We find ourselves in our passage tonight in the middle of a song. I don't know if you've ever tried to think carefully about lyrics when you hear a song on the radio or on a disc or on your streaming devices. If you're listening to something and you think, do I really hear that word? What are they saying? It's very comical when you realize you're growing up sometimes assuming the lyrics of a song and then you find out later, that was nothing that I thought that was. Like that's not even close. And sometimes this can happen with hymns. We actually put our eyes on words and we think, that's not what I've been singing for a long time. And yet closer examination of lyrics is valuable. Not only because we want to know what the words themselves say, but because of the power of song in itself. Singing is a theological tool. It's a form of lyrical catechism, where we are internalizing what God has made known through the many songs of the scriptures. This is why it's worthwhile for us to study the book of Psalms, which we've given ourselves adamantly to do. And in our song tonight, we think of this song Moses was to teach Israel. But it's not because they simply had a lack of things they could say or praise the Lord for. This song, given to Moses for the people, did have theological instruction as its purpose. So when they're singing this song, they're to learn, I think, two main things. Namely, that they can be a sinful wayward people, and their history shows that. And that God is unique, faithful, and trustworthy in all things, and their history shows that too. This song highlights the humility of the people before the all-knowing presence of God. Humility would be the right response, that is. It highlights the fact that brought low before the Lord in our sinful estate, we would be humble before the greatness of God. And this song certainly exalts the greatness of God in all the earth, that he is the creator and redeemer. And as we see in our song tonight, the passage of the song, there is no God beside him. The rock of the nations and their false idols, their rock is not like our rock. Something is different. We see in verses 26 and following them, we find ourselves in the middle of this song. We've noticed at the beginning of this song, the content in chapter 32, one to 43, a lengthy song that it is. There was some preparation in the first three verses where there's an attention to be given to this song and the contrast between God and Israel in verses four to six. God is faithful and Israel is not. In verses 7 to 14, God's blessing on Israel is part of their historical remembrance. He has not only delivered them, but sustained them and provided for them and guided them all their days. He has also highlighted in the song Israel's disobedience in verses 15 to 18. Not only was it a contrast earlier made clear in verses 4 to 6, These verses in verses 15 to 18 lay out the stubbornness of Israel. How has their disobedience manifested? Well, this song is for them to sing about the fact that they kicked like a wild, stubborn animal, rebellious against the Lord, going after idols and provoking the jealousy of the one living God. That's dumb, but that's what they did. That's what they did. That's the stupidity of sin. in the foolishness of idolatry, and they chose that path. And they're going to sing and remember that that was part of their history. In verses 19 to 25, we ended last week remembering the judgment of God, where his discipline and chastisement, the disasters of the curses of the covenant would be upon them. And we pick up in verses 26 to 35 with the foolishness of Israel's enemies. You see, God did not obliterate the nation of Israel. And verses 26 to 35 begins to explain why. Not that this would be the only reason God had made promises to keep, a covenant with Abraham at the very least. But there was also a concern that the enemies of Israel would be confused. In other words, if God were to wipe the people out entirely through some sort of army, the Israelites' enemies might think to themselves, well, look at our great power. Well, look what we have done by ourselves. And the Lord would not want glory to go to the enemies of Israel either. So in verses 26 to 35, the foolishness of Israel's enemies is one of the reasons given for the actions of God. The Lord says in verse 26, I would have said I will cut them to pieces. I'll wipe them from human memory. Had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversary should misunderstand, lest they should say our hand is triumphant. It was not the Lord who did all this. So the appeal here is to Yahweh's reputation among the nations. The prophets speak like this. The Psalms speak like this. And here in the Pentateuch, we see the rationale appealing to God's reputation among the nations. Yahweh needs to be esteemed among the nations. And that means even though Israel might face judgment, Restoring them and delivering them would also communicate wonderful covenantal truths, not only that Israel could hold dear and esteem as precious, but even the nations would be sober mindedly tempted to realize, OK, the God of Israel is the living God. He has disciplined his people. He's brought them back. If God were to cut them to pieces and wipe them from human memory, the nations might not conclude something about Yahweh's great power. Instead, those nations might conclude something about their own power. Namely, look