[0:00] Now, as the Lord enables us, let us turn and consider words we have in this portion of Scripture we've read together.
[0:12] The book of Deuteronomy, chapter 33, reading again at verse 26. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun.
[0:30] Who rideth upon the heaven in thy help and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.
[0:46] And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say, destroy them. The children of Israel have now reached the borders of the land of Canaan.
[1:06] Having travelled for forty long and arduous years since leaving the land of Egypt. And Moses has led them every step of the way, being directed and strengthened by the Lord to lead the people safely to the land of promise.
[1:32] God had given a promise to Abraham. And you may read this in Genesis 15 and verse 18.
[1:43] That the Lord would give the land of Canaan to his people.
[1:53] Those who would issue from Abraham. And the promise of Abraham. And the promise of the Lord was given to Abraham 450 years before what we read happening in this chapter.
[2:09] And when you think of it, one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. And a thousand years as one day.
[2:20] The Lord saw this situation in the days of Moses. From the perspective of Abraham.
[2:34] Looking down through these centuries. And this promise was as sure to be fulfilled as all of the promises of God are.
[2:44] He promised them the land of Canaan. A land flowing with milk and honey. And just before they enter in, Moses gives a blessing to the tribes.
[3:02] As they are mentioned in the verses of this chapter. Each one mentioned and a particular blessing or comment made.
[3:14] About each one of them. And then he comes to verse 26. And he says, There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun.
[3:27] Who rideth upon the heaven in thy help. And in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath are the everlasting arms.
[3:41] And shall thrust out the enemy from before thee. And shall say, destroy them. One or two words first of all about Jeshurun.
[3:53] Verse 26. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun. And then after that. A comment on the way the Lord helps Jeshurun or his people.
[4:10] And secondly, the way he protects them. And thirdly, the duty that he presents to them.
[4:20] At the end of verse 27. He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee. And shall say, destroy them. The Lord has been with his people.
[4:32] The Lord has been with his people. Leading them and guiding them. Going to bring them into the land of promise. But they have a particular responsibility themselves.
[4:43] To fulfill what God commands of them. To destroy the enemy that inhabits the land of Canaan. The Canaanites were still in the land.
[4:54] And it was the duty of these people. To destroy the enemy that lay before them. One or two thoughts on each of these. First of all, we have this word given to the people of God.
[5:09] There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun. Now we come across Jeshurun. In a number of other references.
[5:23] In the chapters around here. For example, in chapter 32, verse 10. It says here, regarding Jeshurun. He found him in a desert land.
[5:34] And in the waste holding wilderness. He led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirred up her nest.
[5:47] Fluttereth over her young. Spreadeth abroad her wings. Taketh them. Beareth them on her wings. And so on. So the Lord alone did lead them. And there was no strange God with him.
[6:00] And so on. Then it goes on in verse 15. Chapter 32, verse 15. But Jeshurun walkst fat and kicked.
[6:11] Thou art walks and fat. Thou art grown thick. Thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God. Which made him. And lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation.
[6:25] The word Jeshurun itself. Literally. From the original. Means upright. Upright. And the Lord had given these people.
[6:42] As it were. To stand upright. Not being under the heel. Of the oppressor. In Egypt. He had released them.
[6:52] From the slavery. And the tyranny. Of the Egyptians. And it's as if he had given them. To stand. And walk. As liberated.
[7:05] Free. People. And so the Lord does. In every individual. Believer's case. We by nature.
[7:17] Are enslaved. To sin. We are unrighteous. Unholy. And we lie. As it were. In the filth of sin. But when God.
[7:30] By his grace. Comes into our experience. He releases us. From the tyranny of sin. He releases us. From the prison house. Where the law of God.
[7:42] Has. Imprisoned us. Because the law of God. Will not release us. Because it condemns us. But when Christ. By his grace.
[7:53] Comes into our experience. It's as if we are released. From the tyranny of sin. And the oppression of the law. And we are given to stand.
