Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Deuteronomy

My Glittering Sword

My Glittering Sword

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My Glittering Sword
If I whet My glittering sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to My enemies,
And repay those who hate Me.
Deuteronomy 32:41



     “When will justice come?”  We often wonder how long the enemies of truth will continue to have their way unhindered.  We even feel at times like the Psalmist in Psalm 94 and ask, “Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?”  God Himself answers a question such as this on more than one occasion and does so very graphically in the case of today’s text.  “If I whet my glittering sword” brings to mind the ancient warrior-king slowly, carefully, deliberately, expertly sharpening his weapon of vengeance with the recipients of its razor edge upon his mind.  


     We serve the God of Mercy and Grace, but He is as well the God of Justice.  It is a just God that whets His glittering sword.  Abraham asked, “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”  God did do right on that occasion by delivering the just, but also by destroying the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Following that very line of thinking, it is a calculating God who whets His glittering sword. It is of no real value to take the time to sharpen a sword if you have no real purpose to use it.  Christ in the temple sat down and took the time to plait a scourge of thongs before He rose up to use it.  He knew very well upon whom He was going to unleash it.  God knows for whom He is whetting His glittering sword. 


      It is also an angry God who sets the stone to His blade.  We do not raise a sword dispassionately.  Transgressors of the law of God who refuse to repent are the prime candidates for the outpouring of His wrath.  The Ruler of All Rulers “beareth not the sword in vain.”  Having said that, it follows that it is a coming God who whets His glittering sword.  God is not a waster of time and effort.  If He whets His sword, He will use His sword in the fullness of time.  The remainder of today’s text and the following verse support the idea that He will infallibly wreak His vengeance upon His enemies.  Satisfy your soul then, downcast saint of God, that He will perform His justice when He has finished whetting His glittering Sword.


Great God of Truth,
we honor Thee,
the Judge of all the earth.
We rejoice in Thy justice to Thy enemies
and in Thy mercy to us, Thy ransomed people.



Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice

God’s People, His Inheritance

God’s People, His Inheritance

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God’s People, His Inheritance

For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.

Deuteronomy 32:9

The Word of God, like good bread, grows sweeter with the chewing. When Israel was about to cross over into the land of promise, the prospect of the “lot of inheritance” would have been prominent in many minds. Moses, writing his song in the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, makes a vivid reference to the fact that as far as God Himself was concerned He considered His own people to be His “portion” or “the lot of His inheritance.” This is a very enjoyable thought for us to mull over. God actually identifies us as being His inherited possession. According to the book of Joshua in the first chapter, their possession of the land was by Divine appointment. We are Christ’s possession by the Divine appointment of His Father. We are “all that the Father giveth” to whom Christ refers in John 6:37. The book of Joshua details the exact boundaries which the lots of inheritance had, as well as the outer limits of the whole land. There is a limit as well to the Lord’s lot of inheritance. That number of who shall be saved is fixed and has been so since the elect were “chosen. . . before the foundation of the world.” It is beyond controversy that “the Lord knoweth them that are His.” The inherited possession is also that which the owner improves. He would fence it, plant it, water it, rest it, harvest it – – all for the good of the land and for his own pleasure. So Christ improves His people. He sets hedges about us, brings forth from us the fruit of the Spirit, restores, waters us with the Word, and derives great pleasure from us. The inherited possession is the place where the owner lives. We are where Christ lives. We are His Body. He dwells in the midst of His people. Also, the lot of inheritance was a perpetual possession. It must not be parted with. Naboth refused to let go of his God-given possession. Christ declares “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” What rich thoughts are here that will enable us to face all that lies before us in this day. We are His portion and the lot of His inheritance. What greater assurance could we have?

Our Heavenly Master,
we rejoice that we are Thine and Thou art ours forever.
We praise Thee that Thou has made us Thine.

Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice

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