at our great hand. We have lifted our hand high. Our hand is triumphant. It wasn't Yahweh who did this. So one of the reasons why the Lord's judgment is temporary is so that no wrong boasting would go to the nations themselves. And then Yahweh begins to explain the reason through these words of Moses why the nations would even be tempted to conclude that. Why would the nations be tempted to or any nation outside of Israel be tempted to take glory in their own great power? Because in verse 28, they're a nation void of counsel. There's no understanding in them. At least with the Israelites, there are covenant laws and instructions and divine revelation and oracles. But the pagans, in their darkened understanding and in their worship of idolatry, it's actually the lack of counsel and the lack of understanding that is a deeply spiritual problem. And he says in verse 29, if they were wise, they would understand this. It's kind of ironic. If they were understanding, they would have understanding. That's what he's saying. If only they were understanding, they would understand. But the whole point is they don't. They don't understand because they lack wisdom. So they're not wise. They would discern their latter end. I think at the end of verse 29, what he's meaning is, if these enemies of Israel had good spiritual sense about them, they would know that the path of idolatry leads to destruction. They'd be able to look at the latter end of their lives. The latter end being their future. What's their future? What's the latter end of their decisions? Well, idolatry destroys you. The penalty and judgment upon sin, upon sinners, is such that idolaters have no refuge from their sin outside Yahweh. So if they're rejecting the living God and going after idols, they themselves being void of counsel and having no understanding, then they should discern their latter end, but don't. They should anticipate judgment in their future, but instead they might boast in themselves. In verse 30, he says, for how could one have chased a thousand and two put 10,000 to flight unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had given them up? The rock selling and the Lord giving up are parallel ideas. He said, here's what the nations should conclude in their right thinking. They don't have right thinking. He says, if they did have right thinking, they'd be able to say, how could we take on the people of Israel throughout their land and end up being victorious? The Assyrians would later find themselves in this kind of situation when they attack the northern part of the land. The Babylonians would later find themselves in this situation when they attacked the southern part of the land. And they seem temporarily to have victory. How could one chase 1,000 and two put 10,000 to flight? Another way of saying, how is it that the people of Israel could fall before their adversaries? And the answer, if the nations had discernment and understanding, would be the rock sold them up, gave them up. In other words, his judgment is upon them. The only reason the Israelites would be defeated is because Yahweh's sovereignty has determined it so. It's not because the nations are great. It's because Yahweh in His righteousness and in His wisdom gives the non-understanding, non-wise nations the hand and weaponry to subdue Israel. In verse 31, one of the reasons that they seem to be unable to see this is because their rock, the rock of these nations, meaning I think their idols, it's just taking all their idols as one collective false god and all the different names and expressions and crafted images that those idols take. Their rock is not as our rock. So they don't worship what we do. This is an important theological point. The Old and New Testaments do not treat idolatry as another cloaked form of Yahweh worship. It's not as if idolatry among the nations are the nations worshiping Yahweh just in ways that are a little bit confused, but that Yahweh sort of redirects where he says, I'm gonna take that worship unto myself because I know this is what they mean. Instead, the Bible says their worship, the rock those nations depend on, it is not our rock. It is most profoundly not the same. Their rock is not as our rock. Our enemies are by themselves. Now the enemies of Israel don't think they're by themselves. They've got Baal and Molech and Asherah and all the various gods of the Canaanites and beyond. So they don't think they're alone. They've got the gods of the nations, right? Well, when those gods don't actually exist, turns out that the mirage of idolatry just gets busted and exposed here. And we see that those enemies are actually all by themselves. There's no God giving them victory other than the living God judging his people through those adversaries. Their spiritual vitality is not what it seems. In fact, it's the opposite of vitality. It's poison. It's diminishment, it's dehumanization, it's self-destruction. In verses 32 to 33, their vine comes from the vine of Sodom. The metaphor here, I think it's meant to describe what animates them, what they live for, what motivates them, what leads to their decisions, and what the path, both present and future, is rooted in. It is not true knowledge of Yahweh. It's rooted in something sinister and wicked. In verse 32, their vine, which may mean not only the spiritual worship they give, but the very idols they worship, Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Why