Support

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in His majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms.” – Deuteronomy 33:26-27 (ESV).

The context of these verses is Moses’ farewell address to the tribes of Israel prior to his death at age 120. The liberator of Israel could not go into the land his people had been promised by God, and God himself would take care of Moses’ unknown burial place in the land of Moab (see Deuteronomy 34). But before he left them, Moses gathered representatives of the tribes together and gave his final blessing (recorded in Deuteronomy 33), naming eleven of the twelve tribes (Simeon was not mentioned in the roll-call of tribes, perhaps because that tribe would be dissolved and absorbed by Judah). And in verse 33:26, Moses uses a poetic name for all of Israel, Jeshurun, but at the same time use of this term was a strong reminder by Moses that they were to guard against unfaithfulness to God and not seek false Gods.

Moses uses strong metaphors to remind the people of how they are bound to Jehovah God. They are to remember He is their dwelling place; and underneath them are God’s everlasting arms. How strong and useful are arms—the upper limbs of our body. We depend much on arms and hands to do the work we need to do. What better metaphor could Moses have used in his blessing of the tribes and his farewell message to them than to remind them that the everlasting arms of God are underneath them? God’s arms will support them, carry them, guide them.

Arms also express love. How we enjoy the comfort and blessing of arms that enfold us and with tenderness hold us! A fretful baby can be taken into a mother’s arms and the fretfulness eases. When Jesus called the little children “He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them” (Mark 10:16, ESV).

When we are in need of support, we should think in terms of the everlasting arms of God underneath us and wrapped about us. In all situations God can supply the support we need. How appropriate is this prayer by the Rev. Dr. Robert D. Young from “Prayers for the Journey” (c1998):“

O God, Break through our callousness and our preoccupations until we realize that we belong to You and that You are with us every step of the way. Help us to handle life with a certain lightness that comes with faith. Buoy us up in our most despondent times so that we might feel not only that underneath are the everlasting arms, but feel the lift of those arms. Hold us lest we fall and give us confidence about the days ahead. Amen.” - Ethelene Dyer Jones (reposted from 09.04.2013 for publication again on 09.04.2016)