[8:04] Upright as it were. As sons and daughters. Free. From condemnation. And we have a picture here.
[8:14] Of these people. Jeshurun. The Lord has done great things for them. Nevertheless. It says here. That Jeshurun.
[8:26] Walked fat. And kicked. And so on. Covered with fatness. He forsook God. Which made him. And isn't that true.
[8:38] Concerning ourselves. To some extent. That sin. Manages to get into our thinking. Into our speech. Into our actions.
[8:50] Into our life. In one way or another. And it's as if. Sin. Which ought to be outside. We are. Embracing.
[9:02] And we need to confess our sin. And forsake our sin. That's what the Lord. Commands of us. They're coming back to Jeshurun. We see here.
[9:14] That the Lord. Has not. Dealt with Jeshurun. The way they deserved. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun.
[9:25] Who rideth upon the heaven. In thy help. And in his excellency on the sky. If God were to mark. The sin of Jeshurun.
[9:36] None of them would stand. Each of them would be cast away. If the Lord were to mark. My sin. And your own sin. None of us could stand either.
[9:48] But the God who is dealing with his people. He's a gracious God. He's a merciful God. He's a long suffering God. He's a God who shows love to his people.
[10:00] Despite their coldness. Despite the way. Sometimes that they wander. From the straight and narrow path. And I think that's.
[10:12] The thrust of the verses we have. Before us here. Jeshurun is full of thoughts. The people of God are full of thoughts. But the focus here is on the God of Jeshurun.
[10:28] And it says here. That he does something amazing for them. To help them. He rideth upon the heaven. In thy help.
[10:40] He rideth upon the heaven. In thy help. When you think of the history. Of the children of Israel. The Lord made it so plain.
[10:53] Didn't he? That he intervened. In an amazing way. To take them away out of. The land of Egypt. It's as if the Lord.
[11:05] Showed. So clearly. The miraculous working. That he undertook. In order to. Take these people out of. The land of Egypt.
[11:16] Think for example. Of the plagues. That he sent upon. The Egyptians. Think of the last plague. The plague of the slaying. Of the firstborn.
[11:28] Think also. Of the way. The Lord opened. The sea. The Red Sea. In order to allow the people. To walk. On dry land. And the Egyptians.
[11:39] When they tried to do the same. They were drowned. The Lord. From heaven. Showed forth. His great power. His great power. Against their enemies.
[11:50] And showed forth. His love for his people. In giving them liberty. And freedom. And so it is still.
[12:01] In the experience. Of the people of God. He rides upon the heaven. In the help of his people. And.
[12:12] When you go through. The experiences. Of the children of Israel. Down through the centuries. You see. On a number of occasions. In visible ways.
[12:23] The Lord. Showing forth. His intervention. See for example. In 1st Samuel. And chapter 7. At verse 10. And the Philistines.
[12:35] Were threatening. To destroy Israel. And Samuel. Prayed. On that particular day. And it says. That the Lord. Thundered. With a mighty.
[12:46] Sound. That day. Against the Philistines. And threw them. Into confusion. And they were. Defeated. Before Israel. Another incident.
[12:59] Also. 2nd Samuel. 22. The Lord. Thundered. From heaven. And the Most High. Uttered his voice. And he sent out. Arrows. And scattered them.
[13:10] The enemies. Were scattered. He sent forth. Lightning. And he routed them. One more. Illustration. On this issue.
[13:20] Remember when. Elisha prayed. Because. His servant. Was so concerned. That they were surrounded. By the enemies.
[13:31] And Elisha prayed. Lord. Open. His eyes. That he may see. And when the Lord. Opened the servant's eyes. He saw. And behold.
[13:43] The mountain. Was full. Of horses. And chariots. Of fire. All around. Elisha. The Lord.
[13:54] Rideth upon the heaven. In the help of his people. Literally. On these occasions. He made known. His intervention.
[14:05] By thunder. By lightning. And showing. As it were. The dimension. The spiritual dimension. Of the protection. That the Lord. Affords his people.
