Deuteronomy 32:40
For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,
Sermons
Vengeance and RecompenseR.M. Edgar Deuteronomy 32:19-47
RetributionJ. Orr Deuteronomy 32:34-43
The Final Revelation of God's SupremacyD. Davies Deuteronomy 32:36-43
The Royal PrerogativeC H. Spurgeon.Deuteronomy 32:39-41
The Undeliverableness of Man from the Hand of GodHomilistDeuteronomy 32:39-41














In this inspired song - an epitome of the Bible - Moses looks adown the long vista of history, and discerns what will be the outcome of the whole, viz. to establish on a safe basis the acknowledged supremacy of Jehovah. Truth shall eventually conquer, whatever be her present fortunes; and the supreme authority of Jehovah is a fundamental truth, which must in duo time effectually shine forth.

I. HUMAN EXPERIENCE WILL ULTIMATELY CONFIRM THE VANITY AND FUTILITY OF IDOLATRY. Men will accept, at the close of a changeful and bitter experience, what they would not accept at the outset of their course, viz. that there is one God - invisible, supreme, eternal. In the conscious pride of self-will, men will sound all the possible problems of life. They will not at first accept, with the docility of a child-like nature, the ipse dixit even of God himself. But when all trust in self and in created power has proved a failure; when all power is gone, and we lie on the battlefield, wounded and helpless; - then we begin to give heed to the heavenly voice. Then the gentle message of God comes, with the charm of evening music, upon the ear - yea, as an anodyne and a balm upon the bleeding heart. In a mood of self-despair, we clutch the hope of the gospel, viz. God manifest to man. God invites us to earnest and profound inquiry. He asks us to give a mature deliverance touching the power and helpfulness of the God whom we have long trusted; and the final experience of men, in all lands and ages, is uniform. "The gods who have not created the heavens and the earth shall perish!"

II. HUMAN EXPERIENCE ATTESTS THE SUPREMACY AND TRIUMPH OF JEHOVAH. "See now, that I, even I am he, and there is no god with me." The eye of man can clearly discern the fact - the foundation-fact of all religion - so soon as the veil of prejudice and sin is removed. The revelation is clear enough, if only the organ of mental vision be in healthful vigor. Without question, God is the sole Arbiter of life and death. No other deity has ever assumed an act of creation. The powers of evil have flourished the wand of a necromancer, and have pretended to effect sudden changes in the conditions of nature; but not one has ever pretended to create a star or to produce a single human life. God is still left upon the throne, as sole and undisputed Monarch. Eternal existence is another prerogative of Jehovah. Where are now the gods of the heathen? Who now worships Jupiter, or Dagon, or Isis, or Moloch? Their names are historic only. They had a passing popularity, but it has long since vanished. But with solemn form of adjuration, the Most High lifts his hand and swears, "I live forever!" As in a court of justice men accept the testimony of a fellow-man, when that testimony is given under the sanction of a religious oath; so, in self-consistency, are we bound to accept the asseveration of the eternal God. In pity for his creatures, he also takes the form of oath, and since "he can swear by none greater, he swears by himself."

III. THE ROYAL SUPREMACY OF JEHOVAH IS A GROUND FOR HUMAN JOY. Every perfection of God is suitable material for grateful praise. His power is a security for good men. All our interests are safe, being under the protection of such a Friend. His holiness also affords distinct ground for gladness. Because he is holy, we can cherish a confident hope that we shall be holy too. Hence we "give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." We rejoice to know that the scepter of the universe is in the hands of a God who is absolutely and incorruptibly just. We know that "the right" will not long be trodden underfoot of the oppressor. We are assured that the malice and craft of Satan shall not triumph. We heartily rejoice that Jehovah is King of all the earth; for "all things must now work together for good to them that love him."

"Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain,
And dies amid her worshippers." Most of all, we rejoice in his mercy. "He will be merciful to his land and to his people." We are the very persons who need Divine mercy; for lack of that mercy we die. Not more urgently does the parched land need the liquid shower, than do we, who have so grossly sinned, need Jehovah's mercy. Yet not more sure is the need than the supply. That mercy is made amply secure to all who desire it. As certainly as light streams from the natural sun, so freely and copiously does mercy stream forth from Jehovah's heart. Therefore we do well to "rejoice and to be exceeding glad." For saith Jehovah, "I will pardon your unrighteousness, and your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more." God's revelation closes with the theme of mercy. - D.

