Jehovah reigns; be glad!
This paragraph has about it a remarkably martial ring. It is not to be looked at as bald and literal prose. It is part of a song; it is laden with imagery, in which the God of Israel is set forth as a mighty Warrior, whose march none can hinder, whose inflictions none can withstand or evade. The style of the song was precisely appropriate to the age in which it was composed, and suited to the people in whose hearing it was addressed. The truths clothed in such Oriental garb are for all lands and for all time. For though there is an abundance of figure, yet not all is figurative. There are at least two phrases which are plain in their phraseology, and which furnish us with the key for the right interpretation of the others. One of these is found at the beginning of the passage, the other towards its close. The first is in Deuteronomy 32:36, "The Lord shall judge his people." The other is in Deuteronomy 32:43, "Rejoice, O ye nations—his people." £ The former assures us that all the various processes of judgment to which the seer's eye looks forward are in the hands of God. The second calls upon the nations to rejoice therein. Between these two, the varied details in the paragraph fall naturally into place. Our Homily will, therefore, be mainly an answer to one inquiry, viz. What materials for joy are here given us?
It is useless to bid any one to be glad unless a reason is given them why they should be so. A somewhat careful study of the paragraph in hand will show at least eight reasons for holy and grateful joy.
I. It is matter for joy that God reserves in his own hands the judgment of his people (Deuteronomy 32:36). Where else could it safely be? Who else has the power, the wisdom, the justice, the kindness, the knowledge required? If the scepter of power were in any other hands, the guarantee of righteous administration would cease.
II. We may rejoice that in his judging processes God will convince his people of the folly of relying on any but on himself (Deuteronomy 32:37, Deuteronomy 32:38). The reason of the peculiar imagery in these verses every student knows. The underlying thought is clear. It may be a sharp, but it is a necessary discipline, that every prop should give way which would prevent us from leaning on God alone.
III. We may rejoice in the severity with which a righteous God will deal with sin. Severity against sin is mercy towards the sinner (Deuteronomy 32:42). In the early conquest of Canaan, severity towards Aohan and his accomplices was mercy towards Israel. In the early Church, judgment on Ananias and Sapphira was mercy to the Church. In both cases the canker of dishonesty and hypocrisy needed to be cut out by a strong and firm hand.
IV. We may rejoice that the ruling motive and the ultimate intent of God's dealings are love and mercy (Deuteronomy 32:43). Beyond the blackest clouds Moses sees in the horizon light and glory. The twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of this book, with all their threatenings, are followed by the thirtieth, with all its promises. Wrath in the process, mercy as the product.
V. Let us rejoice that in this law of recompense there is mercy in the educational process therein ensured (see Psalms 62:12). There is a wide difference between a fatherly correction and the infliction of a legal penalty. It is the former which God metes out towards his people. Their relation to him is one of grace, not of bare law.
VI. Let us rejoice that mercy will regulate the mode, the time, and the result of the chastisement, The mode: "Their power is gone," i.e. their false props are destroyed. The time: "He will repent himself," i.e. he will not be wrath forever; when the infliction has answered its end, he will change his dealings. Though God never changes a plan, he may plan a change. The result: "He will be merciful unto his land," etc; i.e. he will be propitious. When his people are brought back from their wanderings, he will "cover" all their sin in eternal forgetfulness.
VII. Let us rejoice in the clear and perfect discrimination which will mark all the Divine dealings with his people and with his adversaries; Deuteronomy 32:43, "vengeance—mercy." Both form part of God's governmental methods. How can it be otherwise in a world of sin? The perfections of Jehovah guarantee that neither will infringe on the other. Tenderness will never weaken vengeance. Vengeance will never lessen tenderness. God alone knows the absolutely perfect adjustment.
VIII. Let us rejoice that the eye of the seer beholds brightness in the far distance. The gloom does but intervene; it does not cover the whole canopy of heaven, nor darken all the outlook. "Light is sown for the righteous." "Joy cometh in the morning" (Deuteronomy 32:43).
Let all these several particulars be woven together, and they will make one glorious pattern—at the sight of which we may well shout aloud for joy.
Learn—
1. In such a review of the methods and outcome of God's providential dealings only those who are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ are in a position to understand them. Enmity cannot understand love. And where men are "enemies in their mind by wicked works," they are certain to misunderstand God's nature, and to misinterpret his ways. Man's first duty is to repent of sin and obey God. Till he does this the mysteries of God will not be unveiled to him.
2. When we understand something of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, then the true key to the interpretation of providence is in our hands (Romans 8:34). Hence we can "rejoice in the Lord" (Psalms 33:1; Philippians 3:1; Philippians 4:4; Psalms 97:1; Psalms 96:1-13.; 98.).
3. In proportion to the greatness of the love which furnishes the key for unlocking providential mysteries is the greatness of the sin which turns away from and finally rejects God. (See the use of this paragraph in Hebrews 10:30, Hebrews 10:31.) However deep the gloom which Moses depicts, he sees a rim of golden glory in the horizon, as if another dispensation were to follow. But the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews sees no after-light for those who turn away from Christ. "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." The contest of the sinner with God must end in the guilty one's ignominious and hopeless defeat; Amos 4:12, "Because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."