“There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the Heavens in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.”
—Deut. xxxiii. 26.
*This sermon was preached on the occasion of the victory obtained under Lord Nelson, off Trafalgar, 21st October, 1805, and is here reprinted on account of how applicable it is, in many respects, to present-day conditions.—J. C.
THESE are some of the concluding words of the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the tribes of Israel a little before his death; and nothing more sublime can well be conceived. The children of Israel were a people highly favoured. The acts of power done for them were astonishing beyond measure; their history is a detail of such wonderful events as gratify the curiosity and entertain the mind; and the hand of God is so conspicuous in them, that they raise our thoughts to heaven. The history of Scripture, at the same time that it delights the imagination, also amends and sanctifies the heart; and, except the Jewish nation alone, no people were ever more highly favoured than Great Britain. Let us attend to the words of the text. In the words just now read, we may observe the following heads of doctrine:—I. The name or title which God Almighty here assumes. He is called the God of Jeshurun. II. The sublime description given of Him: “He rideth upon the heavens.” III. He cometh in His chariot in the heavens to help His people.
I. He is the God of Jeshurun.
The word is a derivative from a word in the original language which signifies “upright”; and God is the God of the upright. He hath pleasure in truth and sincerity. Job, in the Old Testament, and Nathaniel in the New, are exhibited to our view as upright characters. (1) The people of God are upright in heart. (2) They are upright in their word and promises. (3) They are upright in their dealings. It is no wonder, then, though it is said that the Lord loveth righteousness, and His countenance doth behold the upright.
(1) The people of God are upright in heart.
The heart is the seat of everything good or bad. It is said of the wicked men before the flood, that the imagination of their heart was evil continually. And the prophet Jeremiah informs us that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. When God, therefore, touches the heart, He makes it honest and upright. He promises “a new heart,” and the new heart is honest to God and man. The royal penitent says that “God desireth truth in the inward parts.” The upright, then, confess their sins honestly before God from their hearts, and they forsake them. They have no reserve in favour of a darling lust or appetite. Now, other people though their tongues confess sin, retain it in their hearts; and, therefore, God does not hear their prayer or approve their conduct. Such characters come to hear the Word of God, like the people who consulted the prophet, fully bent upon doing their own will. Even Balaam consulted God, though he loved the wages of unrighteousness. But the upright man says from his heart, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth thee.”
(2) They are upright in their word and promise.
The word of a good man is sacred, and his promise cannot be shaken. As he thinketh in his heart, so he expresseth the truth. He does not think one thing and say another. His heart and his tongue agree. If he passes a promise in word, he is not really so skilful in the ways of iniquity as that he knows how to break his word. He is truly astonished at the shifts and evasions which some people use to palliate their conduct when they break their promises (Ananias and Sapphira). If he passes his promise by word or by writing, he has not an excuse ready at hand, in case it may not suit his interest or his plans to fulfil his engagements. Such little shifts his faithful soul would abhor; and though mean subterfuges would often answer a present turn, he will not hurt his neighbour or advance his own interest at the expense of the truth. Nothing but the providence of God will break the promise of an upright man.
(3) They are upright in their dealings.
As the good man would abhor to tell a lie or to break a promise, he would despise to deceive or disappoint his neighbour. In his intercourse with mankind, he will neither deceive, cheat nor oppress another. Has he promised anything? He will not do some little thing merely to save appearances. He will satisfy his own conscience; he will satisfy mankind that he meant to be honest and did not mean to deceive. He knows that the religion which teaches him his duty to God, teaches him also his duty to man. And he is conscientious in both; and he is so, not merely to support a character before men, but from a pure principle of genuine virtue and true holiness. The King of Saints is the God of Jeshurun. As they are upright to God and men, He is upright to them. Though exalted in the heavens, He looks with pleasure upon such characters.
II. We have a sublime description of the God of Jeshurun: “He rideth upon the heavens.”
This is His royal chariot. His chariots are twenty thousand—thousands of angels. In the first and tenth chapters of the prophet Ezekiel, we have an account of the providence of the wonder-working God under the similitude of a chariot carried and supported by the cherubins. The wheels of the chariot were wonderful, and there was a “wheel in the middle of a wheel.” Above the wheels was a throne, and “the appearance of a man sitting upon the throne.” The delights of the Son of God was with the sons of men. And the prophet, by the Divine Spirit, saw beforehand the incarnate God in the throne of state in the heavens, riding by His providence in this lower world. And though His providences are dark and intricate, like a wheel within a wheel, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne. His throne is stable and immovable, though the wheels of His chariot are constantly moving. Now, the wheels of Him who rideth upon the heavens are His secret and wonderful providences. (1) Deep and unsearchable providences. (2) Dark and mysterious providences. (3) Humbling and cheering providences. (4) Prayer-hearing providences.
(1) There are deep and unsearchable providences.
