when you want a quiet, devotional reading about faithfulness under hardship.

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