"'l'hey were etonod, they were eawn neunder," etc. (Heb. xi. 37). Was God therefore not tho "Hefugo" of thoso saints because they were so ill off in this life, or did the" ever- lnsting nrms" not eustain them? Or Wl\8 it not in the midst of these" crreat ficrhts of affiictions" thnt they first realized how true a Refuge God was to them?° Whc~ Paul wns nt hie work, "in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of his countrymen, in perile of the heathen, in perils of the city, in perils of the wilder- ness, in perils of the sea, in perils of false brethren; in weariness and pain[ulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness" (2 Cor. J<i. 24 ...... 28), hn<l Goel in these circumstances falsified his promise, and failed to be a Refuge to him? 'l'ho question needs only to be put to be its own answer. Yet it is certain that, even in outward things, God is a Refuge for his people, and that under his care they ordinarily enjoy both unusual blessing and a quite especial protection. Jesus teaches us to trust our Father in heaven, while of course using the means he gives us, for all our temporal necessities (Matt. vi. 25-34). He pledges himself tbat, so long as it is the Father's will that we should live in the world, we shall be protected from harm, and suitably provided for. This was David's confidence, expressed in mnny of the psalms, and it has been the confidence of all God's people. Experience verifies that the good man's dwelling is the "munitions of rocks;" his bread is given him, his water is sure (Isa. xxxiii. 16). 2. 'l'o our spfritual existence. God is the soul's (1) spiritual Saviour. Though our Lord and Judge, it is only in his bosom, in his forgiving grace, we can find refuge from our sins, from the unhappiness they cause u~, and from the ruin they have brought upon us. The child that bas offended his parent may seek the whole world through in vain for the rest he can find at once by coming back, confessing his sin, and being forgiven. God has devised means "tbat bis banished be not expelled from him" (2 Sam. xiv. 14). The way is open. "0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help" (Hos. xiii. 9). (2) Unfailing Retreat in trouble. No matter what storms beat without, what blessings of an outward kind are given or withheld, what threatening forms the enmity of man may assume, the soul has in God a Retreat, a place of resort and Refuge, which never fails it. There it dwells in a region of love, breathes an atmosphere of peace, holds a communion with the Father of spirits, which only grows the sweeter the longer life lasts, and the mure the outward cup is bitter to the taste. In this inward home of the spirit it renews its sLrength and drinks of living waters, has meat to eat which the world knows not of, finds satisfaction for its deepest needs (Hab. iii. 17, 18). (3) Unfailing Support. He upholds the soul. Has the believer trials to come through? He is upheld to bear them, Has he temptations to face? He is ttpheld to conquer in them. Has he work to do? He is upheld and ~trcngthene<l to perform it. Has he enemies to fight? His courage is sustained, and he is made "more than conqueror." But for the upholding of the "everlasting arms," how many of God's saints would never have come througli what they have experienced I 3, To our eternal existence. "The eternal God," etc. Heavenly and eternal existence are wrapped up in this promise, God does not make • his eternity a refuge for beings of a day. There would be an utter disproportion between an everlasting dwelling-place and a creature of some three score years and ten. .<\ II eternal good is here implied, and this crowns the promise and carries it beyond all comprehension of its greatness. "Eye hath not seen," etc.-J. O, Vers. 1-5.-The King and his vicel'oy. Moses, having received the direction about his death, proceeds next to formally bless the tribes. We have in these verses the introduction to the blessing. It brings under our notice the Great King himself, aud the minor king, Moses, the viceroy. As the parting blessing of him whom God ha,l rnade "king in Jeshurun," it has more weight and significance than anything which ever came out of the lips of kings, Even DaYid's dying words are not so sublin1e as these of Moses (cf. 2 Sam. xxiii.1-7). Let us look first at the Great King, and ti:cn at his viceroy who reigned in Jeshurun. I. 'fHE ADVENT OF ~GoD. He is represented as rising at Sinai, as scattering rnys from Seir, and as ridino- forth in sunlike majesty from Mount Paran. The idc,1 i~ borrowed from the dawn: Just as, before the sun appears in splendour, the mountain- tops aro tipped with gold, and then the dawn gathers into glory, and the sun at b~t steps forth iu might, so the Lord made his proximity felt on the top of Sinai ; there 556 THE BOOK or DEU'l'ERONOMY.
wn~ n Bt.ill_ gr()11t.er i!Ilpreesion made at Seir, "·ith the mercy of the brazen serpent; and last of all m Parnn, m whose wildernrss was Kadesh, the sceno of chequered experience nnd yet abund1rnt blessing, tho sunlight having then fully come. God had come as tho Light-gil'er. "God is light, nnd in him is no darkness at all" (1 John i. 6). Next let us notice his court-" myriads [nlJ?".1, which may menn a million] of s11ints." This cannot refer to Israel, as some sugsi;est, but to the holy ones accompanying tho Lord from hciwcn. What a magnificent a1Tay I Only tho holy can stand in hie sight or constitute his train. Next let us not.ice bis gift to men-" from his-right hand went a fiery Law forthem." This fiery Law can only mean that moral law which penetrates unto the heart with ils fi<'ry heat. And all was in love (ver. 3), for the God who is light and fire is also love. The saint.-; are safe in bis bimd, and they gather round his feet. II. TnE VICEROY. He is called here "the man of God," and justly so. He w11e the man who recognized himself as God's property, as God's servant, ns God's minister. And this is why be was "king in Jesburun." It is consecration to God's glory which secures the real kingship. No kiogship is worth the name which consists not in holy influences; and every man is a "king of meu" who reigns over them by the soYercignty of intelligent consecration. In these respects Moses wns a type of Jesus. Pilate could not understand his· kingship through truth; but the \\'OrlJ recognizes it. He was so devoted to the Father's glory, and so bent on the good of men, that increasing multitudes every year are owning his sway and accepting of the Law at bis mouth. Fiery it is doubtless, fitted to kindle the coldest heart to rapture. As it dwells within us, it moult.ls to highest good the life.-R. M. E.