[14:17] In these ways. Horses. And chariots. Of fire. And it's still true. The angels. Of God. Are ministering spirits.
[14:28] Sent forth. To minister. For them. Who shall be heirs. Of salvation. The Lord. Commands his angels. And he.
[14:40] Sends them forth. To do his bidding. And one of the things. That they do. Is protect us. In many situations. Of life. Mr.
[14:50] Macaulay. The minister. Of back. Used always to say. That we'll only know. When we reach glory. The number of times. And the number of ways. In which angels.
[15:02] Intervened. To keep us. In our journey. As Christians. And this is what the Lord here. Does for his people still. There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun.
[15:15] Who rideth upon the heaven. In thy help. And of course. The most amazing. Demonstration of that.
[15:27] Heavenly intervention. Is. Is. That the Lord himself. Came down. Taking human nature. To himself. Taking human nature.
[15:38] And uniting humanity. To his eternal person. As the mediator. Of God's people. And he came. Announced. By the prophets.
[15:49] Down through the centuries. And on his. Arrival. In Bethlehem. The angels. Came to announce. To the shepherds. That unto you. Is born this day.
[16:01] In the city of David. A savior. Who is Christ the Lord. Good news. For fallen humanity. God's. Marvelous intervention. In this.
[16:13] Amazing way. He rideth upon the heaven. In thy help. And maybe you can. Think.
[16:23] Over your life. Yourself. And think of occasions. When you were in difficulties. Or knew. A particular problem. That you couldn't.
[16:34] Just get over. And maybe the word of God. Came. And the word of God. Served. To help you. It was a word from heaven.
[16:45] Sent to help you. In your particular. Situation. Isn't it amazing. That the Lord. Allows us. To know. His presence with us.
[16:57] Even. A word of scripture. When the Holy Spirit. Takes it. And applies it. To your own. Personal situation. It is.
[17:10] Clearly to you. A word from heaven. Because he has come. Riding upon the heavens. In your help.
[17:20] That's the first. And secondly. He shows. Because he loves his people.
[17:31] He shows how he. Protects them. It says in verse 26. There is none like unto the God of Jeshua. Who rideth upon the heaven.
[17:43] In thy help. And in his excellency. On the sky. The eternal God. Is thy refuge. And underneath. Are the everlasting arms.
[17:55] The eternal God. Is thy refuge. In Psalm 91. Which we. Sang at the very beginning.
[18:07] Of our service. This is the same kind of reference. As we have here. He that doth. In the secret place. Of the most high.
[18:18] Reside. Under the shade of him. That is the almighty. Shall abide. I of the Lord. My God. Will say. He is my refuge. Still. He is my fortress.
[18:29] And my God. And in him. Trust. I will. And the same thing is said. Regarding the Lord.
[18:39] In this particular context. Is the one. Who is the refuge. Of his people. When Israel.
[18:51] Settled in the land of Canaan. The Lord appointed. That there be cities of refuge. Made available to them. That is.
[19:02] If somebody accidentally. Slew or killed. One of his fellow men. That person. Was to run. For the city of refuge.
[19:14] And there be found. In safety. Because the law. Could not. Convict him. If he was within the bounds. Of the city. Of refuge.
[19:25] And that is the way. The Lord. Still is. For his people. When we discover. Ourselves. Having sinned. Against him. Jesus Christ. Calls us.
[19:36] To himself. And he is the ultimate. City of refuge. For his people. Look unto me. He says. And be ye saved.
[19:47] All the ends of the earth. For I am God. And there is none else. It says here. That he. The eternal God.
[19:59] Is our refuge. What an amazing. Refuge he is. In Isaiah 32. We have these words. A man.
[20:10] Shall be as a hiding place. From the wind. And as a cover from the tempest. As rivers of water. In a dry place. The shadow of a great rock.
[20:20] The shadow of a great rock. In a weary land. What an amazingly. Attractive. Picture. For people. Who are tired.
[20:31] On their. Desert journey. In the heat of the day. In the dry desert. Sun beating down upon them. During the day. And the cold at night.