He is the Rock.
Seven times does this strong figure the Rock occur in the song. The metaphor is self-explanatory, the stability of rock being a fit emblem of the Divine immutability of purpose, and of God being faithful to His covenant and promises. This is the ruling and recurring idea of the song, coming in like a refrain, and giving unity to the whole. And how deeply did this image of God, the Rock, take hold upon the mind of Israel! Here it stands in the very forefront; the first word in the construction, to mark the importance we must assign to it. For, besides its native significance of impregnable strength and security, an additional depth of meaning was imparted to the emblem from Moses' own history and experience (Exodus 17:6; Exodus 33:21, 22). It gradually passes upwards from an objective to a subjective or experimental application, when not only the nature of the rock, but its various uses, afforded fresh and serviceable emblems. The Gospel to the Old Testament Church was not merely, "God is a rock, firm and faithful," but" He is the Rock, with all the precious associations and all the realised practical value added to the term, whether it were employed for a hiding place and protection or for shade — "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land" — or, most significantly of all, suggested by the smitten rock in Horeb, a source and guarantee of suitable and sufficient supply in case of dire necessity to the perishing. It is emphatically a covenant made, and speaks the language of redemption. The song proceeds to develop the applicability of the word in a three-fold direction, attaching it at once to God's work, His ways, and His character. "The Rock —

1. His work is perfect." It is not as artificer, but as architect, we are here to regard His work as perfect. He has a providential and redemptive plan, complete in all its details; having no need for after-thoughts, and not requiring reconstruction or amendment. In this respect "His work is perfect"; and when fully accomplished will justify and vindicate itself.

2. To understand the Divine plan or speak of it aright, we must wait till then. "For all His ways are judgment," nothing being subject to caprice or arbitrariness. His is an immutability of counsel, carried into execution by the goodwill He hath purposed in Himself. What a contrast to the feeble, vacillating, arbitrary ways of man!

3. But, above all, He Himself in His own character is the Rock. This confidence in the Divine nature itself; in Jehovah's absolute truth and equity; in His unerring rectitude and all-wise faithfulness — this is the supreme resting place. It is also set forth here as the high well-spring of all dutiful submission, of all loyal-hearted allegiance, and of all uncorruptness in religion and piety. In it the singer finds the strongest ground for rebuke, remonstrance, and reproach to the people.

(A. H. Drysdale, M. A.)

"He is the Rock," a Rock indeed. If we speak of strength, lo, He is strong; if of stability, He is the Lord, and changes not — the Ancient of Days. Hast not thou heard and considered this, that the Almighty faints not, and wearies not? He holds forth Himself in such a name to His people, a ready, all-sufficient, and enduring Refuge to all that trust in Him; and this is the foundation that the Church is built on, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. God's omnipotency for defences, His eternity, faithfulness, and unchangeableness to make that sure, His mercy and goodness make a hole in that Rock to enter in, a ready access for poor shipwrecked and broken men, who have no other refuge. This is our Rock, on which the Church is built, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4; Matthew 16:18). God were inaccessible in Himself — an impregnable Rook; how would sinners overcome Him, and enter into Him to be saved from wrath? Oh, how sad is the secret reproof contained in this commendation of God! He hath been a Rock to us, our Refuge that we fled unto, and found sure, yet have we left our Rock, gone out from our Strength; He offers Himself a Rock unto us — His all-sufficiency — and yet we leave the Fountain of living waters and dig broken cisterns; had rather choose our own broken ship to toss up and down into. He abides forever the same; though we change, He changes not. How may it reprove our backslidings, that we depart from our Rock, and where shall we find a refuge in the day of indignation? Is there any created mountain, but some floods will cover? Therefore it is folly and madness to forsake this Rock.

(H. Binning.)

His work is perfect
As He doth not trouble Himself when all is troubled about Him, so He keeps him all in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him; so also what He doth among men, though it cannot pass without man's censure, yet it is in itself perfect, complete, without defect.

1. His works are perfect in relation to the beginning and original of them — His own everlasting purpose. Men often bring forth works by guess, by their purpose, so no wonder it answer not their desire; but known to Him are all His works from the beginning, and so He doth nothing in time but what was His everlasting pleasure. Often we purpose well, and resolve perfectly, but our practice is a cripple — execution of it is maimed and imperfect; but all His works are carved out and done just as He designed them, without the least alteration; and, if it had not been well, would He have thought on it so and resolved it beforehand?

