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Deuteronomio 33

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1 At ito ang basbas na ibinasbas ni Moises, tao ng Dios, sa mga anak ni Israel bago siya namatay.

2 At kaniyang sinabi, Ang Panginoo'y nanggaling sa Sinai, At bumangon mula sa Seir na patungo sa kanila; Siya'y lumiwanag mula sa bundok ng Paran, At siya'y nanggaling sa laksa-laksa ng mga banal: Sa kaniyang kanan, ay may hawak na isang mahigpit na kautusan sa kanila.

3 Oo't kaniyang iniibig ang bayan: Lahat ng kaniyang mga banal ay nasa iyong kamay: At sila'y umupo sa iyong paanan; Na bawa't isa'y tatanggap ng iyong mga salita.

4 Si Moises ay nagutos sa atin ng isang kautusan, Na mana sa kapisanan ng Jacob.

5 At siya'y hari sa Jeshurun, Nang magkatipon ang mga pangulo ng bayan, Sangpu ng lahat ng mga lipi ni Israel.

6 Mabuhay nawa ang Ruben, at huwag mamatay; Gayon ma'y kumaunti nawa ang kaniyang mga tao.

7 At ito ang basbas sa Juda; at kaniyang sinabi, Dinggin mo, Panginoon, ang tinig ng Juda, At padatnin mo sa kaniyang bayan: Sukat na sa kaniya ang kaniyang mga kamay; At ikaw ay maging tulong laban sa kaniyang mga kaalit.

8 At tungkol sa Levi ay kaniyang sinabi, Ang iyong Thummim at ang iyong Urim ay sumaiyong banal, Na siyang iyong sinubok sa Massa, Na siya mong kinatunggali sa tubig ng Meriba;

9 Na siyang nagsabi tungkol sa kaniyang ama, at tungkol sa kaniyang ina, Hindi ko siya nakita; Ni kinilala niya ang kaniyang mga kapatid, Ni kinilala niya ang kaniyang sariling mga anak; Sapagka't kanilang sinunod ang iyong salita, At ginaganap ang iyong tipan.

10 Sila'y magtuturo sa Jacob ng iyong mga kahatulan, At ng iyong mga kautusan, sa Israel; Sila'y maglalagay ng kamangyan sa harap mo, At ng buong handog na susunugin sa ibabaw ng iyong dambana.

11 Basbasan mo, Panginoon, ang kaniyang tinatangkilik, At tanggapin mo ang gawa ng kaniyang mga kamay; Saktan mo ang mga balakang niyaong nagsisibangon laban sa kaniya, At niyaong nangapopoot sa kaniya, upang sila'y huwag bumangon uli.

12 Tungkol sa Benjamin, ay kaniyang sinabi, Ang minamahal ng Panginoon ay tatahang ligtas sa siping niya; Siya'y kakanlungan niya buong araw, At siya'y mananahan sa pagitan ng kaniyang mga balikat.

13 At tungkol sa Jose ay kaniyang sinabi, Pagpalain nawa ng Panginoon ang kaniyang lupain, Sa mga mahalagang bagay ng langit, sa hamog, At sa kalaliman na nasa ilalim niya,

14 At sa mga mahalagang bagay na pinatubo ng araw, At sa mga mahalagang bagay na pinatubo ng buwan,

15 At sa pinakamarikit na mga bagay ng matandang bundok, At sa mga mahalagang bagay ng mga burol na walang hanggan,

16 At sa mga mahalagang bagay ng lupa at ng kapunuan niyaon, At ang mabuting kalooban niyaong tumahan sa mababang punong kahoy: Sumaulo nawa ni Jose ang kapalaran, At sa tuktok ng ulo niya na hiwalay sa kaniyang mga kapatid.

17 Ang panganay ng kaniyang baka, na may kamahalan; At ang mga sungay niyaon ay parang mga sungay ng mabangis na toro: Siya niyang ipantutulak sa mga bayan, lahat sa kanila, kahit na nasa mga hangganan ng lupa: At sila ang laksa-laksa ng Ephraim, At sila ang libolibo ng Manases.

18 At tungkol sa Zabulon ay kaniyang sinabi, Magalak ka, Zabulon, sa iyong paglabas; At ikaw, Issachar, sa iyong mga tolda.