[20:43] They need a place of refuge. And the Lord said. I am refuge to you. Come unto me. Jesus says.
[20:53] All you who labour. And are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. What an amazing. Invitation that is. And it says here.
[21:06] That he is. Thy refuge. The eternal God. The one. Who is always the same. Yesterday.
[21:16] And today. And forever. And whose promises. Always. Are fulfilled. Whose word. Is always dependable.
[21:27] And. Whose word. Feeds his people. The eternal God. Is your refuge. But then it goes on.
[21:42] And underneath. Are the everlasting. Arms. Underneath. Are the everlasting. Arms. It's an amazing.
[21:54] Picture. Of arms. That are everlasting. In the original. It gives. This kind of idea. That as far.
[22:05] As you're able. To look. That way. The arms. Are extending. And as far. As you're able. To look. That way. The arms. Are extending. The thought.
[22:17] Behind the word. Everlasting. Here is. The vanishing point. See. If you. If you see. A railway line. Or a road. Going towards.
[22:28] The horizon. You see it. As it were. Until it becomes. A dot. On the horizon. And that's the way. The Lord here. Uses. His.
[22:40] Picture. Of. Protection. And care. Of his people. Underneath them. Are the everlasting. Arms. Doesn't matter.
[22:51] What age. They came to live. In the world. Doesn't matter. What circumstances. Hit you. On your way. Through life. Doesn't matter.
[23:02] How long. Your life is. Or how complicated. The Lord says. My arms. Are underneath you. The everlasting.
[23:13] Arms. These are the arms. Of love. He says. Through Jeremiah. I have loved you. With an everlasting. Love.
[23:25] And with loving kindness. Have I drawn you. As far as you can look. Into eternity. The love of God. Is there. It has no beginning.
[23:36] Because God has no beginning. As far as you look into eternity. To which we are going. The love is there. It cannot end.
[23:49] Underneath. Are the everlasting. Arms. They are the arms. Of power. The almighty arms. The almighty arms. Of God. Who is able to uphold.
[24:01] Not just you. In your. Feeble circumstances. And on your difficult. Piles. But he is able to uphold. The universe.
[24:12] By the word. Of his power. And it's. As it were. Nothing to him. To address. The situation. That you have. And that causes you.
[24:23] To bow down. Day by day. Week after week. Because. He upholds you. With the arms. Of power. The apostle Paul.
[24:34] Knew something of this. Although he complained. Of his weakness. And his. Seeming inability. To cope. With the thorn. In the flesh. And he prayed.
[24:45] With the Lord. Three times. To remove it. What did the Lord say? My grace. Is sufficient for you. And my strength. Is made perfect.
[24:57] In weakness. And the apostle. Went on to say. When I am weak. Then am I strong. This matter. Aton she can't. When I am weak.
[25:07] Then am I strong. In other words. Our. Our inability. And our limits. Present. The opportunity.
[25:18] To God. To show forth. His strength. Within us. By his grace. Underneath. Are the everlasting arms.
[25:30] And I wanted to quote this. From the song of Solomon. Chapter 2. At verse 6. When the church says. Regarding Jesus Christ.
[25:40] Our savior. His left hand. His left hand. Is under my head. And his right hand. Embraces me. Isn't that an amazing thing?
[25:52] It's as if. It's a commentary. On what the Lord is here saying. Underneath are the everlasting arms. And the church is saying. I can feel his arms about me.
[26:04] His arms of love. Left hand under my head. Supporting me. And his right hand. Embraces me. Keeping me close.
[26:15] To himself. Underneath. Are the everlasting arms. And then.
[26:26] Finally. We see that he. Promises. Something. And he charges them. To do something. The end of verse 27.
[26:37] He shall thrust out. The enemy. From before thee. And shall say. Destroy them. They had enemies.
[26:49] Waiting as it were. They needed to. Negotiate. The enemy. All of these. People. Within the land of Canaan.
[27:00] They were idolatrous people. And the Lord. Had given. His people. The land. Divided by lot. And he said.
