The people keep singing. So too, we are to keep up the song! We nourish our hearts on God’s gracious preservation, even of us sinners (Deut. 32:30–31). The song changes to parable as God reminds His people that so long as they commune with Him, their fruit will be satisfying (Deut. 32:32–34). While the vine is distressed by that which is cultivated in the world around it, God, the Vinedresser, will soon judge all wickedness—even the wicked fruit on the vine taking sap from the branches (Deut. 32:35–36).
The focus of the song remains a responsive anthem of who God is, even while including the people of God as one subject under His authority. The people proclaim God’s immutability and the permanence of His will in judgment of all peoples. He gives life, preserves life, and takes life at His good pleasure (Deut. 32:37–40). The good news of His judgment includes the confirmation of His treasured possession (the Church) and the condemnation of all the unrighteous. The graphic depiction of arrows and swords taking pleasure in their task, is not to celebrate bloodshed, but to celebrate the beauty of justice as one portion of the grand ceremony of purifying and glorifying the landscape of heaven come to earth (Deut. 32:41–42). God’s people will rejoice. All those who serve the Lord will find their greatest joy on that day when He judges them in righteousness according to His mercy (Deut. 32:43).
As the song concludes, so too the ministry of God’s beloved prophet Moses. Moses ends the song, calling the people to follow the Law and enjoy the composition as a means of catechizing the children unto the Lord (Deut. 32:44–47). God then in His righteousness, permitted Moses to go up into the mountain to take in a view of the land of promise. There the Lord took Moses (Deut. 32:49–52). Even in his failed leadership, Moses was beloved of God and experienced mercy in viewing the land before going to the greater, perfect, unshakeable land where He stood before His Savior Jesus Christ—a land far more spectacular than the vision of Canaan and more restful by far.
Would that we spend our time so usefully, marking the truths of who God is, and taking to heart these truths as we teach them to the coming generation. How will you remember and exalt the Lord for who He says He is? What song will you sing today, in prayer and adoration?
Pastor Chris
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