2. His works are perfect in relation to the end to which He appointed them. It may be it is not perfect in itself — a blind eye is not so perfect as a seeing eye: nay, but in relation to the glory of His name, who hath a purpose to declare His power by restoring that sight, it is as perfect. And in this sense all the imperfection of the creatures and creation, all of them are perfect works, for they accomplish the end wherefor they were sent; and so the night declares His name, and utters a speech as well as the day, the winter as the summer, the wilderness as the fruitful field; for what is the perfection of the creature but in as far as it accomplishes His purpose as the Maker of it? And therefore all His work is perfect, for it is all framed in wisdom to His own ends, in number, measure, and weight; it is so exactly agreeing to that, that you could not imagine it better.

3. Again, His work is perfect if we take it altogether, and do not cut it in parcels and look on it so. Letters and syllables make no sense till you conjoin them in words, and words in sentences. Even so it is here: if we look on the day alone, the light of it being perpetual would weary us, the night alone would be more so; but the interchange of them is pleasant. Day and night together make a distinct language of God's praise. So God has set prosperity and adversity the one over against the other; one of them, it may be, seems imperfect; nay, but it is a perfect work that is made up of both. Spots in the face commend the beauty of the rest of it. If you would, then, look upon God's work aright, look at it in the sanctuary's light, and you shall say, "He hath done all well."

4. Entertain this thought in your heart, that He hath done all well; let not your secret thoughts so much as call them in question. If once you question, you will quickly censure them. Hold this persuasion, that nothing can be better than what He doth.

5. Let this secretly reprove your hearts, the perfection of His works stains our works. Oh, how imperfect are they! And which is worse, how bold are we to censure His and absolve our own! If He have a hand in our work, yet these imperfect works are perfect in regard of Him; as we have a hand in His perfect works, yet His perfect works are imperfect in regard of us.

(H. Binning.)

All His ways are judgment
This is to the same purpose — His ways and His works are one; and this is the perfection of His work, that it is all right and equal. Whether they be in justice or mercy, they are all righteous and holy — no iniquity in them. HIS ways are straight and equal, exact as if they were measured by an exact, even rule; but because we make application of a crooked rule to them, we do imagine that they are crooked — as the blind man judges no light to be because he sees it not. How may the Lord contend and plead with us, as with the people? (Ezekiel 18:25.) And yet behold the iniquity of men's hearts; there is a secret reflection of our spirits upon His majesty as if His ways were not equal, whenever we repine against them. Behold, the Lord will assert His own ways, and plead with all flesh this controversy, that all His proceedings are full of equity; He walks according to a rule, though He be not tied to a rule. But we walk not according to a rule, though we be bound to a rule, and a rule full of equity. Here is the equity of His ways; the Gospel holds it forth in a two-fold consideration.

1. If any man turn from his iniquity, and flee unto My Son as the City of Refuge, he shall live. Iniquity shall not be his ruin, although he hath done iniquity. Oh! "who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?" Is not this complete mercy? And on the other hand, whosoever continueth in sin, though he appear to himself and others never so righteous, shall not he die in his iniquity? Is there any iniquity in this, that he receive the wages of his works, that he eat of the fruit of his own ways, and drink of his own devices?

2. This way of the Lord is equal and right in itself, but it is not so to everyone; the just man shall walk in it, and not stumble — as in an even way; nothing shall offend him (Hosea 14:9). Yet, equal and straight as it is, many other transgressors shall fall therein; they stumble even in the noonday and highway, where no offence is. By all means embrace the Word, and be satisfied with it, when you do not comprehend His work; it teaches as much in general as may put us to quietness. All His ways are judgment; just and true in all His ways is the King of saints. If I do not comprehend how it is, no wonder, for He makes darkness His covering; He spreads over His most curious pieces of workmanship a veil of darkness for a season. Therefore let us hearken to His Word, and believe its sentence on His work, when reason cannot comprehend it.

(H. Binning.)

A God of truth
I. WHAT WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND BY THE TRUTH OF GOD. Not only His veracity, but His faithfulness.

II. THAT THIS PERFECTION BELONGS TO GOD. And this I shall endeavour to prove.

1. From the dictates of natural light. Natural light tells us that truth and faithfulness are perfections, and consequently belong to the Divine nature; and that falsehood and a lie are imperfections, and to be removed from God.

2. From Scripture. The Scripture doth very frequently attribute this to God (2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 25:10; Psalm 31:5; Revelation 3:7; Revelation 6:10; Psalm 15:3; Psalm 16:7). And the Scripture doth not only in general attribute this perfection to God, but doth more particularly assure us of His sincerity and truth and faithfulness. Of His sincerity, that He deals plainly with us and speaks what He intends, that His words are the image of His thoughts and a true representation of His mind. And as the Scripture assures us of His sincerity, He of His truth and faithfulness in the accomplishment of His predictions and performance of His promises.I come now to the last thing I proposed, to make some use of this doctrine.

