321 " Give ear , O heavens , and let me speak ; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth . 2 " Let my teaching drop as the rain , My speech distill as the dew , As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb . 3 " For I proclaim the name of the Lord ; Ascribe greatness to our God ! 4 " The Rock ! His work is perfect , For all His ways are just ; A God of faithfulness and without injustice , Righteous and upright is He. 5 " They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children , because of their defect ; But are a perverse and crooked generation . 6 "Do you thus repay the Lord , O foolish and unwise e people ? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.
7 "Remember the days of old , Consider the years of all generations . Ask your father , and he will inform you, Your elders , and they will tell you. 8 " When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance , When He separated the sons of man , He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel . 9 " For the Lord'S portion is His people ; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance . 10 " He found him in a desert land , And in the howling waste of a wilderness ; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye . 11 " Like an eagle that stirs up its nest , That hovers over its young , He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions . 12 " The Lord alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him. 13 " He made him ride on the high places of the earth , And he ate the produce of the field ; And He made him suck honey from the rock , And oil from the flinty rock , 14 Curds of cows , and milk of the flock , With fat of lambs , And rams , the breed of Bashan , and goats , With the finest e of the wheat - And of the blood of grapes you drank wine .
15 " But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked - You are grown fat , thick , and sleek - Then he forsook God who made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation . 16 " They made Him jealous with strange gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger . 17 " They sacrificed to demons who were not God , To gods whom they have not known , New gods who came lately , Whom your fathers did not dread . 18 "You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you birth .
19 " The Lord saw this, and spurned them Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters . 20 "Then He said , 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation , Sons in whom is no faithfulness . 21 ' They have made Me jealous with what is not God ; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols . So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people ; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation , 22 For a fire is kindled in My anger , And burns to the lowest part of Sheol , And consumes the earth with its yield , And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains . 23 ' I will heap misfortunes on them; I will use My arrows on them. 24 ' They will be wasted by famine , and consumed by plague And bitter destruction ; And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, With the venom of crawling things of the dust . 25 ' Outside e the sword will bereave , And inside e terror - Both young man and virgin , The nursling with the man of gray hair .
26 'I would have said , " I will cut them to pieces , I will remove the memory of them from men ," 27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy , That their adversaries would misjudge , That they would say , " Our hand is triumphant , And the Lord has not done all this ."' 28 " For they are a nation lacking in counsel , And there is no understanding in them. 29 " Would that they were wise , that they understood this , That they would discern their future ! 30 " How could one chase a thousand , And two put ten thousand to flight , Unless e e their Rock had sold them, And the Lord had given them up? 31 "Indeed their rock is not like our Rock , Even our enemies themselves judge this. 32 "For their vine is from the vine of Sodom , And from the fields of Gomorrah ; Their grapes are grapes of poison , Their clusters , bitter . 33 "Their wine is the venom of serpents , And the deadly poison of cobras . 34 ' Is it not laid up in store with Me, Sealed up in My treasuries ? 35 ' Vengeance is Mine, and retribution , In due time their foot will slip ; For the day of their calamity is near , And the impending things are hastening upon them.' 36 " For the Lord will vindicate His people , And will have compassion on His servants , When He sees that their strength is gone , And there is none remaining, bond or free . 37 "And He will say , ' Where are their gods , The rock in which they sought refuge ? 38 ' Who ate the fat of their sacrifices , And drank the wine of their drink offering ? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hiding place !