There is a wheel within a wheel. There is such a concatenation of second causes, of which we do not understand the effects. In the chain of events there are so many links, and one link depends upon another in such a way that the profoundest understanding is at a loss how to account for them. In the great machine of the universe—like a masterpiece in mechanics—a small, and to human appearance, a trifling event may be the cause of the most extraordinary revolutions in Church and State. King Ahasuerus does not sleep. This defeated Haman’s plot, and saved the Jews. And though it be the province of the historian and politician to trace these things, it is the duty and the pleasure of the Christian to see the hand of God in them. And these dark and intricate events, which are sometimes beyond the ken and reach of men and angels, are brought about by good and by bad agents and instruments. Sometimes the plans of Providence are carried on by good men, such as Moses, Joshua and David. At other times, wicked men carry on the designs of Providence, such as Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cæsar and Alexander. But how unholy characters bring to pass the counsels of a holy God, is a depth beyond our line. That the providence of God permits and concurs with the views of bad men, is a truth revealed in Scripture. But why does He permit so many wicked actions as are a disgrace to humanity? He does so for reasons that are unknown to us. The pride, ambition and revenge of bad men produce wonderful events. The righteous Governor of the universe sometimes makes use of them, as it is said the skilful physicians can convert poison into medicine. “His ways are past finding out.”
(2) The wheel within a wheel signifies dark and mysterious providences.
Joseph is sold into Egypt; his father believes that he is torn to pieces, and mourns for him many days. He is accused by his mistress, imprisoned by his master, and left to lie in a dungeon. All the bright hopes that his father and himself had formed of his future greatness now vanish altogether. Unbelief may well say, Is this the end of all his dreams? But notwithstanding dark and unlikely appearances, the wheels of Providence go right. Joseph, by this piece of discipline, is humbled, and prepared, and taught to bear his future exaltation with an equal mind. And Joseph must suffer all these hardships to be the happy instrument of saving the holy family from whom was to descend the Messiah, in whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed. On Joseph depends the history of the Church from his own day to the end of the world. He is the first type of wonderful providences; Moses is another. His nation is oppressed and destroyed by the Egyptians. He is nursed in the king’s family, and has all the learning that Egypt can afford. By these advantages, he is equally qualified to shine in the cabinet and in the field. His abilities as a statesman, a general and a legislator, render him a fit instrument to avenge the quarrel of his kinsmen. And thus, by the mysterious providences of God, Moses is drawn out of the river to drown the Egyptians in the waters of the Red Sea. And if we observe the history of Providence on a smaller scale, we may observe wonders even in our own case and that of others. A clergyman, in some part of Scotland, met with violent opposition before he entered the Church. He was afterwards planted in the pulpit of the person that was his principle antagonist, and settled in the centre of the Presbytery that gave him the greatest opposition. It often happens that the opposition and ill-nature that people meet with, is the cause of their rise in the world. God bringeth down one and setteth up another as He pleaseth. His judgments are a great depth. His providence has a wheel within a wheel.
(3) There are humbling and cheering providences.
The brave troops of King David gain a decisive victory over his rebellious subjects. But the victory is clouded to him by the death of his unnatural son. This brings to his memory his own sins and the awful fall of the unhappy young man. The anguish he felt at the thought of his dying in such a state is past description. And the victory of the Israelites gained over the tribe of Benjamin is cause of deep humility and thanksgiving. And Britain has often gained a victory at the expense of her blood and treasure, as every victory almost is gained. So that if He exalts us in one view, we have cause of humility in another. And even in the present case, we have reason to rejoice with humility. We have gained a glorious victory, but we have lost a hero. Well might the King himself say, in the language of another royal personage, “I am weak, though anointed king, for there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel.” But we know that day that Samson fell, that the Dagon of the Philistines was put to shame. And the day is coming, and it is not very far off, when the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands will be cut off. But can we say so without the spirit of prophecy? Scripture is the language of inspiration, and these are its strong and decisive words: “I have seen the wicked in great power spreading himself like a green bay-tree; yet he passed away, and lo he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.” Now, such great heroes fell for the punishment of their respective nations. And if a sparrow does not fall to the ground without Divine permission, can a hero fall in battle without the command of the God of battles? Surely not. The Man that sat upon the Throne had the direction of the wheels, and they go at His Word. He knows best how long He has use for the courage and conduct of a hero. He knows best when He should bid the angel of death waft the soul of a great and good man to the joys of immortality. The Man who has the direction of the wheels knows whether the life or death of a great man is most for His own glory and the good of His people. If God gives every individual of His people what is best, He merely gives what is best for the people in general. And if He sees meet that the death of Samson is to be the destruction of Dagon and of thousands of the Philistines, Samson must die. We are pleased with the destruction of our enemies, but we should be also pleased with the way He uses for their destruction. Now, this is for our good, because it humbles us. Dagon will surely be conquered and his temple fall to the ground; but before this happens, Great Britain must humble herself at the foot of the cross; and one of the means to humble her is the death of her heroes; and the death of her heroes will be the destruction of her enemies. May God hasten the day.
(4) There are prayer-hearing providences.