1. If God be a God of truth, then this gives us assurance that He doth not deceive us, that the faculties which He hath given us are not false, but when they have clear perceptions of things, they do not err and mistake.

2. If God be a God of truth, then there is reason why we should believe whatever we are satisfied is revealed to us by God. A Divine revelation is a sufficient ground for the most firm assent; for this very thing, that anything is revealed by God is the highest evidence, and ought to give us the most firm assurance, of the truth of it. Hence it is that the Word of God is called the Word of truth, yea, and truth itself: "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).

3. If God be a God of truth, and faithful in performing His promise, then here is a firm foundation for our hope and trust.

4. The truth of God is matter of terror to the wicked.

5. Let us propound to ourselves the truth of God for our pattern and imitation. Would you be like God? be true and faithful.

(Abp. Tillotson.)

Strange it is that His Majesty is pleased to clothe Himself with so many titles and names for us. He considers what our necessity is, and accordingly expresses His own name. I think nothing doth more hold forth the unbelief of men and atheism of our hearts than the many several titles God takes in Scripture; there is a necessity for a multitude of them, to make us take up God, because we, staying upon a general notion of God, rather frame in our imaginations an idol than the true God. Needed there any more to be said but "I am your God, I am God," if our spirits were not so far degenerated into atheism and unbelief? Therefore wonder at these two when you read the Scriptures, God's condescension to us and our unbelief of Him. There is not a name of God but it gives us a reproach. This name is clear — He is a God of truth; not only a true God, but Truth itself, to note His eminency in it. It is Christ's name — "I am the Truth," the substantial Truth, in whom all the promises are truth, are yea and amen. His truth is His faithfulness in performing His promises and doing what His mouth hath spoken: and this is established in the very heavens (Psalm 89:2). His everlasting purpose is in heaven, where He dwells, and therefore there is nothing done in time that can impair or hinder it. He may change His commands as He pleases, but He may not change His promise. This puts an obligation on Him, as He is faithful and true, to perform it; and when an oath is superadded, oh! how immutable are these two! — when He promises in His truth and swears in His holiness. Is there any power in heaven and earth can break that double cord? (Matthew 5:18; Hebrews 6:18.) There is no name of God but it is comfortable to some, and as terrible to others. What comfort is it to a godly man that trusts in His Word, He is a God of truth! You who have ventured your souls on His Word, you have an unspeakable advantage: His truth endures forever, and it is established in the heavens; the ground of it is without beginning, the end of it without end. Mercy made so many precious promises, and truth keeps them. Mercy is the fountain of our consolation, and truth and faithfulness convey it to us, and keep it for us. It is these two that go before His face when He sits on a throne of majesty and makes Himself accessible to sinners (Psalm 89:14), and so they are the pathway He walks in towards those who seek Him (Psalm 25:10). But this precious name, that is as ointment poured forth to those who love Him, how doth it smell of death to those who walk contrary to Him! He is a God of truth, to execute His threatenings on those who despise His commands; and though you flatter yourselves in your own eyes, and cry, "Peace, peace," even though you walk in the imagination of your heart, yet certainly He is a God of truth. It was unbelief of God's threatening that first ruined man; it is this still that keeps so many from the remedy and makes their misery irrecoverable. But if any man have set to his seal that God is true in His threatening, and subscribed unto the law, then, I beseech you, add not the unbelief of the Gospel unto your former disobedience. You have not kept His commands, and so the curse is come upon you. Do you believe that? If you do, then the Gospel speaks unto you, the God of truth has one word more — "He that believes shall be saved," not withstanding all his breaking of the law. If you do not set your seal to this also, then you say He is not a God of truth; you say He is a liar. And as for you who have committed your souls to Him, as to a faithful keeper, and acquiesced unto His word of promise for salvation, think how unsuitable it is for you to distrust Him in other lesser things.

(H. Binning.)

