Deuteronomy 33: 26There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 27The 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. 28Israel 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. 29Happy 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 are part of the farewell words of Moses to Israel. He had lived 120 years and spent the last 40 leading Israel through the wilderness. He was born in Egypt of Jewish parents. By law he should have been killed, but God spared him. He grew up as a member of the Pharaoh’s family but first, he was born into God’s Family- Israel. We are all members of a human family. Each of us that have been born again and saved by the Lord is part of the family of God. It is such a privilege to be saved and belong to a kingdom that is not of this world. Those who have gone on can now see the many times that God helped when they didn’t realize it. God does more for us than we detect and realize. We get used to the presence of the Lord and take for granted being a member of God’s household. Moses was reminding the people that though they could not see God, he was with them in a wonderful way. His arms were underneath them.
There are many things to being a Christian, but the bottom line is we need to remember some things about God. The different pagan cultures in Moses’ day had different idols to worship. All the pagan tribes had one thing in common. Their gods were small. They set them up in their living rooms on a table and could take them off and put them in their pockets and take them with them if they wanted. We wonder how people put the trust of their eternal soul in something they can carry around in their pocket. It’s not alive. We still have human tendency to make gods out of things. Some make gods of their cell phones, wallets, IPads, and cars. We can put so much attention on things that we make a god of them.
The God of Israel is a Spirit, not a trinket, statue, or doll. One of the first commandments God gave Moses was not to make graven images. He is not like the gods of this world. We don’t carry God. We need to be carried by him! Living for the Lord involves us going against the gods of this world. In order to face every day we live, we need to be reminded who our God is. He cannot be pulled out and played with and put back up. Being a Christian is acknowledging we are sinners who need someone bigger than we are to carry us through life. God does not have to be seen to be trusted. He remains God regardless of what comes or goes. We need his help for our entire life—heart, mind and soul. When we trust him, he carries us through this world.
Moses reminded the people that God had brought them out of Egypt and had been with them 40 years in the wilderness. He had not failed them at all. Any failure had been on the part of the people. God’s mercy and grace had guided them. His desire was to have them in his arms. Have you slipped out of his arms? We drop God when we drop the Bible and its standards. When we do that we just go in circles. He is our refuge and underneath us are everlasting arms. Whoever carries me has to be bigger than I am. Someone weaker can’t carry me. God is all strength. He’s not just stronger than we are. He is stronger than all our enemies. We may not see his arms, but they are there. He can carry all humanity and all the baggage we have. He can pick us all off the runway and get us safely home.
Verse 26 saysthere is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. He exceeds our expectations. He excels above all. He rides above us and sits on the throne in heaven. There is none more real and alive. The conclusion is that he is the only God. Verse 28 says the eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arm.
You are made in the image and likeness of God. He wants to save your soul. He wants to slip his arms underneath you and carry you. His arms are everlasting. God is an eternal God. This means he is ever alive. God will always be. Everlasting means he doesn’t wear out. He would always be strong enough. His muscle tone is the same as when he created all things. How would you like a car that wouldn’t wear out? There exists such a vehicle and it is God.
I’m not as strong as I used to be. Things I used to be able to do I can no longer. Age and weakness catch us all. God remains strong. We can trust him with all our heart and soul. He will never age. He will never weaken. Never let go of what you have in the Lord. Don’t give up. Underneath you are arms that last forever. Those arms stretched across a cross on Calvary. He hung there willingly and suffered until he died, the iniquity of us all being laid upon him. We have a Savior we can trust in. We can climb into his arms. Jesus arms held that cross. He bore it all so we could be free.
Who are you going to trust—the arms of things that can’t deliver? There is only one God that has real arms, arms that never give out. Acknowledge that you can’t carry yourself. Acknowledge you can’t carry God in any way. Admit how much you need him to lift you up and carry you. Admit how much you need his arms. Trust him through faith.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 