is he bringing up Sodom and Gomorrah? Sodom and Gomorrah are from Genesis 18 and 19. And yet these, these towns that were destroyed by the Lord are towns filled with wickedness and a rejection of Yahweh. And he says, that's where you can link these nations. Why do they lack understanding and why is their rock not like our rock? Because their vine, the thing that anchors them, the thing that leads to the poisonous fruit of their worship and idolatry, it's rooted in what's wicked. So think of Sodom and Gomorrah and their fields. So their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters are bitter and their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps. You don't want anything to do with that. If someone gave you a cup and said, you need to drink this because you're thirsty, but it does have some poison in it, you'd think twice. You'd think twice because you know that this thing is actually a threat to me, not a help to me. And that means idolatry is like a mixed drink. That while this is some sort of alleged worship of gods, these are not gods at all, but something demonic. We saw this earlier in our study in Deuteronomy 32 last week. In verse 17, they sacrifice to demons that were no gods. So why is it that the behavior of idolaters is wicked? Because it's rooted in demonic activity and not real gods that exist. In verses 34 and 35, he says, is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries, vengeance is mine. He seems to have something stored up in heavenly treasuries that at the appointed time is going to be applied. The most immediate referent here is at the end of verse 33, the wine that is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps, that sort of poisonous thing. And wine is an image of judgment and death. And God says, I have this stored up and sealed for my people and for my nations. It's the wine of judgment. It's the taking in and imbibing here in verses 34 and 35 of divine wrath. It's laid up in store and sealed. Who has laid it up? Yahweh has. Who has sealed it? Yahweh has. Who is going to give recompense and vengeance at the appointed time? Yahweh will. He will open the storehouses and the treasuries of the wine of His wrath. And He will make the nations stagger as a result. Staggering seems to be in view because He says vengeance is mine and recompense for the time when their foot shall slip. Why won't they be able to walk well? Why are they gonna be stumbling and slipping? Because God is gonna open up the treasuries and storehouses of his judgment and cause them to stagger in the drunkenness of his wrath. But the vengeance and recompense belongs to him. It's an important statement even for the Apostle Paul in the New Testament because he quotes Deuteronomy 32, 35 in his letter to the Romans. Paul says in Romans 12, 19, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine. I will repay. Now, where did the Lord claim that vengeance is mine? Paul says it's written. And if we know Deuteronomy 32, 35, we see there, there it is written. And what Paul has quoted to the Romans, the truth is that judgment belongs to the Lord. He is righteous and sovereign. And the recompense, the wrath of God on his enemies, will fall at the time when their foot slips. For the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly. Not only Romans 12, 19, but also Hebrews 10, verse 30. For we know him, the writer says, the one who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay. Hebrews 10.30 quotes from Deuteronomy 32. Both writers of those letters, the writer of the Romans and the writer to the Hebrews, they believe that this here is an abiding, outside the Sinai covenant kind of truth about God. Not just limited to the covenantal administration of ceremonies and shadows, but a truth about God that transcends all generations and covenants, that God is righteous and judgment belongs to him. So we've seen then in verses 26 to 35, the foolishness of Israel's enemies. And we see that in that foolishness, their own time of judgment is appointed. In verses 36 to 38, vindication and mockery for Israel is explained. Vindication and mockery, both good news, but also a mockery of the fact that idolatry was something the Israelites considered. In verses 36 to 38, it starts this way. For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants. One way this vindication will come to pass is he'll deliver them from their enemies. The enemies don't see this coming. They feel very secure, but their security is undermined. God overthrows their power and the Lord will vindicate his people with compassion. But he will do so when they realize the bankruptcy of their own resources. Because part of Israel's tendency is to trust in themselves. to look to their own strength, to look to some strength besides Yahweh. Now, what options would those be? Well, if they're looking outside of Yahweh for their strength, they may be looking to themselves or to the idols of the nation. Both of those options are bad options, okay? Dumb either way. Like, don't do that. Look to Yahweh, hope in Him, and don't say, well, I'll find my strength elsewhere. I'll find my rock elsewhere. And he says in verse 36, he's gonna vindicate his people when he sees that their power is gone and that there's none remaining bond or free. He doesn't mean no individual remains, either enslaved or free. He means there's none remaining with power. Their power's