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36 THE GOOD WILL OF A LIFETIME
2. There seems a peculiar appropriateness in this reference being put into the mouth of the ancient Lawgiver, for to him even Sinai, with all its glories, cannot have been so impressive and so formative of his character as was the vision granted to him when solitary in the wilderness. It is to be noticed that the characteristic by which God is designated here never occurs except in this one place. It is intended to intensify the concep- tion of greatness, and preciousness, and all-sufificiency of that " good will." If it is that " of him that dwelt in the bush," it is sure to be all that a man can need. The words occur in the blessing pronounced on " Joseph " — that is, the two tribes which represented Joseph — in which all the greatest material gifts that could be desired by a pastoral people are first called down upon them, and then the ground of all these is laid in " the good will of him that dwelt in the bush." " The blessing — let it come on the head of Joseph."
3. Do not let us forget the place which the text holds in this blessing on the head of Joseph. It is preceded by an in- voking of "the precious things of heaven" and "the precious fruits brought forth by the sun" . . . "the chief things of the ancient mountains," and " the precious things of the lasting hills," and " the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof." They are all heaped together in one great mass for the beloved Joseph. And then, like the golden spire that tops some of those campaniles in Italian cities, and completes their beauty, above them all there is set, as the shining apex of all, "the good will of him that dwelt in the bush." That is more precious than all other precious things ; it is set last because it is to be sought first ; set last as in the building of some great structure the top stone is put last of all; set last because it gathers aU others into itself, secures that all others shall be ours in the measure in which we need them, and arms us against all possibilities of evil. So the blessing of blessings is the " good will of him that dwelt in the bush."
4. It is the retrospect of a lifetime. Like another psalmist, Moses says, "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life." And now at the end of it he blesses Joseph with the blessing of God's good-will — the good-will he found at
DEUTERONOMY xxxiii. i6 2>7
the beginning of his public life, the good-will that followed him throughout it, the good- will that was still with him at the end.
I. Good-will at the Beginning. II. Good-will all the Way. III. Good-will at the End.
Good-will at the Beginning.
1. " The good will of him that dwelt in the bush." In these words the old man Moses goes back across the long years of his wilderness life, back across Elim and Marah, back across Massah and Meribah, back to that lonely bush in Horeb and the God who once met him there. That God has never left him. That fire has never gone out in his life. In pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, it has gone with him all the way, and now, standing at the end of all, he feels there is no blessing he can wish any man better than this : " May that God be his. May he too be blessed with the good will of him that dwelt in that burning bush."
2. " Good-will " — the word, perhaps, might bear a little stronger rendering. "Good-will" is somewhat tepid. A man may have a good enough will, and yet no very strong emotion of favour or delight, and may do nothing to carry his good-will into action. But the word that is employed here, and is a common enough one in Scripture, always carries with it a certain intensity and warmth of feeling. It is more than " good- will " ; it is more than " favour " ; perhaps " delight " would be nearer the meaning. It implies, too, not only the inward sentiment of complacency, but also the active purpose of action in conformity with it, on God's part. Now it needs few words to show that these two things, which are inseparable, do make the blessing of blessings for every one of us — the delight, the complacency, of God in us, and the active purpose of good in God for us. These are the things that will make a man happy wherever he is.
^ " Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous ; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield." Thy crystal battlement is round a man, keeping far away from him all manner of real evil, and
38 THE GOOD WILL OF A LIFETIME
filling his quiet heart, as he stands erect behind the rampart, with the sense of absolute security. That is one of the blessings that God's favour or good- will will secure for us. Again, we read: " By thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong." He who knows himself to be the object of the Divine delight, and who by faith knows himself to be the object of the Divine activity in protection, stands firm, and his purposes will be carried through, because they will be purposes in accordance with the Divine mind, and nothing has power to shake him. So he who grasps the hand of God can say, not because of his grasp, but because of the Hand that he holds, The Lord " is at my right hand ; I shall not be greatly moved." " By thy favour thou hast made our mountain to stand strong." And again, in another analogous but yet diversified representation, we read: "In thy name shall they rejoice all the day," " and in thy favour shall our horn be exalted." That is the emblem, not only of victory, but of joyful confidence; and so he who knows himself to have God for his friend and his helper can go through the world keep- ing a sunny face, whatever the clouds may be, erect and secure, light of heart and buoyant, holding up his chin above the stormi- est waters, and breasting all difficulties and dangers v/ith a con- fidence far away from presumption, because it is the consequence of the realization of God's presence. So the good-will of God is the chiefest good.^