Without iniquity
There are none can behold their own vileness as it is but in the sight of God's glorious holiness. Sin is darkness, and neither sees itself nor anything else; therefore must His light shine to discover this darkness. Among all the aggravations of sin, nothing doth so demonstrate the madness of it as the perfection, goodness, and absolute unspottedness of God. It is this that takes away all pretence of excuse; and therefore it is that Moses, when he would convince this people of their ways and make them inexcusable, he draws the parallel of God's ways and their ways, declares what God is, how absolutely perfect in Himself and in His works, and had given no cause for provocation to them to depart from Him. And then how odious must their departing be! When both are painted on a board before their eyes, it makes sin become exceeding sinful. There are two things in sin that exceedingly abuse the creature, the iniquity of it and folly of it. It is contrary to all equity and reason to depart from Him that hath made us and given us a law, to whom we are by so many obligations tied. But what is the madness of it, to depart from the Fountain of living waters and dig broken cisterns that can hold none! This is a thing that the heavens may be astonished at; and if the earth had the sense to understand such a thing, the whole fabric of it would tremble for horror at such folly of reasonable souls. And this evil hath two evils in it — we forsake life and love death, go from Him and choose vanity. It is great iniquity to depart without an offence on His part. He may appeal to all our consciences, and let them sit down and examine His way most narrowly. "What iniquity have ye found in Me? What cause have ye to leave Me?" But when withal He is a living Fountain, He is our glory, He is a fruitful land, a land of light, our ornament and attire; in a word, our life and our consolation, our happiness and our beauty. What word shall be found to express the extreme madness of men to depart from such an one, and change their glory into that which doth not profit? If either He were not a Fountain of living waters, or if there were any fountain beside that could yield water to satisfy the unsatiable desires of men, it were more excusable; but what shadow shall be found to cover such an iniquity, that is both infinite sin and incomparable loss? Oh, that men would consider how good the blessed Lord is, how He is alone and nothing beside Him in heaven and earth; all broken cisterns, all unprofitable; He only self-sufficient, all others insufficient, and therefore a proportioned good for our necessity and desires; and I am sure you would be constrained to cry out with David, "Whom have I in heaven with Thee, or in earth beside Thee? It is good for me to draw near to God." You would look on drawing near and walking with Him and before Him not only as the most reasonable thing, but the best thing, most beautiful for you, most profitable for you, and all other ways would be looked on as the ways of death.

(H. Binning.)

Just and right is He
By the justice of God we understand that universal rectitude of His nature whereby, in His government of the world, He does all things with perfect righteousness, giving to everyone his due.

1. We are to consider God, not only as the Maker and Preserver of men, but as their Governor also. He who made man has an unbounded right to prescribe laws for his conduct, and to enforce the laws by rewards and punishments; and in so doing He consults the good of His creatures as well as His own glory.

2. God is just in punishing disobedience to His holy law.

3. If we consult the Scriptures we shall find that God has displayed His justice, in many awful instances, by the punishment of sinners.

4. But the most affecting display of Divine justice was made in the sufferings and death of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

(G. Burder.)

I. LET US THINK OF JUSTICE AS RESIDING FROM ETERNITY IN THE DIVINE BEING, AND AS OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY OF THE EXISTENCE OF CREATED BEINGS.

1. In this view, justice must be contemplated as rising out of the very existence of Deity. Justice exists necessarily and infinitely in the glorious Godhead.

2. It may be viewed as operating within the Divine Being itself, distinctly from every prospect of the future existence of a universe of creatures, in such ways as these: in a righteous valuing and honouring of the distinct preciousness of other Divine excellencies, such as power, holiness, goodness, etc.; in a fair arrangement, union, and well-adjusted harmony of all the other Divine perfections; and in the mutual acknowledgments of the equal rights, dignity, and relations of each of the Three Persons in the Godhead.

II. LET US THINK OF THE NATURE OF MORAL GOOD AND EVIL, AS FOUND IN CREATURE AGENTS, WHICH IS THE PROPER OBJECT OF JUSTICE.

1. Such agents possess the natural image of God, in spirituality, in intelligence, in capacity of choice, in voluntary activity, in discernment of good and evil. These things are necessary to the existence of either moral good or moral evil. It may be asked, What is the meaning of these words?

2. Moral good and evil are opposite qualities of such creatures, as to their dispositions and actions.

3. The chief moral good and evil must be found in the dispositions and actions of the creature towards God Himself. Here must be the greatest, the noblest beauty, or the foulest deformity, the richest flavoured sweetness or the most poisonous bitterness.

4. There is a wide range of good and of evil, in disposition and in action, relative to man made in the image of God.

5. There is a general importance in all moral good and evil, even in their most ordinary and tranquil movements; for they are the acts of a creature endowed with the natural image of the great God, to whom also these acts and qualities have an ultimate reference.