gone and none is remaining for anybody. You're either in the category of a free person or a not-free person. And so I think that the end of verse 36 is all-encompassing. He says, when everybody comes to the end of themselves, When they realize that they shouldn't boast in themselves and they shouldn't look elsewhere for their strength, the vindication for them comes because that's when they have that moment of clarity. It's like the prodigal son who finds himself in Luke 15 eating and desiring what the pigs themselves had and it says that he came to himself. It's that moment where the Israelites and their folly have been looking for their strength and spiritual vitality elsewhere, with mirages in the desert before them of idols that are not God's and cannot save, and a moment of clarity dawns upon them. Vindication comes by the hand of God, and yet not just vindication, but also a stinging rebuke. The stinging rebuke is in the form of mockery. In verses 37 and 38, then he will say, where are the gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you. Let them be your protection. You see, the nations had many gods in Israel looked outside of Yahweh to the worship of those gods. And yet, truth be told, those gods do not receive any sacrifices as Yahweh would. Those gods can't rise up as Yahweh would. Those gods can't help and can't protect as Yahweh does, because those gods don't exist. And so the vindication comes with this stinging rebuke that there are no gods you've turned to to rise and help you, are they? They're silent, aren't they? Those gods are no gods. Which means that the vindication and mockery of Israel is setting up verses 39 to 42 in the song. And this nearly takes us all the way to the end of the song, just with one remaining verse of it. In verses 39 to 42, the existence and power of Yahweh, the Lord will press forward the truth and uniqueness of his own power and existence. There's no God like Him. Here's the language in verses 39 and following. See now that I, even I am He, and there is no God beside me. You can translate this language that I am. See that I am, I am, and there is no God beside me. an appeal to his eternality and uniqueness, a monotheism, one God, one living God, that there is one God and a creator that he is and redeemer that he is with no other creator or redeemer beside him. This is an assertion from God about all other so-called gods, and he says there are none. This is God making an evaluation of pagan worship. Those gods worshiped by the idolaters are not gods. There is no God beside me. God himself claims the sovereignty and authority and power over huge realms here that are coming in pairs. I kill, and I make alive. I wound and I heal and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. So if the Israelites are looking to other gods for help and sovereignty and power and authority and deliverance, there are no gods beside God and besides God. In verse 39, this declaration of Yahweh is very, very crucial. It is reminiscent of many things you see in the prophet Isaiah. When you get into the Isaiah 40s, the chapters of the 40s of Isaiah lay out God's case for the stupidity of idolatry and his own exalted uniqueness in all the earth, that he alone fashions the stars and calls them by name and that all other gods are futile. God himself swears that this is the case and is ready to judge all the wicked. In verses 40 to 41, he says, for I lift up my hand to heaven and swear as I live forever. What could God make an oath according to? Because when we commit with our words to an oath, we are appealing to the authority of God and the presence of God and the witness of God before others when the oath and vow is taken. And we know that we can do this because God is supreme and He reigns above us. So if we take oaths in the name of God and therefore ought not take His name in vain, whose name does Yahweh swear by? What name is greater than God's? Well, there isn't one. So what Yahweh must do is He says, as I live forever. It is an appeal here with this authoritative pronouncement to his own name because there is nothing greater than God. There's nothing greater by which he will swear than himself. As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hands take hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I'll make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives from the long-haired heads of the enemy. So if God kills and makes alive, if he wounds and heals, then the Israelites should trust him and the wicked should fear him. His people should rejoice in him and the wicked, the unrighteous, the nations who love their idols, they should tremble before the righteous judgment of the one true God. Because God's flashing sword and his hands holding onto judgment will be rendered in executed judgment on the wicked. Vengeance on his adversaries, and he will repay those who hate him. In other words, they will reap what they sow. They hate God, so they will receive his judgment. They reject God and love idolatry, and so they will perish in their sins. This is an image of a divine warrior. Israelites knew what it was to pick up a sword or a spear or arrows, and they knew what it was like to face other armies that had spears and swords or arrows. And here in verse 41, Yahweh is the one with the flashing sword and his hand takes hold of judgment. And in verse 42, his arrows go into his enemies and the vengeance