“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as raindrops on the tender herb, and as showers on the grass. For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He. Deuteronomy, 32: 1-4, NKJV.
Merciful God, please help us to listen carefully to these words; and may we be blessed as we “apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90: 12). This is our prayer, in the glorious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The words of a person on his or her “deathbed” are not to be taken lightly. Although, unlike other patriarchs such as Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, Moses was not literally lying on his bed – nevertheless, he knew that his moment of departure was at hand. These would be some of his last words of admonition, and instruction, to the people with whom he had forborne for the last forty-plus years of his life. He obviously wanted to leave the people of God with something to think about; something that would remind them of God, and of His dealings with them. It was also a warning of what they could expect as a result of their disobedience.
Therefore, the introduction to his speech could be considered by some as a bit dramatic. He is calling upon all creation – heaven and earth, to listen to his words. He would hope that as the drops of rain causes vegetation to germinate, and ultimately bloom, and bring forth fruit, that His words would be life-producing. Notice that he mentions rain, dew, and raindrops. Rain can come in a downpour, or a rainstorm. It can fall during the day or night. Dew is soft and cool, and usually falls during the night. Raindrops are gentle, and like rain, have no special time to fall. These are all forms of water, but their effect vary. Note that the raindrops are for the tender herbs, while the rain is for the grass – to each as they can bear.
This is very important, because the soil of the heart is different in every individual. Therefore, it is expedient that our words be just right for each listener! What follows is worthy of our full attention: “For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He. When proclaiming the name of God, our words need to be just right, lest we take His name in vain! Some of us clobber people with our definition of Who God is! Some of us turn them away by our lives. This should not be my friends!
We will always be at a loss when we talk about God. Our limited human vocabulary is inadequate to describe the eternal, the sublime, the omnipotent and omniscient, the limitless, the fullness of love, of grace, of mercy, and limitless compassion! God is all of this – par excellence, and so infinitely more! The thought of Him, is impossible for our human minds to deal with, adequately! You may have heard me repeat the words of someone who said, “If God was small enough for our minds, He would not be big enough for our needs!” This is oh, so true!
Moses does his best in talking of God’s greatness: He is “the Rock!” Everything He does is “perfect!” His ways can only be described as “justice!” No “injustice” can be found in Him because He is the “God of truth!” “Righteous and Upright,” that is Who He is!
What a God we serve! Let us be very careful to proclaim Him with our words, and by our lives – as He deserves!
We will continue in this chapter.