“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. Thy shoes shall
be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy
strength be.”–Deuteronomy 33:24-25.
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 be not
so? To what end have we preached unless we see souls
born into the family of grace? My inmost soul longs to
see all my hearers born anew: this would be my greatest
joy, my highest blessedness. 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 sea-shore.
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 brethren 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 savoury.
Every minister prays to be “acceptable to his
brethren.”
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
skirts. I know that there are mockers who scoff at the
very mention of unction; but I pray that to myself and
my brethren the promise may be fulfilled, “He shall dip
his foot in oil.” Such a man, anointed with fresh oil,
holds an unquestioned office, enjoys an unfailing
freshness, and exercises an effectual influence.
Wherever he goes you see his footprints, for his foot
has been dipped in oil.
Well, now, if these three blessings be 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 way endeavour 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
labour; and the Lord grant you always to go forth in
his strength, anointed with his Spirit!
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 exceeding sweet to you,
and grant you a full understanding of it.
“Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so
shall thy strength be.”
There are two things in the text–shoes and strength.
We will talk about these two, hoping to possess them
both.
I. “THY 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.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