is profound. In verse 42, it's as if his arrows are not satisfied until the wicked are fully subdued. They are drunk with blood. His sword devours flesh like a predator devouring prey. His sword devours and with the blood of the slain and the captives from the long haired heads of the enemy. The long haired heads might be a picture of the leaders and chiefs of the nation's armies. Some translations just use the word leaders. So a long haired head of the enemy could refer likely to their leaders or those who go out in battle. Well, the blood of the slain and the captive and the leaders of the enemies fall under the sword and arrows of Yahweh. Verses 39 to 42 insist on his uniqueness and power. Good news for the righteous, horrible news for the wicked. The same is true today, isn't it? We think of the coming day of the Lord, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that there's no other redeemer but Christ, no other word made flesh, the word by which all things are made and the word which has made all things. This word made flesh, the risen and ascended savior. will return on a white horse. The imagery of Revelation 19 and following is to picture the return of Christ and the vanquishing of his enemies, the casting down into the second death of the devil and all who are in league with him, not just the demonic host, but all the wicked who the flashing sword of Yahweh and the arrows of Yahweh will vanquish. In verse 43, the end of the song is an invitation. It's a summons. And the summons is rejoice with me, O heavens, bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. This is a widespread call for people and the heavens and all around who can hear come rejoice. with him. For he avenges the blood of his children, takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people's land. Who shall subdue the wicked? Yahweh. Who will bring atonement for his people? Yahweh. Who should be bowed down before and praised and rejoiced over? Yahweh and Yahweh alone. This is a call not only to recognize that he is the one true God, it is the call for exclusive worship of the one true God. That they will not rejoice in other sources of strength, that they will not bow down to other gods. Instead, it's as if these gods are called to bow down to Yahweh. Who is supreme? Only Yahweh. Who reigns above and worthy of all worship in heaven and earth? Only Yahweh. And the Israelites are to sing this. They're to internalize this. That's what seems to be the point in the lyrics of this song. Paul takes a moment in Romans to also quote from this part of Deuteronomy 32. We saw that he quoted earlier in Romans 12, that vengeance is mine, says the Lord. In Romans 15, He's making a part of an argument about how Gentiles can have the same hope as Jews, that through Christ, both Jews and Gentiles are brought into the Messiah and they have salvation to the nations and the Gentiles have hope. And in Romans 15, verse 10, Paul says, again, it is said, rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. And the call to rejoice with him is from Deuteronomy 32, 43. So the Apostle Paul in Romans sees good news for the nations, that they would come and rejoice. A summons, an invitation given far and wide. Come and rejoice with his people, oh Gentiles. Because if the nations respond rightly to the living God and the one true God, and they want to worship him rightly and truly, then they will join the Christians in new covenant hope. And their worship with the Gentiles and their joy with the nations will look like worship of Jesus, and trust in Jesus, because the Lord has one people, Jew and Gentile in Christ. One shepherd of one flock, Jew and Gentile in Christ. And so he says in Romans 15, 10, quoting our song tonight, rejoice, O nations, with his people. Now the aftermath of this song is Moses teaching it to the people and making some comments about the importance of when God speaks. And then the Lord tells him to go die. In verses 44 to 47, the importance of God's words are explained like this. Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. He and Joshua, the son of Nun. And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, and I'm going to make a distinction here, all the words of this song in verse 44, And a distinction between in verse 45, all these words to all Israel, the Finnish speaking includes not just this song, but all these words he's been teaching from Deuteronomy, these sermons. What we're told in chapter 31 were to be written down, that in the entirety of these songs, they are to be words of not just exhortation for what is right, but a warning about what is wrong. These words in verse 46 are to be taken to heart. He says to them in verse 46, take to heart all the words by which I'm warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law, for it's no empty word for you, but your very life. And by this word, you shall live long in the land that you're going over the Jordan to possess. Why should they pay attention to the words of God? Because God's words aren't like other words. You've got to think this through, right? We've got to realize, why is it that the Bible is what we attend to when we gather together? Why is it that we want to feast upon the Word of God and trust this as the final authority in all matters of faith and practice? What is it about the Bible? The Old and New Testaments are the words of God. And he says here that we're to take