39 ' See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life . I have wounded and it is I who heal , And there is no one who can deliver from My hand . 40 'Indeed , I lift up My hand to heaven , And say , as I live forever , 41 If I sharpen My flashing sword , And My hand takes hold on justice , I will render vengeance on My adversaries , And I will repay those who hate Me. 42 ' I will make My arrows drunk with blood , And My sword will devour flesh , With the blood of the slain and the captives , From the long-haired leaders of the enemy .' 43 " Rejoice , O nations , with His people ; For He will avenge the blood of His servants , And will render vengeance on His adversaries , And will atone for His land and His people ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:1-43
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:1-2
(Read Deuteronomy 32:1-2)
Moses begins with a solemn appeal to heaven and earth, concerning the truth and importance of what he was about to say. His doctrine is the gospel, the speech of God, the doctrine of Christ; the doctrine of grace and mercy through him, and of life and salvation by him.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:3-6
(Read Deuteronomy 32:3-6)
"He is a Rock." This is the first time God is called so in Scripture. The expression denotes that the Divine power, faithfulness, and love, as revealed in Christ and the gospel, form a foundation which cannot be changed or moved, on which we may build our hopes of happiness. And under his protection we may find refuge from all our enemies, and in all our troubles; as the rocks in those countries sheltered from the burning rays of the sun, and from tempests, or were fortresses from the enemy. "His work is perfect:" that of redemption and salvation, in which there is a display of all the Divine perfection, complete in all its parts. All God's dealings with his creatures are regulated by wisdom which cannot err, and perfect justice. He is indeed just and right; he takes care that none shall lose by him. A high charge is exhibited against Israel. Even God's children have their spots, while in this imperfect state; for if we say we have no sin, no spot, we deceive ourselves. But the sin of Israel was not habitual, notorious, unrepented sin; which is a certain mark of the children of Satan. They were fools to forsake their mercies for lying vanities. All wilful sinners, especially sinners in Israel, are unwise and ungrateful.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:7-14
(Read Deuteronomy 32:7-14)
Moses gives particular instances of God's kindness and concern for them. The eagle's care for her young is a beautiful emblem of Christ's love, who came between Divine justice and our guilty souls, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree. And by the preached gospel, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, He stirs up and prevails upon sinners to leave Satan's bondage. In verses 13,14, are emblems of the conquest believers have over their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, in and through Christ. Also of their safety and triumph in him; of their happy frames of soul, when they are above the world, and the things of it. This will be the blessed case of spiritual Israel in every sense in the latter day.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:15-18
(Read Deuteronomy 32:15-18)
Here are two instances of the wickedness of Israel, each was apostacy from God. These people were called Jeshurun, "an upright people," so some; "a seeing people," so others: but they soon lost the reputation both of their knowledge and of their righteousness. They indulged their appetites, as if they had nothing to do but to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it. Those who make a god of themselves, and a god of their bellies, in pride and wantonness, and cannot bear to be told of it, thereby forsake God, and show they esteem him lightly. There is but one way of a sinner's acceptance and sanctification, however different modes of irreligion, or false religion, may show that favourable regard for other ways, which is often miscalled candid. How mad are idolaters, who forsake the Rock of salvation, to run themselves upon the rock of perdition!
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:19-25
(Read Deuteronomy 32:19-25)
The revolt of Israel was described in the foregoing verses, and here follow the resolves of Divine justice as to them. We deceive ourselves, if we think that God will be mocked by a faithless people. Sin makes us hateful in the sight of the holy God. See what mischief sin does, and reckon those to be fools that mock at it.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:26-38
(Read Deuteronomy 32:26-38)
The idolatry and rebellions of Israel deserved, and the justice of God seemed to demand, that they should be rooted out. But He spared Israel, and continues them still to be living witnesses of the truth of the Bible, and to silence unbelievers. They are preserved for wise and holy purposes and the prophecies give us some idea what those purposes are. The Lord will never disgrace the throne of his glory. It is great wisdom, and will help much to the return of sinners to God, seriously to consider their latter end, or the future state. It is here meant particularly of what God foretold by Moses, about this people in the latter days; but it may be applied generally. Oh that men would consider the happiness they will lose, and the misery they will certainly plunge into, if they go on in their trespasses! What will be in the end thereof? Jeremiah 5:31. For the Lord will in due time bring down the enemies of the church, in displeasure against their wickedness. When sinners deem themselves most secure, they suddenly fall into destruction. And God's time to appear for the deliverance of his people, is when things are at the worst with them. But those who trust to any rock but God, will find it fail them when they most need it. The rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish nation, is the continuance of their ancient idolatry, apostacy, and rebellion. They shall be brought to humble themselves before the Lord, to repent of their sins, and to trust in their long-rejected Mediator for salvation. Then he will deliver them, and make their prosperity great.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 32:39-43
(Read Deuteronomy 32:39-43)
This conclusion of the song speaks, 1. Glory to God. No escape can be made from his power. 2. It speaks terror to his enemies. Terror indeed to those who hate him. The wrath of God is here revealed from heaven against them. 3. It speaks comfort to his own people. The song concludes with words of joy. Whatever judgments are brought upon sinners, it shall go well with the people of God.