October 6, 2009

• "As your days, so shall your strength be"

  Moses' blessings over the twelve tribes of Israel in Deuteronomy 33 conclude with this blessing on Asher:

  24 And of Asher he said,
  Most blessed of sons be Asher;
  let him be the favorite of his brothers,
  and let him dip his foot in oil.
  25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
  and as your days, so shall your strength be.

  I've found myself quoting that last part of verse 25, and as your days, so shall your strength be, to several people lately and was about to do the same earlier today, but then I began to look at that passage again today and wanted to write on it.

  How can Asher really be certain "as your days, so shall your strength be"? How can we be assured of God's strength for each day? Many of us have many days when our strength is failing. We feel like Paul did in II Corinthians 4: troubled on every side...perplexed...persecuted...cast down... yet Paul knew the daily provision of the strength of the Lord.

  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed
  

  Many of us started the Christian race running at full speed. We kept up running at a good pace. But then there have come those times that make us wonder if we will have strength for the day. Temptations, snares, the cares of this life, the lusts of the flesh, physical ailments, mental anguish, losses, heartbreaks, betrayals, loss of vision and purpose and so forth begin to weigh us down. We become so weak and we almost lose sight of who God is. We ask, "Will God really be sufficient for me today, just for this day? Is He here today? I know He has promised He will never leave me nor forsake me, but..." We all face times we will be discouraged for one reason or another. Some of us are more prone to that than others. There are times we'll be tempted to drop out of the race. We begin to question. We can get to that point in the race where the finish line seems so far away, and our vision of Jesus has become quite clouded. We've begun sucking air, our heart is palpitating, we're sweating profusely, the cramps are setting in, our legs are feeling like lead, our feet are ready to fall off. How can we finish the race marked out for us for just today, much less for the rest of our days, so we might meet Jesus there? We know He's there...yet He seems so far away. How can we really finish this race marked out for us? Is it possible?

  Indeed it is impossible for us to run the race apart from the Lord and the strength that comes from Him alone. In fact, He is our strength. We need Him so we can run daily. We have no strength apart from Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing.

  The promises of God's strength to be sufficient for us are sure and steadfast promises to all who have believed in Him through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ...for Jesus Christ Himself is the sure and steadfast Anchor who holds in the veil for us! He is our forerunner. He has finished the race. He is the firstfruits. He is our surety. He is seated at the right hand of the Father and is preparing a place for us there.

  God's promises are not vain or shoddy or secondrate promises. God's word and God's promises can always be counted on. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not a liar. We have a God who has the power to perform what He has promised. If He's promised us strength sufficient for all our days, we will have it!

  Let us look a little more into the character of this God who has made the promise and as your days, so shall your strength be as we resume reading in Deuteronomy 33, where Moses begins a wrap-up or summary blessing over all the tribes of Israel, with these words [1]:

  26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
  who rides through the heavens to your help,
  through the skies in his majesty.
  27 The eternal God is your dwelling place,
  and underneath are the everlasting arms.
  ...
  

  Brothers and sisters, behold Him! Look at Him! Fix your eyes on Him! Consider now and gaze upon the God who has made the promise as your days, so shall your strength be.

  Verse 26:

  There is none like God
  He rides through the heavens to our help
  through the skies in His majesty.
  
  There is none like God! Indeed is not God for us? Since our God has given us the Son, will He not freely give us all things? Have we not received the Holy Spirit, the Helper? Is He not both our judge and our advocate and our priest and our offering for sin? Did He not do for us what we could not do for ourselves, while we were powerless and helpless, did He not die for us while we were yet sinners? Will we not be saved from wrath through His life? Will we not be sustained in the race marked out for us? What kind of God is He? Truly there is none like God!

  And as wonderful and glorious as riding through the heavens sounds to us, consider that He's already done that. No riding through the heavens needed. Remember: our God is always there with us forever because His only begotten Son Jesus Christ already came down from heaven for us. He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, He did not cling to that majesty above the skies, but He rode down through the heavens. He desired to do His Father's will so He humbled Himself and came in the likeness of men and took the form of a servant, became obedient unto death and died on the cross for us. And now He has sent His Spirit to dwell in us as well. We have a God who has ridden through the skies in His majesty, in a much more glorious way than anyone ever could have imagined. Immanuel, God with us! A babe born to a virgin, in a no-name town. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, grew up in Nazareth (what good could have come out of there, after all?) and lived as a carpenter's son for thirty years. The God who came down from heaven came not to be served but to serve. He came to His own, but He was mocked, bruised, beaten, wounded, rejected and crucified for our sin. What other god did such a thing? What other God died for His people? Who else took the punishment for unworthy sinners? What other god atoned for our sin? Who else bore the wrath of God in our place? No other god. There is none like our God!

  But then, what other God rose from the dead for His people? The tomb did not hold Him. Jesus Christ rose again from the dead according to the Scriptures. He conquered sin, Satan and death. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of His Father. From there He has sent to us the gift of His Holy Spirit. God came riding through the heavens once more to our help. The Helper has come to abide with us forever. Majesty has come to dwell in us. Praise God He has sent His resurrection power to dwell in us so we might persevere in that race set before us.

  verse 27:

  The eternal God is our dwelling place
  and underneath are the everlasting arms.

  God is not going anywhere. The eternal God. He is without beginning or ending. The God who is forever and ever and ever. The God who is and was and is to come. The alpha and the omega. The God who was in the beginning will be ... He's not going to cut and run. We'll never outlive Him. He'll never grow tired. He never sleeps or slumbers. He has called us out and chosen us to be a people for Himself. He has promised He would never leave us or forsake us. He has made provision for us to dwell with Him and for Him to dwell in us. Through the body and blood of Jesus Christ, we have bold access into His presence. He has seated us in heavenly places. We have fellowship and communion with Him.  We can stand before Him unashamed because we have been covered with the blood of Jesus. Think of it! He is our dwelling place. What safer and more glorious place can we imagine? We dwell in the very presence of the eternal God Himself, the God who loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for us.

  Consider that we have the everlasting arms of this amazing God underneath us. Everlasting. Lasting forever. They're always going to be there. Do we need to be afraid? Can we not cast all our cares on Him? Do we need to worry He will not be there to uphold us and strengthen us with His mighty right hand? Is there a moment that His everlasting arms will not be there beneath us? Do we think His arms not be strong enough to sustain us? Will His arms not be tender enough to care for us? Can we not trust the arms that reached out to us with sovereign grace and mercy while we were dead in our sins and transgressions and hostile to Him? Can we not trust those arms that stretched out on the cross and hung there? Can we not trust the spotless Lamb who became sin for us and paid the debt we never could pay so we might be the righteousness of God? Can we not trust those everlasting arms on those days we we grow weary? Won't His everlasting arms be there to carry us in all circumstances? And can we not trust that when we do sin, when we come to our senses (His merciful kindness will lead us to repentance, will it not?) and confess our sins and run back to Him, His everlasting arms will welcome us back because He does not treat us as our sins deserve but forgives us our sins for Jesus' sake? And all the time we turned away from Him, though we didn't see it at the time, He'd been extending those everlasting arms or mercy out to us, waiting for us to run home to Him so He might welcome us and feast with us! Everlasting means just that. Ever lasting. No matter where we go, no matter what we do, He will go with us. Do we need worry that He will not help us to run that race when we are exhausted and ready to quit?

  Brothers and sisters, if you are weak tonight, will you not trust His promise to you

  as your days, so shall your strength be.

  ---

  [1] I'd recommend reading to the end of the chapter. I found plenty in just this verse and a half...

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