all my words, Moses says, these words from God, take them to heart. What does it mean to take to heart God's words? We should reflect on that because it's actually the need that we have every time we gather. That when the words of God are expounded, when the words of God are meditated upon, that they be taken to heart. And I think the notion of meditation is part of it. We're coming to think about the Bible. We're not coming to be passive. I know I'm up here, and I know you're in the pews, but together we're thinking about the Bible. We're thinking on the words of God. So there is an activeness, not just a passivity that we might imagine as if we just turned on a television show or listened to a song, where we're just taking in. We're reflecting. We're engaging with our minds. We're thinking on the Bible. And to take to heart involves not just meditation, but ready to believe and live in light of. To take something to heart means I'm ready for this to have some impact. I'm ready for this to have some shaping of my life. I want this to be something I'm conforming myself to. So Paul says to the Romans in Romans 12, don't be conformed to the pattern of the world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind. Well, we know that in the Old and New Testaments, the renewal of the mind of the people of God is through His Word and by His Spirit. And so when we take to heart the words of God, we're hoping in them, trusting them, believing them, wanting to walk in the light of them, meditating upon them. And these words include warning. You and I are not too clever not to be needing a warning anymore. You and I don't know so much and have not come to such a place in discipleship where the warnings of Scripture are irrelevant. They're not irrelevant. We need the warnings of the Bible. We are always those rightly addressed by the words of God, sometimes words of encouragement. We love that. Sometimes words of warning. We might not love that, but we need that. The Lord's words give us what we need. And therefore we see in verse 47 the further explanation, for it is no empty word for you. God's words don't return void. He's not bluffing. Sin really will destroy us. Idolatry really is in vain and an abomination before God. Yahweh really is the refuge for sinners. Christ Jesus really is the Savior we need. This is no empty word. But he says in verse 47, it's your very life. Doesn't that sound like in Deuteronomy 8, when he says, man doesn't live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. The life that we truly need is the life God gives and he's made known the truth to know for this life, not only in the Old Testament, but in the new. According to Deuteronomy 8 3. That he might make you know man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And here with these 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, we have no empty word, but our very life disclosing the living God to us as many promises by this word, you shall live long in the land that you're going over the Jordan to possess. The importance of God's words are followed lastly by a final word to Moses here, some preparation for death. In verses 48 to 52, that very day, I don't think that means the day of death, but I do think that means the day he taught the song. So whether or not he dies on this day, he at least teaches the song on this day, that very day, the Lord spoke to Moses, go up this mountain of the Abiram, Mount Nebo. which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho. Now, a few clarifications here geographically. They're gonna go and conquer Jericho in the book of Joshua. You see this in Joshua chapter six. Here, opposite Jericho, meaning on the other side of the Jordan River, where they are right now on the eastern side, they're in the plains of Moab, and there's a mountain range called the Mountains of Abirin. And there seems to be a peak or some sort of place among this range where Moses is gonna go, known as Mount Nebo. So Nebo is part of this range, the Abirin, which is in the land of Moab. So you've got the land, and then you've got this range, and then you've got this peak. And Mount Nebo is where Moses is to go on that peak to die. Now the practical value of going up on the mountain is it's going to give him a vantage point to see. He's told, view the land of Canaan, which I'm giving to the people of Israel for possession, and die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. We see in verses 49 to 50, Moses is told four things. Go up, view, die, and be gathered. In that order. Go up, view, die, and be gathered. This will be fulfilled in Deuteronomy 34, when Moses does die. We're referencing here in verse 50 the death of Aaron much earlier. In Numbers chapter 20 and verses 22 to 29, we see Aaron, your brother, he died already. Aaron was three years older than Moses. Moses dies at age 120. Aaron, your brother, died earlier on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. That's gonna happen to you. You're gonna go up a mountain and you're gonna die. Why? Verses 51 and 52 say, Because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the wilderness of sin. Because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. Now what's going on there? What happened in that wilderness area where there was a breaking of faith? This references Numbers 20, when Moses strikes the rock twice. when he loses his patience with the people, makes a