19 Kanilang tatawagin ang mga bayan sa bundok; Doo'y maghahandog sila ng mga hain ng katuwiran: Sapagka't kanilang hihititin ang mga kasaganaan ng mga dagat, At ang natatagong kayamanan sa buhanginan.

20 At tungkol sa Gad, ay kaniyang sinabi, Pagpalain yaong magpalaki sa Gad: Siya'y tumatahan parang isang leona, At dudurog ng bisig, sangpu ng bao ng ulo.

21 At kaniyang inagap ang unang bahagi para sa kaniya, Sapagka't doon natago ang bahagi ng gumagawa ng kautusan; At siya'y pumaroong kasama ng mga pangulo ng bayan, Kaniyang isinagawa ang katuwiran ng Panginoon, At ang kaniyang mga kahatulan sa Israel.

22 At tungkol sa Dan ay kaniyang sinabi, Ang Dan ay anak ng leon, Na lumukso mula sa Basan.

23 At tungkol sa Nephtali ay kaniyang sinabi, Oh Nephtali, busog ng lingap, At puspos ng pagpapala ng Panginoon: Ariin mo ang kalunuran at ang timugan.

24 At tungkol sa Aser ay kaniyang sinabi, Pagpalain nawa sa mga anak ang Aser, Mahalin nawa siya ng kaniyang mga kapatid, At ilubog ang kaniyang paa sa langis.

25 Ang iyong mga halang ay magiging bakal at tanso; At kung paano ang iyong mga kaarawan ay magkagayon nawa ang iyong lakas.

26 Walang gaya ng Dios, Oh Jeshurun, Na sumasakay sa langit dahil sa pagtulong sa iyo, At sa himpapawid dahil sa kaniyang karangalan.

27 Ang walang hanggang Dios ay iyong dakong tahanan, At sa ibaba'y ang walang hanggang mga bisig: At kaniyang itinutulak sa harap mo ang kaaway, At sinabi, Lansagin mo.

28 At ang Israel ay tumatahang tiwala, Ang bukal ng Jacob na nagiisa, Sa isang lupain ng trigo at alak; Oo't, ang kaniyang mga langit ay nagbababa ng hamog.

29 Maginhawa ka, Oh Israel: Sino ang gaya mo, bayang iniligtas ng Panginoon, Ng kalasag na iyong tulong, At siyang tabak ng iyong karangalan! At ang iyong mga kaaway ay susuko sa iyo: At ikaw ay tutungtong sa kanilang mga matataas na dako.

   

Komentář

 

The Length of a Person's Life

Napsal(a) Bill Woofenden

This explanation was first giving as a sermon following the new year.

“The days of our years are threescore years and ten: and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Psalm 90:10

We are at the threshold of a new year. What it holds for us we cannot know. But we can look back upon the year that is passed, and see the Lord’s goodness to us.

World cooperation is a slogan of the day. More and more we are coming to realize that the day of isolation is passed and that what happens in the world at large affects us as individuals, and affects the future. We do not live to ourselves alone. In this larger field also we can look back and see the loving providence of the Lord, leading nations out of sorrows and conflicts, and causing them to hope for better thing to come.

If we can see that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), leading men by the way that the Lord alone knows to be best, and if we have been brought to a deeper trust in Him, the year that is closing could have brought no greater blessing.

The Psalm from which our text is taken sets before us in a most striking way the weakness of man, the shortness of his life, in relation to the infinite power and eternity of the Lord. Man is like “the grass which groweth up. In the morning in flourisheth and groweth up: in the evening it is cut down and withereth.” “The days of our years are threescore years and ten,” but God “is from everlasting to everlasting.” In His sight, a thousand years are but as a watch in the night. He is the one source of life to the entire universe. Whatever life we have is His gift to us, and not our own.

“So,” the Psalmist writes, “teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

There is always an impressiveness in the passing of the years. They slip by with such swiftness, each one seeming shorter than the last. It is not for the purpose of casting a shadow over life that this Psalm was give. It is not to make us look forward with dread that we are told that the gates to the eternal world are near. The message is for the happiness of childhood, for the enthusiasm of youth, and for the enjoyment of our labors in the world. It is to help us to regard and to love natural things in their relation to higher things. To see them so is not to rob them of their charm, but to fill them with deeper purpose and greater happiness.

