SHOES OF IRON AND STRENGTH SUFFICIENT— A NEW YEAR’S PROMISE – Charles Spurgeon
SHOES OF IRON AND STRENGTH SUFFICIENT—A NEW YEAR’S PROMISE
Scripture Reference:
“And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren and let him dip his foot in oil. Your shoes shall be iron and brass; and as your days, so shall your strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:24-25.
Introduction: The Blessings of Asher
I once heard an old minister say that he thought the blessing of Asher was peculiarly the blessing of ministers. And his eyes twinkled as he added, “At any rate, they are usually blessed with children and it is a great blessing for them if they are acceptable to their brethren and if they are so truly anointed that they even dip their foot in oil.” Well, well, I pray that all of us who preach the Gospel may enjoy this triplet of blessings in the highest sense. If our quiver is not full of children according to the flesh, yet may we have many born unto God through our ministry. May we be blessed by being made spiritual fathers to very many who shall be brought by us to receive life, pardon, peace, and holiness through our Lord Jesus. What is the use of our life if it is not so? To what end have we preached unless we see souls born into the family of Divine Grace? My inmost soul longs to see all my hearers born anew—this would be my greatest joy, my highest blessing. Ask for me the blessing of Asher—“Let Asher be blessed with children.” And may the Lord make my spiritual offspring to be as the sands upon the seashore.
The Blessing of Being Acceptable to Brethren
It is a great blessing from the Lord when our speech is sweet to the ears of saints—when we have something to bring forth which our brethren in Christ can accept and which comes to them with a peculiar preciousness and power so that they can receive it and feel that it is thoroughly acceptable to them. We do not wish to be acceptable to the worldly wise, nor to the error-hunters of the day. But we are very anxious to be pleasant to the Lord’s own children—our brothers and sisters in Christ. They have a holy taste whereby they discern spiritual meats, and we would bring forth for food that which they will account to be nourishing and savory. Every minister prays to be “acceptable to his brethren.”
The Blessing of Unction in Ministry
And what could we do without the third blessing, namely that of unction? “Let him dip his foot in oil.” Oh, for an anointing of the Holy Spirit, not only upon the head with which we think, but upon the foot with which we move! We would have our daily walk and conversation gracious and useful. We wish that wherever we go, we may leave behind us the print of Divine Grace. I was asking concerning a preacher what kind of man he was, and the simple, humble cottager answered me, “Well, Sir, he is this kind of man—if he comes to see you, you know that he has been.” We must not only have oil in the lamps of our public ministry but oil in the vessels of our private study. We need the holy oil everywhere upon every garment, even down to our shoes.
The Promise of Strength for All Workers
Well, now, if these three blessings are good for ministers, they are equally good for all sorts of workers. You in the school, you who visit tract districts, you who manage mothers’ meetings and you who in any shape or form endeavor to make Christ known, may you have the threefold blessing! The Lord give you many spiritual children—may you be blessed with them and never be without additions to their number! The Lord make you acceptable to those among whom you labor. And the Lord grant you always to go forth in His strength, anointed with His Spirit!
The Shoes of Iron and Brass: A Great Promise
That is the first part of our text, and I am not going to say any more about it, as the second part is that to which I shall call your especial attention. May the Holy Spirit make the promise exceedingly sweet to you and grant you a full understanding of it. “Your shoes shall be iron and brass. And as your days, so shall your strength be.”
I. “Your Shoes Shall Be Iron and Brass”
That is a very great promise, and I fear that I shall not be able to bring out all its meaning in one discourse. I find that the passage has several translations. And, though I think that which we have now before us is by far the best, yet I cannot help mentioning the others for I think they are instructive. These interpretations may serve me as divisions in opening up the meaning. I take it as a rule that the Lord’s promises are true in every sense which they will fairly bear. A generous man will allow the widest interpretation of his words, and so will the infinitely gracious God.
The Blessing of Treasures Under Feet
This promise meant that Asher should have treasures under his feet—that there should, in fact, be mines of iron and copper within the boundaries of the tribe. Metals enrich nations and help their advancement in many ways. Tribes that possess minerals are thereby made rich, whatever metals those may be. But such useful metals as iron and copper would prove of the utmost service to the people of that time if they knew how to use them. Is there any spiritual promise at all in this? Asher is made rich, and iron and copper lay beneath his feet. Are saints ever made rich with treasures under their feet? Undoubtedly they are.
The Word of God has mines in it. Even the surface of it is rich and it brings forth food for us. But it is with Scripture, as Job says, it is with the earth—“As for the earth, out of it comes bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it has dust of gold.” There are treasures upon the surface of the Word which we may pick up very readily—even the casual reader will find himself able to understand the simplicities and elements of the Gospel of God. But the Word of God yields most to the digger. He that can study hard and press into the inner meaning—he is the man that shall be enriched with riches current in heavenly places.
Digging into the Word of God
Every Bible student here will know that God has put under his feet great treasures of precious teaching, and he will by meditation sink shafts into the deep places of Revelation. I wish we gave more time to our Bibles. We waste too much time upon the pretentious, poverty-stricken literature of the age. And some, even Christian people, are more taken up with works of fiction than they are with this great Book of everlasting fact. We should prosper much more in heavenly farming if we would “dig deep while sluggards sleep.” Remember that God has given us treasures under our feet. But do not despise His gifts as to leave the mines of Revelation unexplored.
