August 28

The good will of him that dwelt in the bush. - Deuteronomy 33:16.

A VERY touching and striking incident occurred in connection with these words being spoken. Moses, the servant of the Lord, had received an order to ascend up unto Mount Nebo, and die there. He readily obeyed, but before he left the people whom he had brought up out of Egypt, he was determined to leave a blessing behind him, and so he blessed all the tribes of Israel. But when he came to Joseph, he said, “Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things brought forth by the moon, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.”

We here see how he was impressed with the scene which happened forty years before. How vividly he called to remembrance the place whence he had seen the burning bush, and had heard the voice of God out of the midst of the bush. How many things are impressive in remembrance. Distressing things are the most impressive, and the most adapted to enter into our feelings. But there are also many pleasing scenes which will be remembered, if we have possession of our faculties and the exercise of our reason, even when we come to die.

Thus David says, “My soul is cast down within me, therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites from the hill Mizar,”-the little hill where probably he had received some signal tokens of the divine favour which he could never forget. And thus it was with Jacob, when he was returning after a very improper journey: “Let us arise and go to Bethel, and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.” And when Moses was looking back to this period, he said, “The Lord was with Jacob.” It was as much as if he had said, There is nothing like it for a nation, or a tribe, or an individual, or the dearest connection- nothing like “the good will of him that dwelt in the bush.”

Oh! what sacrifices some persons make, and what pains they take, what meanness they submit to, in order to gain the goodwill of some fellow-creature, who is elevated above them, and able to serve them, but who can do little for them in their principal exigency. Oh! let us seek the Lord, who is infinite in all his resources. Our fathers tried, and trusted him, and all the multitudes before the throne speak well of his name. If we had all the world we should be miserable, unless we had his good will. “The good will of him that dwelt in the bush” will be sufficient for us, and nothing else. He will thus remove the curse of affliction, and the sting of death, and thus enable us to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”