Deuteronomy 33:29
Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you.
These words make me think about the word “enemy”. I like to think I don’t have any enemies. But an enemy might be anything that leads me off my path. There are times I am tempted to do the wrong thing. Most of the time my ”wrong things” are impulsive and born of fatigue and maybe some injured pride. Who is my enemy in these cases? Many times my enemy is myself, unwilling or too impatient to stop and look to God for guidance before speaking or acting in haste. As the passage for today reminds me, I am blessed beyond all measure to have God always with me as my shield and sword. I am getting better and better at remembering to pick up that shield and sword.
Holy Father, I am so very grateful to you. You are with me 24:7, and ready to help. You alone know how much this means to me, and how much I long to be even closer to you. Amen
Becky, transforming
pic by Kay
Deuteronomy 33:29 Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places. This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. No matter what our circumstances , we should remember that there is no one like our God. He will come to our help. He comes to where we are and with his love lifts us up and drives away the enemy . As I continue to lean on the word of God, I will experience his presence and his victory. Yesterday, Today …
Deuteronomy 33:29 Blessed are you, oh Israel! Who is like you, the people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you and you will trample down their high places. Moses is comparing God to a shield and sword. He is reminding them that God will be there to protect them at all times. How blessed the Israelites were to have this kind of protection. Actually, we who believe all have this protection. God is always with us. As the verse says: Blessed are you……. a people saved by the Lord. Prayer: gracious God may I never forget the protection you offer me. I need to remember you are always there fo…
Deuteronomy 33: 29
“Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sward. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”
Never were people so protected as the Israelites. Just as we are protected today by the grace of the God. God sent Moses to lead his people just as Pastor Gil was sent to us so that we could learn how to know the words of the Bible better. It has been a wonderful journey and we have learned so much. The journey will continue for us because we have been given the tools to proceed.
Dearest Lord, thank you…
Moses laid down a timeless metaphor in his reference to God as a shield and sword. Paul echoes and expands on it in his famous passage in his letter to the Ephesians (6:13-17) describing the full armor of God; the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. It is worth noting the sword is the only offense weapon listed. This does not mean we are passive in our faith. Indeed, the sword indicates there are times we will have to directly engage the enemy. When beset, however, we have all the tools fo…