6. In connection with these things we have to think of the vast multitude of moral agents, men and angels, whom we know with certainty, and of the vast variety of circumstances and events, and also the long flight of ages, before the final judgment; besides the numberless worlds of intelligent agents which may lie behind an impenetrable veil of obscurity and uncertainty. And thus we have some view of that awful, wide-extended, moral empire, the direct object of the cognisance and procedure of Divine justice, and of which everyone who now thinks on this subject is an interested and important part.Application —

1. How contrary to this whole doctrine of the justice of God is that spirit of frivolous, presumptuous ease and gaiety which generally reign in the world!

2. Let us consider the majesty and power of the justice of God as the guardian attribute of all the other excellencies of Divinity.

3. Who can sufficiently estimate the preciousness of deliverance from the wrath to come by the sufferings and blood of Jesus, the Son of God?

III. THE NATURE OF THIS GLORIOUS JUSTICE AND OF ITS EXERCISE RESPECTING GOOD AND EVIL.

1. His penetrating and transcendently perfect inspection of moral good and evil (Isaiah 3:8; 2 Chronicles 16:9; Revelation 1:14).

2. His approbation of moral good, and His complacency and delight therein.

3. His honouring and rewarding moral goodness.

4. Let us think of the aspect and procedure of this great Judge against moral evil, by rejection, disapprobation, and vengeance.Application —

1. In review of the things spoken on this subject, the glorious justice of Jehovah, it is of importance to notice the place which this excellency holds among the other perfections of Deity. It is, in some respects, a consequence of the general rectitude of the Divine Being and of some other particular excellencies of God. But it is specially to be remarked that to justice belongs the high character of the guardian attribute, both in relation to the glory of all that is Divine, and in reference to the rights and interests of created beings among one another.

2. It demands our most serious consideration, that it is not without very great difficulty that an apostate creature can attain genuine and powerful views of the attribute of justice.

3. How solemn are the exercises of an awakened believing soul, making express application to God for reconciliation and peace by the blood of Jesus!

4. How perfect is the glory of the sacrifice and righteousness of Jesus, the Son of God!

(John Love, D. D.)

I. THE EXCELLENCE OF HIS NATURE PROVES IT. If "he that ruleth over men must be just," if human rulers must be just, how much more must He be who requires them to be so, the Governor, the Maker of all the world! And if it suits HIS office that He should be so, what is there to induce Him to depart from His character?

II. HIS OWN WORD SHOWS IT (Jeremiah 9:24; Psalm 19:9; Psalm 145:17; Acts 17:31).

III. HIS COMMANDMENTS TO MEN PROVE IT. The qualities He requires in them are those which exist in Himself, and the end of man's obedience is to be likened to his Maker.

IV. HIS DEALINGS WITH MEN SHOW IT. To them He declares Himself to be eminently holy and just; that He will by no means clear the guilty, and that He will finally render to every man according to the things he has done.

V. THE NECESSITY OF HIS VERY NATURE SHOWS IT. It is utterly impossible that a being holy, good, and wise as the Deity should be indifferent to the actions of His creatures, or that having given a law for their guidance, He should be indifferent as to the measure of their obedience to it. What, then, do we mean when we speak of the justice of God? It means that He will execute His whole law; that He will fulfil His word, and render to everyone according to his works. To make this justice perfect, as all the attributes of God must be supposed to be, it will descend to every particular in our conduct; nothing will be too small to be noted; nothing can be concealed from Him; nothing will be overlooked by Him. To make it consistent with the spiritual character of His nature, and with that spiritual holiness which He requires in His people, it will extend to every thought, to every purpose, to every hidden wish of the heart, as well as to every work and to every action.

(H. Raikes, M. A.)

People
Aaron, Adam, Hoshea, Israelites, Jacob, Joshua, Moses, Nun
Places
Abarim, Bashan, Canaan, Gomorrah, Jericho, Jordan River, Meribah-kadesh, Moab, Mount Hor, Mount Nebo, Sodom, Zin
Topics
Age, Declare, Forever, Heaven, Heavens, Indeed, Lift, Lifting, Surely, Swear, Unending
Outline
1. Moses' song, which sets forth God's mercy and vengeance
46. He exhorts them to set their hearts upon it
48. God sends him up to mount Nebo to see the land, and to die