The Psalm is a prayer, a prayer that the Lord will teach us to number our days, that we may see their relation to spiritual life, that we may not be misled by our own shortsighted view, and that we may learn the true relation between this life and heaven from Him Who created us for heaven, to Whom there is no yesterday and tomorrow. From the Divine point of view the few days of earthly life are nothing if they do not prepare for the eternal life in the heavens.

The prayer “teach us to number our days” does not mean that we should realize how short our life here is compared with the infinite Divine life, but is a petition to the Lord asking Him to enlighten us to see the nature and quality of the states through which we are passing, so that we may use them wisely and live as He would have us live, that we may attain the true measure of adulthood. It is this that is spiritually meant when we pray, “So teach us to number our days.”

Our text reads, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten.” From this Scripture seventy years has come to be regarded as the natural span of life, and when one has passed the seventieth year, we say that he is living on borrowed time. But this is not the spiritual meaning of the text. It really tells of a week of labor in which heavenly states are laid up culminating is a Sabbath of rest. It calls to mind the seven days of creation by which a heavenly spirit is built up within us till life’s work is ended in victory over evil, and the soul enters into rest from temptations.

This is the meaning of the seventy years as the measure of person’s life. Our life here, whether long or short, is still seventy years if we are faithful in learning and keeping the Commandments. The promise, “Your days shall be long,” is not necessarily a promise of many earthly years, but of years few or many filled with the life of heaven. “Your days shall be multiplied, and the days of your children, as the days of heaven upon the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:21).

For some the hours of labor are long, and the burden of the day heavy; for others life seems easier; but however long or short, hard or easy our years, they are the way which the Lord sees best for us to the eternal peace of heaven.

There is only one thing that blasts life and makes it really too short: that is sin, absorption in self. That alone destroys its happiness and usefulness, and makes it of short measure.

Whether the years are seven or seventy, life may be full. The Lord’s life on earth was thirty-four years. It was not cut off in its prime. He left no work undone; He said of His work, “It is finished” (John 19bb30 ). His earthly life was full and complete. He had overcome the world, and could say, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you” (John 14:27).

Earthly life is short only if its opportunities are neglected. The days of every faithful life are seventy years. The preparation for one may be short in calendar years; another’s preparation may include the labor and burden of many years. Still to each there is nothing lacking necessary to the attainment of heaven, for the Lord knows what is best for each. Everyone is given the means to the attainment of heavenly life.

This thought is expressed in the Psalm, for it adds, “and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow.” Each extension of life, while it brings its blessings, brings also its temptations, its labor and sorrow, and in seventy or eighty years we are no nearer heaven than in seven or eight, unless the tasks which long life brings are faithfully borne. However great our strength of mind and body, we are not so near to heaven as the little child unless we meet faithfully the responsibilities which such strength brings.

There are temptations which come with every year of life, with every gift of ability, with every gain of worldly wealth or position. These are the burden and heat of the day that are meant by the eighty years to which the life of some extends, bringing apparent strength, but accompanying temptation and trial.

This psalm teaches us how each life can be full, how we can number our days. It enables us to see that if opportunities are used, every life is long and leads to the peace of heaven. It teaches us that though some lives seem specially favored in years, in strength, in worldly possessions, yet the Lord’s ways are just and equal. The adult’s way to heaven is through labor, the child’s through innocence.

Whatever length of days is given us, it is that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Life is too short to be wasted in anxiety and worry. It is too short for envy and revengeful thoughts. It is too short to be wasted in unkindness, or in striving for that bread which satisfieth not. When we see and seek to realize the Lord’s purposes for us, we are applying our hearts unto wisdom. We cannot know the future, nor should we desire to know it. But we are told how we can make our way prosperous during the year that we are about to enter, and during every year. It is by reading the Word, and taking heed to do according to what is written therein.

The Lord says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches” (John 15:5). So close is He to us, vitally connected to us as the vine to its branches. The purpose of the vine is that the branches shall bear fruit. And if we realize that we can do nothing without Him, we shall realize also that He needs us. This will give a new dignity and meaning to life.

In the new year that is about to dawn let us look to the Lord, in full confidence that He rules all things, that our individual souls and the whole world are in His hands. And as we put our trust in Him and seek to do His will, He will give us that true peace and quietness of soul which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot take away.

Additional readings: Joshua 1, John 14:1-17