[27:11] This is what I'm giving to you. This is what I'm giving to this other tribe. Now. You have to. Destroy the people. Who are there. Otherwise. They'll destroy you. But the promise here is.
[27:24] He shall thrust out. The enemy. From before you. But the Lord. Was going to be. At the head of the people. He was going to be. With them. And he demonstrated.
[27:35] That again and again. Through. Joshua. That Joshua. Was so successful. In destroying. So many of the enemies. The Lord.
[27:49] Of God. Before us. Who can be against us. But this is what he says. Now to them. The. He shall thrust out. The enemies.
[27:59] From before thee. And shall say. Destroy them. This is. Something with which he charges them. That they have to.
[28:10] Engage with the enemy. Themselves. They have to go out. And fight the enemy. They have to engage. With those. Who will destroy them.
[28:21] If they don't. Destroy them. And isn't that a picture. Of the way we are ourselves. There's a sense. In which.
[28:31] We have to. We have to. We have to. Engage with the enemy. Of our soul. Oh certainly. An enemy. Defeated already. In the death of Christ. And in the resurrection.
[28:42] Of Christ. Nevertheless. We are still. On the battlefield. And that's why. The apostle says. To the Ephesians. Take unto you all.
[28:53] The armor of God. The whole armor of God. Because we need to fight. The enemy. Fight. Enemies. Of our soul.
[29:05] And they are of. Various kinds. And of different. Persuasions. We have the world. Against us. And we have the flesh.
[29:17] Against us. And we have. The devil. Against us. And we sometimes. Feel overwhelmed. How can I. Make any progress.
[29:28] At all. Because I feel. That the enemies. Are. So strong. For me. Ah. But the Lord. Here promises. That he.
[29:38] Himself. Is the one. Who shall thrust out. The enemy. From before us. And he did that. With many of the tribes. In Israel. But some of them.
[29:51] Did not engage. With the battle at all. And consequently. The enemies. Prevailed upon them. The enemies. With.
[30:02] The different kinds of worship. And bowing to different kinds of gods. They prevailed. Upon these people. For whom the Lord. Had done so much.
[30:14] By way of taking them. Out of Egypt. Into the promised land. Land flowing with milk and honey. And it places. And it places. The onus upon us.
[30:26] I think. To make. Maximum use. Of all. The means of grace. That the Lord has said.
[30:36] Before us. We have to pray. Fervently. Pray. Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. This is something that he leaves.
[30:47] At our doorstep. Every day we rise. Pray without ceasing. Praying for myself. Praying for my family.
[30:59] Praying for my congregation. Praying for our island. For our nation. We mustn't. Slacken off. In our engagement.
[31:09] With the Lord. In prayer. Otherwise. Darkness will come into our soul. Darkness will come into. Our communities. Ask the Lord.
[31:20] To send forth. His light. And his truth. Into your own life. And into the life. Of people round about us. That is one thing. Prayer. And then of course.
[31:32] Is attendance. On the means of grace. Services. In the house of God. Prayer meeting. And the Lord's day. And then of course.
[31:43] There is. The public witness. Asking for opportunities. To speak with people. For the Lord.
[31:55] And in the Lord's name. Asking people. Wisely. To consider. What road they're on.
[32:07] And. What direction they're headed. In their life. We need. To have. That kind of engagement. Because the Lord is asking us.
[32:19] To be. Witnesses. For him. And then it goes on to say. The promise. Verse 28. Israel. Then shall dwell.
[32:30] In safety alone. The fountain of Jacob. Shall be upon a land. Of corn and wine. Also. His heavens. Shall drop down. Due.
[32:41] What an amazing picture. The Lord presents to us here. The Lord has done great things for us. Whereof we are glad.
[32:52] And he promises great things. To those. Who follow him. Obediently. And in faith. Every step. Of their way.
[33:03] To thebon. June. Your executive. Is.
[33:14] On. On. On. On. On. On. On.
[33:27] On. On. On. On.