Spiritual Riches Found in God’s Providence
You will find these treasures, not only in the Word of God, but everywhere in the Providence of God if you will consider the ways of the Lord and believe that God is everywhere at work. He that looks for a Providence will not be long without seeing one. All events are full of teaching to the man that has but Divine Grace and wit to interpret them. “Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.” There shall be treasures under your feet if your feet keep to the ways of the Truth of God. A rich land is the country along which Believers travel to their rest—its stones are iron and out of its heart you may dig brass. “Who is wise and he shall understand these things? Prudent and he shall know them? For the ways of the Lord are right.”
Protection and Strength in the Promise
The Revised Version has it, “Your bars shall be iron and brass.” And certainly, the original text bears that meaning. “Your bars shall be iron and brass”—there shall be protection around him. The city gates shall be kept fast against the enemy, so as to preserve the citizens. The slaughtering foe shall not be able to intrude—instead of the common wooden bar, which might be sufficient in more peaceful times, there shall be given bars of metal, not easily cut asunder or removed. Herein I see a spiritual blessing for us, also. What a mercy it is when God strengthens our gates and secures the bars so that, when the enemy comes, he is not able to enter or to molest us! Peace from all assaults, safety under all alarms, shutting in from all attacks—this is a priceless gift. Happy are the people who have God for their Protector!
II. “As Your Days, So Shall Your Strength Be”
This provision is meant to meet weakness. The words carry a tacit hint to us that we have no strength of our own but have need of strength from Above. Our proud hearts need such a hint. Often we poor creatures begin to rely upon ourselves. Although we are weak as water, we get the notion that our own wit, or our own experience may now suffice us, though once they might not have done so. But our best powers will not suffice us now any more than in our youth. If we begin to rest in ourselves, it will not be long before we find out our folly. The Lord will not let His people depend upon themselves—they may make the attempt but, as surely as they are His people, He will empty them from vessel to vessel and make them know that their fullness dwells in Christ and not in themselves.
Strength for Daily Needs
Remember, if you have a sense of weakness, you have only a sense of the Truth of God. You are as weak as you think you are. You certainly do not exaggerate your own helplessness. The Savior has said, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” And that is the full extent of what you can do. The Lord promises you strength, which He would have no need to promise you if you had it naturally apart from Him. But He promises to give it and therein He assures you that you need it.
Strength for Every Trial and Challenge
The strength which is here promised is to abide through days. “As your days, so shall your strength be.” Not for today only, but for tomorrow—and for every day—as every day shall come. The longest and the shortest day, the brightest and the darkest day, the wedding and the funeral day, shall each have its strength measured out, till there shall be no more days. The Lord will portion out to His saints their support even as their days follow each other.
Daily Grace and Strength for Trials
This strength is to be given daily. We shall never have two days’ Grace at a time—“Day by day the manna fell—Oh, to learn this lesson well, ‘Day by day’ the promise reads—Daily strength for daily needs!” If I get strength enough to get through this sermon, I shall be satisfied for the present. I do not want strength to get through next Sabbath morning’s sermon till that Sabbath morning comes. If I can weather the present storm, I shall not just now require the strength to outlive the storms of all the year.
Strength Proportionate to Trials
What should I do with this reserve force if I had it? Where would you store away your extra Grace? You would put it in the lumber-room of your pride, where it would breed worms and become an offense. A storage of what you call “grace” would turn into self-sufficiency. “As your days, so shall your strength be”—this secures you a day’s burden and a day’s help, a day’s sorrow and a day’s comfort. After all, what more do we want?
Strength Given for Every Need and Trial
Our strength is to be given to us daily. And then the text seems to say clearly that it will be given to us proportionately, “As your days, so shall your strength be.” A day of little service, little strength. A day of little suffering, little strength. But in a tremendous day—a day that needs you to play the Samson—you shall have Samson’s strength. A day of deep waters in which you shall need to swim, shall be a day in which you shall ride the billows like a seabird. Do you not think that this might almost tempt us to wish for days of great trial, in order that we might receive great Grace?
Conclusion: The Source of Our Strength
Mark, again, that strength will be given to us in all forms. “As your days, so shall your strength be.” Our days vary, our trials change. Our service varies, too. Our lives are far from being monotonous—they are musical with many notes and tones. Our present state is like checkered work—or, say, as a mosaic of many colors. But the strength that God gives varies with the occasion. He can bestow physical strength, mental strength, moral strength, and spiritual strength. He gives strength just where the strength is needed and of that peculiar kind which the trial demands. We have no need to fear because we feel weak in a certain direction—if we need strength in that special quarter, the strength will come there. “But if I am tried,” says one, “in a certain way, I shall fail.” No, you will not. “As your days, so shall your strength be.”
A Final Word of Encouragement
The Lord will take care to fit us for our future, and as our days, so shall our strength be. May God bless you and give you strength for every day, every trial, and every challenge, as He has promised. Let us rest in His faithful provision, knowing that our strength is in Him alone. Amen.