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Deuteronomy 32:40

     1140   God, the eternal

Deuteronomy 32:39-40

     5156   hand

Deuteronomy 32:40-41

     1265   hand of God
     8650   hands, lifting up

Library
The Eagle and Its Brood
'As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.'--DEUT. xxxii. 11. This is an incomplete sentence in the Authorised Version, but really it should be rendered as a complete one; the description of the eagle's action including only the two first clauses, and (the figure being still retained) the person spoken of in the last clauses being God Himself. That is to say, it should read thus, 'As an eagle stirreth up his nest,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Their Rock and Our Rock
'Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being Judges.' DEUT. xxxii. 31. Moses is about to leave the people whom he had led so long, and his last words are words of solemn warning. He exhorts them to cleave to God. The words of the text simply mean that the history of the nation had sufficiently proved that God, their God, was 'above all gods.' The Canaanites and all the enemies whom Israel had fought had been beaten, and in their awe of this warrior people acknowledged that their
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Memento Mori
I propose this morning, as God shall help me, to lead you to consider your latter end. May the Holy Spirit bend your thoughts downward to the tomb. May he guide you to the grave, that you may there see the end of all earthly hopes, of all worldly pomp and show. In doing this, I shall thus divide my subject. First, let us consider Death, secondly, let us push on the consideration by considering the warnings which Death has given us already; and then, further, let us picture ourselves as dying,--bringing
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Religion --A Reality
Now we will grant you this morning that much of the religion which is abroad in the world is a vain thing. The religion of ceremonies is vain. If a man shall trust in the gorgeous pomp of uncommanded mysteries, if he shall consider that there resides some mystic efficacy in a priest, and that by uttering certain words a blessing is infallibly received, we tell him that his religion is a vain thing. You might as well go to the Witch of Endor for grace as to a priest; and if you rely upon words, the
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 1863

At a Public Fast in July, First Sabbath, 1650. (257)
At A Public Fast In July, First Sabbath, 1650.(257) Deut. xxxii. 4-7.--"He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment," &c. There are two things which may comprehend all religion,--the knowledge of God and of ourselves. These are the principles of religion, and are so nearly conjoined together, that the one cannot be truly without the other, much less savingly. It is no wonder that Moses craved attention, and that, to the end he may attain it from an hard hearted deaf people,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jeremy Taylor -- Christ's Advent to Judgment
Jeremy Taylor, born in Cambridge, England, in 1613, was the son of a barber. By his talents he obtained an entrance into Caius College, where his exceptional progress obtained for him admission to the ministry in his twenty-first year, two years before the canonical age. He was appointed in succession fellow of All Souls, Oxford, through the influence of Laud, chaplain to the King, and rector of Uppingham. During the Commonwealth he was expelled from his living and opened a school in Wales, employing
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet
We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the most venerable parts of creation; "contend with the mountains" by taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet reminds the people of
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised,' Together with Some Notes on the Intercourse Between Jews and Jewish Christians in the First Centuries.
IT is not, of course, our purpose here to attempt an exhaustive account of the Jewish views on demons' and the demonised.' A few preliminary strictures were, however, necessary on a work upon which writers on this subject have too implictly relied. I refer to Gfrörer's Jahrhundert des Heils (especially vol. i. pp. 378-424). Gfrörer sets out by quoting a passage in the Book of Enoch on which he lays great stress, but which critical inquiries of Dillmann and other scholars have shown to be
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Justice of God
The next attribute is God's justice. All God's attributes are identical, and are the same with his essence. Though he has several attributes whereby he is made known to us, yet he has but one essence. A cedar tree may have several branches, yet it is but one cedar. So there are several attributes of God whereby we conceive of him, but only one entire essence. Well, then, concerning God's justice. Deut 32:4. Just and right is he.' Job 37:23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Truth of God
The next attribute is God's truth. A God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he.' Deut 32:4. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.' Psa 57:10. Plenteous in truth.' Psa 86:15. I. God is the truth. He is true in a physical sense; true in his being: he has a real subsistence, and gives a being to others. He is true in a moral sense; he is true sine errore, without errors; et sine fallacia, without deceit. God is prima veritas, the pattern and prototype
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Finding
Heinrich Suso Deut. xxxii. 10 Now have I seen Thee and found Thee, For Thou hast found Thy sheep; I fled, but Thy love would follow-- I strayed, but Thy grace would keep. Thou hast granted my heart's desire-- Most blest of the blessed is he Who findeth no rest and no sweetness Till he rests, O Lord, in Thee. O Lord, Thou seest, Thou knowest, That to none my heart can tell The joy and the love and the sorrow, The tale that my heart knows well. But to Thee, O my God, I can tell it-- To Thee, and
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

viii
We have not treated the Latin Church after that fashion. There is not a hymn of real merit in the Latin which has not been translated, and in not a few cases oftener than once, with the result that the gems of Latin hymnody are the valued possession of the Christian Church in all English-speaking lands. One does not proceed far without making some discoveries which may account, to a certain extent, for the neglect of Greek hymnody by those men who are best qualified to pursue the study of it. The
John Brownlie—Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church