public embarrassment of himself, exercises poor leadership, and when God said, speak to the rock, Moses ignores the divine commandment and out of anger strikes not once but twice, having been absolutely outraged at the people. And that kind of public display was so significant in the life of Moses. That kind of public demonstration of poor leadership and compromise was so heavy that it led to the Lord's judgment on Moses' future inheritance of the land where God would say to Moses, you shall die before the conquest. You will not inherit the land. We should not, however, think verse 51 means Moses had no faith in Yahweh. This language, break faith with me, is a phrase that can simply mean you acted disobediently. You failed to trust me here, and you acted according to your own strength and what you thought would be best. You did what was right in your own eyes. You struck the rock. You were so angry. You did it twice. You were so indignant. And so verse 51 is not an indictment of Moses on a spiritual status, but it is identifying a failure that was serious in the life of Moses. And that it happened in that area. And it says in verse 51, you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For the leader of the Israelites to disregard what God said and to do what he himself wanted to do is to fail to treat the Lord as holy. Moses knew the danger of not taking to heart the words of God. He knew the vulnerability of what happens when God speaks and you want to do something else. He himself would not go into the inheritance of the land because he did not take Yahweh's words to heart in the waters spoken of in the wilderness of Kadesh. He says in verse 52, for you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there. into the land that I'm giving to the people of Israel. When we look at this song, both last week and tonight, I think we can conclude with a few thoughts here. The people of God should be a faithful people. The song was to remind them of their tendency, that in their history, they knew that in their own strength, they were never sufficient. And sometimes they needed the reminder of the distresses and circumstances of adversaries and sin to come to an end of themselves in a fresh way where they will come to their senses and realize, I have never been able to have the strength necessary to follow Yahweh. It's never been within me. in my own power to conjure that up somehow. I am never enough before the Lord. Rather, I am weak and I am susceptible and vulnerable. I'm prone to self-deception. I need the guidance of his spirit and the words of God. The people of God should be a faithful people. They should be a remembering people. You know, part of the value of this song is to instill in us in a fresh way how important it is to remember. Remember our need and God's provision. Remember our sinfulness and Yahweh's righteousness. Remember our weakness and Yahweh's strength. This song highlights both. and we need both. We don't need to come to a fresh realization of our strength and be just completely discouraged before the schemes of the evil one. A fresh sense of our sin and weakness should drive us to the cross where we come not only to our senses in a sober and clear way, not only that I'm a wretched sinner, but that Christ is a mighty savior and he's come for me. He's come for the wretched, he's come for the sinful. And so for the Israelites, to sing of their weakness and rebellion was not meant to be the only thing in the song. They're to be freshly aware of their weaknesses and failures so that the faithfulness of Yahweh would be their refuge and trust. So we are to be a remembering people. We must take to heart God's words. This would be a good prayer whenever we gather on the Lord's Day, that as we come to meet with the people of God in corporate worship, that we would say along with the exhortation of Moses, Lord, help me take to heart all your words. I want to love the word of God. I want to learn the word of God. And I want to I want to practice and meditate and live in light of what you've made known of yourself. Indeed, the message of gospel is a message of power. It's no vain or empty word. It's the power of God unto salvation, no less. And then lastly, we must remind ourselves there's no other God like Yahweh or but Yahweh. There's no God like Yahweh or but Yahweh. All the gods of the nations are in vain to worship. Because they themselves cannot hear prayer. They themselves do not exist. They cannot save. They have no hand to deliver. They give no salvation to any who come to them. I remember a preacher saying one time, the horror of idolatry is that your idols will allow you to die in your sins. Because how could they ever take your place? How could idols ever atone for our need? How could idols ever bring grace and mercy to those who need it? The living God, however, this is a very different situation, isn't it? Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, welcoming the penitent, a refuge everlastingly for all who find salvation in him. There is no God like Yahweh. There is no God but Yahweh. So the idols of the nations, all their rocks, their rock is not like our rock. It's a profoundly needed point for us to remember. He alone is the living God. The God who through the mission of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has brought salvation to us. He is our rock and all other ground is sinking sand. Let's pray.