It cannot be said that everything which happens to the Church or to individuals is the answer of prayer. But, when there are prayers, there will be answers. In a certain sense, indeed, it may be said that everything is the answer of prayer, as they all pray for the glory of God. But we generally call answers to prayers the things that happen after earnest and importunate petitions. When one man prays, there will certainly be an answer; but when many pray, the appearances of providences will be remarkable. The wheels will be terrible (Ezekiel i. 18). When the angel took the fire off the altar and threw it upon the earth, there were thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake. When His people exalt their voice in prayer, God exalts His voice in providence, and sometimes by terrible things in righteousness. The answer of prayer will sometimes shake the nations. The Jews prayed for the return of their captivity. The answer is, “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.” The empire of the Babylonians fell, and Cyrus proclaimed liberty to the people of God. Britain will pray, and the temple of Dagon will fall. Britain is certainly destined by God to do some great and astonishing thing upon the theatre of the world. What it will be, we cannot take upon us to foretell. As mistress of the sea, she is destined to break the heads of the dragons in the waters and the head of leviathan in pieces. Leviathan is the monster of the deep, a power of enmity to the people of God, and breathing vengeance to Britain in particular. But God will put His hook in his nose, and Britain will bring the monster dead to shore.—Amen.—Alleluia.
III. He cometh in His chariot in the heavens to the help of His people.
That God will hear and help His people is a comfortable Scripture truth. But He has a set time for everything in nature and in grace. There is a time for the rising and the setting of the sun; a time for the ebbing and flowing of the tide; a time for sowing the seed, and a time for reaping the harvest. There is a set time for answering prayer; and to make this good, we shall lay before you the following truths:— (1) He will assuredly help His people. (2) He helps in time of need, when their power is gone, and there is none other to help. (3) He helps in the proper time. (4) He helps them, and that right early.
(1) He will assuredly help His people.
This is a truth that gains a kind of general credit with all ranks of Christians. But the persons most concerned in it do not always find it easy to believe this truth. We blame the Israelites for their incredulity; but, when we have water to get from the Rock, we are as great unbelievers as they. Can we deny this when we fall into any kind of distress? And this is true, whether the distress be national or personal. In such cases, in general, the first feeling of the human breast in unbelief; and sometimes the fears and terrors raised by unbelief are extraordinary and violent. But whatever our fears may be, God is the help of His people.
(2) He helps in time of need, when their power is gone.
In many cases this is the experience of His people; and this has often been the experience of Great Britain. But they always rise superior to their troubles. Perhaps they do not get help till they come to the brink of the Red Sea, and then a way is made for them to escape. He will either help them to conquer their enemies or destroy their enemies by the right hand of His power.
(3) He helps them in the proper time.
If He came sooner, His hand would not be seen so much; and if He delayed longer, they would entirely lose their hope. He sometimes comes suddenly and surprises them with His Divine interposition. At other times, He delays His answer till their patience is tried to purpose. Sometimes they cry under oppressions for years, and sometimes a Samuel prays, and God thunders upon the enemies from heaven. But whether the answer is hastened or protracted, what happens is best for them. His chariot may be long in coming, but it will come, and will not tarry. And nothing hinders the wheels of His chariot but the sins of His people. The power of their enemies can never prevent Him. But the coldness or indifference of His friends may make Him delay His journey. And if we wish to hasten His chariot, let prayer, watching and purity have their full exercise.
(4) Lastly, He helps them, and that right early.
God will destroy the temple of Dagon and break in pieces the head of Leviathan, the monster of the deep; and He will do so soon. He will help His people right early; the word in the original is, “When the morning appeareth.” However long the night may be, the morning will appear at last. I said, and I abide by what I have said, that Britain will strike some great stroke upon the theatre of Europe. Is it because we have our Nelsons, our Duncans, our Abercrombies, our Smiths, our Calders, etc.? This was not the language of David; himself was a hero, and he had many heroes in his army; and does he trust in them? No! But he encourages himself in the Lord his God. Let us hear himself, “For by thee I have run through a troop, and by my God I have leaped over a wall.” We have princes in Israel who wrestle for the blessing. These say, “Not to our heroes, but to the God of heroes be the glory.” How came the children of Israel to conquer their enemies? Because the God of Jeshurun was among them. Even an idolatrous king calls the prophet, “The chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof.” The prayers of His people are the bulwark of our nations. They lay hold of the Rock of Ages, and even look above prayers and means. Their prayers inspire our troops with courage, and crown our arms with success. When Moses help up his hands, his general, Joshua, prevailed; when he let them down, Amelek prevailed. Britain, take hold of the God of Jeshurun, and thy armies will always prevail! He will come to thy help, and crown thee with success. But content not thyself with the blessings of His left hand: earnestly aspire after spiritual blessings. If the eternal God is thy refuge, His everlasting arms shall be underneath thee. He shall thrust out thine enemies and destroy them. In that case, the words of Moses may be applied to thee—”Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.” And now, O Britain, how often has He from heaven helped thee? Thy deliverances were wonderful. Victory and Nelson are thine own. The God of battles was thy shield! and thy successes astonish the world. Thy God has made thee the terror of tyrants, the glory of Europe, the mistress of the ocean, and the depository of the Gospel of peace. How often has He given reason to thy heroes to cry, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon”? Not to thy heroes, but to the God of heroes, be the glory of thy victories. Let Great Britain, therefore, from the King to the peasant, cry out aloud, Salvation to our God. May God bless His Word.—Amen.