The Call of Moses
There is a great deal more room given in Scripture to the call of men to God's work than there is to their end. For instance, we don't know where Isaiah died, or how he died, but we know a great deal about the call God gave him, when he saw God on high and lifted up on His throne. I suppose that it is true to-day that hundreds of young men and women who are listening for a call and really want to know what their life's mission is, perhaps find it the greatest problem they ever had. Some don't
Dwight L. Moody—Men of the Bible

Perhaps There is no Book Within the Whole Canon of Scripture So Perplexing and Anomalous...
Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs

Epistle cxxvii. From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory .
From S. Columbanus to Pope Gregory [89] . To the holy lord, and father in Christ, the Roman [pope], most fair ornament of the Church, a certain most august flower, as it were, of the whole of withering Europe, distinguished speculator, as enjoying a divine contemplation of purity (?) [90] . I, Bargoma [91] , poor dove in Christ, send greeting. Grace to thee and peace from God the Father [and] our [Lord] Jesus Christ. I am pleased to think, O holy pope, that it will seem to thee nothing extravagant
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

God's True Treasure in Man
'The Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.'--DEUT, xxxii.9. 'Jesus Christ (Who) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people.'--TITUS ii. 14. I choose these two texts because they together present us with the other side of the thought to that which I have elsewhere considered, that man's true treasure is in God. That great axiom of the religious consciousness, which pervades the whole of Scripture, is rapturously
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Gospel Feast
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"--John vi. 5. After these words the Evangelist adds, "And this He said to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Thus, you see, our Lord had secret meanings when He spoke, and did not bring forth openly all His divine sense at once. He knew what He was about to do from the first, but He wished to lead forward His disciples, and to arrest and
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

The Necessity of Regeneration, Argued from the Immutable Constitution of God.
John III. 3. John III. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. WHILE the ministers of Christ are discoursing of such a subject, as I have before me in the course of these Lectures, and particularly in this branch of them which I am now entering upon, we may surely, with the utmost reason, address our hearers in those words of Moses to Israel, in the conclusion of his dying discourse: Set your hearts unto all
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Lix. The Preacher and his Hearers.
22nd Sunday after Trinity. S. Matthew xviii. 23. "The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants." INTRODUCTION.--I have been a good deal abroad, over the Continent of Europe, and whenever I am in a little country inn, I make a point of going into the room where the men are smoking and drinking wine or beer, and hearing their opinions on the politics of the day, and of their country. Now, my experience tells me that in country taverns in France, and
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Jewish Dispersion in the West - the Hellenists - Origin of Hellenist Literature in the Greek Translation of the Bible - Character of the Septuagint.
When we turn from the Jewish dispersion' in the East to that in the West, we seem to breathe quite a different atmosphere. Despite their intense nationalism, all unconsciously to themselves, their mental characteristics and tendencies were in the opposite direction from those of their brethren. With those of the East rested the future of Judaism; with them of the West, in a sense, that of the world. The one represented old Israel, stretching forth its hands to where the dawn of a new day was about
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He Associates with Malchus
[Sidenote: 1095.] 1. Our Malachy, born in Ireland,[134] of a barbarous people, was brought up there, and there received his education. But from the barbarism of his birth he contracted no taint, any more than the fishes of the sea from their native salt. But how delightful to reflect, that uncultured barbarism should have produced for us so worthy[135] a fellow-citizen with the saints and member of the household of God.[136] He who brings honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock[137]
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Christian's God
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1; 17:1; Exodus 34:6,7; 20:3-7; Deuteronomy 32:4; 33:27; Isaiah 40:28; 45:21; Psalm 90:2; 145:17; 139:1-12; John 1:1-5; 1:18; 4:23,24; 14:6-11; Matthew 28:19,20; Revelation 4:11; 22:13. WHO IS GOD? How Shall We Think of God?--"Upon the conception that is entertained of God will depend the nature and quality of the religion of any soul or race; and in accordance with the view that is held of God, His nature, His character and His relation to other beings, the spirit
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

How those are to be Admonished who Decline the Office of Preaching Out of Too Great Humility, and those who Seize on it with Precipitate Haste.
(Admonition 26.) Differently to be admonished are those who, though able to preach worthily, are afraid by reason of excessive humility, and those whom imperfection or age forbids to preach, and yet precipitancy impells. For those who, though able to preach with profit, still shrink back through excessive humility are to be admonished to gather from consideration of a lesser matter how faulty they are in a greater one. For, if they were to hide from their indigent neighbours money which they possessed
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

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