name, and for the sake of the Lord Jesus, we shall assuredly receive it, for "as our day, our strength shall be." But is our lot cast in sickness, and weakness, and poverty, our need is not greater, though perhaps we feel it more; still the promise holds good, and "as our day so shall our strength be;"-yes, no day is so dark, so dreary, so appalling, that the strength of Omnipotence shall not be sufficient to bear the trembling believer safely and peacefully to its close. There is something eminently soothing to the mind, fully embued with this persuasion, in the well-known distich of the martyred reformers of the Church of England, "Be the day weary, or be the day long, EXPOSITION LXXVI. DEUTERONOMY XXXiii. 26-29. 26. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 27. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them. How naturally do these verses follow the enumeration of blessings which precede them! "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun." Surely it is impossible to survey either the judgments or the mercies of Jehovah, without arriving at the same conclusion. There is no God like our God; and when to this it can be truly added, through our relationship in Christ Jesus, that this "eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms," we may joyfully and thankfully add, "There is no safety like our safety." Still we must be careful how we indiscriminately appropriate such blessings to ourselves; Moses, indeed, was enabled to say, 66 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations," and every baptized Christian ought to be able to say the same. But the inquiry which each should make of himself is, Have I any legitimate right to do so? Have I even desired these blessings? Have I, in passing through life, earnestly wished, and prayerfully endeavoured to make the eternal God my refuge, and my dwelling-place? It is vain for those who have contented themselves with their dwelling-places of clay, and have sought *Psalm xc. 1. all their comfort and happiness therein, to be surprised that they cannot appropriate this to themselves; that, in fact, the Almighty is no refuge to them. God will not be what He is not asked to be. "The Name of the Lord," says the wise man," is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe." But then to benefit by the strength of the tower, the righteous must betake himself to it: he must run into its enclosure, or he will not, cannot be secure. It seems remarkable, that Moses should thus descant upon this peculiarity of Jehovah's relationship to his people, just at the very moment when they appeared to need it least, when the promised land, with all its blessings, as their lasting dwelling-place and refuge, was close at hand. And yet how wise, thus, as it were, to turn their thoughts from cities that should soon crumble into dust, and houses that should return to their kindred clay, to a refuge and a dwellingplace which should never fail them; and of which, however great their prosperity, they would assuredly, sooner or later, stand in need. In our most prosperous moments, in our fairest habitations, let us never forget, that "we look for a city which hath foundations; and whatever else be our support, let our first and chiefest trust be, that" underneath us are the everlasting arms." This is the Christian's hope and the Christian's strength; blessed be God, it is also, through the merits and intercession of his Redeemer, the Christian's birthright and his inalienable possession. 28. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 29. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. These words conclude this remarkable chapter of benedictions; and as Moses, in the preceding portion, had poured forth his blessings upon each tribe separately, and individually, so he here finishes by one grand and comprehensive blessing upon the whole collective nation. "Israel shall dwell in safety and alone." Such was the gracious promise, embracing and connecting two most important points in Israel's future history. They were to dwell in safety, but they were to dwell alone the one was probably dependent upon the other. Intermingling, as they were now about to do, to a certain extent, with all the surrounding nations of God-forgetting idolaters, it was essential that they should learn to " live alone," for it was, as they almost immediately found upon leaving the desert, absolutely impossible to unite with those around them, without becoming the partakers of their sins and of their punishments. Well would it be for us all, to keep this great truth constantly in view, that, to a certain extent, the safety of the Christian will ever depend upon his exclusiveness. Not more surely was Israel a chosen people from among the nations of the world, than that Christians are also called to be, as the apostle declares, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,"* separate from those that are without, "hating even the garments spotted with the flesh," and " not of the world," even as Christ was not of the world. Dwelling thus comparatively alone, they also will dwell in safety, for they are what Moses here declares the children of Israel to have been, a "people saved by the Lord." Blessed and comforting title, and fully agreeing with that declararation of the Evangelist, that "the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved.” May we each, and all, be among that blessed number, and that we may possess the full enjoyment of this privilege even here below, let us endeavour to be much " alone" with God. The * 1 Peter ii. 9. |