Deuteronomy 33:25

STRENGTH FOR DAILY NEED

‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be.’

Deuteronomy 33:25

I. God does not say that in every day He will secure us, but for ‘thy days’ the provision shall be made. God gives us no warrant to expect that every day, or any day, shall bring with it joy, or pleasantness, or comfort; what He says is very practical; He assures us of sufficient strength for duty and trial: ‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be.’

II. There is an evident intention in the use of the plural number: ‘days.’—From this we gather that the promise does not relate to those few, more prominent days of sorrow and of difficulty which stand out larger than the rest, but equally to the more ordinary days which bring with them nothing but the common routine of everyday duty.

III. The very fact of the increase of our days as life goes on increases our responsibility.—Every new year and every new day a man lives is more accountable because more capable, and more solemn because more critical, than the last. And as the days accumulate, so do the mercies. ‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be.’ Never was the most exquisite machine so perfectly adjusted, never was any mathematical proportion so accurate, as each day’s grace is set to the margin of each day’s work.

Rev. Jas. Vaughan.

Illustration

(1) ‘Language seems exhausted in the attempt to describe what God can be to those that trust Him. Now He is a dwelling-place, the home and refuge of the soul. Again, He is a sword and shield. And yet again He is a mother cradling her child. But, after all, the soul that loves, and is love, cannot find words to tell the whole story of what God is and can be. Its enemies become its footstool, and its pathway is from star to star into the heavenly places where Jesus sits.’

(2) ‘In ordinary trials, ordinary supplies of strength and support will be apportioned to prayer and honest endeavour; in extraordinary circumstances, extraordinary concessions of the sustaining Spirit will be made. Distrust of ourselves, which causes us to lean more appealingly and confidingly upon the strength of God, by no means misbecomes us. But if these fears are traceable to any misgiving as to the paternal purposes of God towards all such as turn to Him in faith and love, then they are unreasonable, and do not become a child of God. We need not ask for help against future and contingent trials; we ask for the day’s supply, and the promise extends no further than this. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” ’

(3) ‘There is a great difference between Jacob’s blessing and Moses’ blessing; some people, ever ready to see flaws in God’s Word, point to these differences as discrepancies or contradictions. There can be no contradictions where all comes from the same Divine source. These differences are not contradictions.

“Jacob sets forth the history of the actings of his sons. Moses presents the actings of Divine grace in them and toward them. Jacob views his sons in their personal history; Moses views them in their covenant relationship with Jehovah.” ’

(4) ‘The “as” and the “so” are both equal, so that there is no waste on the one hand and no scarcity on the other. God gives us no more and no less than we need, for the All-rich cannot afford to waste anything. “As—so.” For the day of sorrow, gladness; for the day of bereavement, comfort; for the day of doubt, a stronger faith; for the day of despair, a more buoyant hope; for the day of darkness, the white light of the Divine smile. These dovetailings of love are truly wonderful!’