Deuteronomy chapter 1 and we're going to look at verse 31 this evening. Again, I appreciate your prayers as I'll be starting to try to work through a number of commentaries. The introductions are the long parts and I might have overdone it with Had a lot of suggestions from various pastors and professors and probably should have narrowed it down a little bit, but I like to be thorough, especially with a book like Deuteronomy and what I'll bring to you. Appreciate your prayers as I'll be looking to try to get on that in Philippians soon, probably in a few more weeks. But tonight we're gonna have a thematic sermon as we're making that transition. Deuteronomy chapter one, verse 31. Hear now the word of the Lord. And in the wilderness where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth bear his son in all the way that ye went until you came into this place. Let me read that again. And in the wilderness where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth bear his son in all the way that ye went until you came into this place. Well, while our son Isaac did not make a special request for this sermon, I am volunteering it for him. And if I may say, because he is special, he always has some particular interesting insights. He's always listening close to the sermons. And I'd like to give this one for him as it relates to something he brought home a little while ago that he was curious about and didn't understand. When we were not under COVID restrictions a little while ago, the speech and debate club that our kids participate in is held at a church up near El Cajon. And that church, one evening while we were all there for the club, there was a room where they had all kinds of, I don't know that it was a pantry exactly. It's not usually like this, but they had all kinds of clothes that had been donated, I imagine, from members of the church and various items that people were free to look through and take with them. And most of us made time to look at that and Isaac, He came home with a lapel pin, still in its wrapper. And he was curious. He really thought it was neat, but he didn't know what it was about. And it said, footprints. I believe it had the little feet on it, you know, footprints. He didn't know what it meant. And I told him about the poem, which we have as a magnet on our refrigerator. I'm sure you know it well, Footprints in the Sand. I'm not sure who to credit it to. I've noticed there seems to be quite a bit of, quite a bit of competition about who's trying to claim who wrote the poem, so I'm choosing not to mention one of those names because I'm not sure, which is kind of interesting. Nonetheless, it's a great poem for us to be blessed. Footprints in the Sand, which is what this lapel pin that Isaac brought home is referring to. One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord, Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord. After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints. This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand, why? When I needed you the most, you would leave me. He whispered, my precious child, I love you and will never leave you. Never ever during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you. And of course, the idea of this poem is that at times when we think we're going it all alone, and it feels like God is especially far from us, perhaps abandoned us, we feel like we're trying to carry it and do it all on our own. And it would seem as if it's just our footprints in the sand and that he's left us. In fact, we're so weak that we don't even realize we don't even recognize that he's doing all the walking. Our feet are in the air as he's carrying us. Those aren't our footprints in the sand. Our feet again are in the air. He's carrying us through those moments. Those are Christ's footprints that we see. God himself carries his people through the wilderness so that they survive and they make it to the promised land. I give you that as the idea of this verse. God himself carries his people through the wilderness so that they survive and make it to the promised land. Why? Why does he do this for us? Because he says he is the Lord, your God. Notice the beginning in verse 30, the Lord, your God. And then again, in verse 31, the Lord, thy God. This is one of the names that we studied. And it talks about the reciprocal relationship, the mutual responsibility to one another. God had covenanted himself to us as well. And we're also to respond to him. He's the Lord, our God, and he's the Lord, your God. Notice God says, just like a father carries his son, so he carries his son, Israel, his people. You see that he says, as a man doth bear his son. And then he says again, in all the way that you went until you came into this place, I bear you. He said, I carried you. I carried you, Israel. Now think about this is millions of people. I carried you. Collectively, he speaks about them as his son. Israel says, I carried you, my son, I carried you. to this place. Well, we can all picture that, right? We've all seen daddies carrying their little sons and daughters. Once Gabriel was old enough, I was so happy to put him up over my head and have his knees over my shoulders, hold onto his ankles, and walk around, partly because it's a lot easier to do some distance that way. But also, it's just fun. And he's up there, and he can see things he doesn't see. And it's just fun. It makes you feel like a dad. I carry my son because he can't walk as far. We used to take Isaac that way when we'd be hiking. He'd get tired and I'd stick him up there and carry him along the way. It's just what dads do. We carry our kids to get them to where they need to get with us. We're not going to leave them behind when they get tired. And they need us to carry them. I couldn't help but think about Rachel when she was, I don't know, maybe a year old. We were at an outdoor Christian concert. I think I might have shared this story with you before. We were outside, about 10,000 people, and it was getting late. And everyone's standing up. So we sit up, and I put her over my shoulders so she could watch. And then I didn't realize later, one of our friends with us noticed she'd fallen asleep with her little head like this on top of my head. And they got a cute picture of it. I don't know if I have it. I wish I did. But it's just that sense of safety and being carried. She doesn't even know what's going on, but she's being carried by her dad. I don't know what she might have heard from the concert at that point. But, you know, that's the way God says he's taking care of the church. I carried you. I carried you. I carried you like a father carries his child. Here we are, my beloved child, Israel, the church. We're at the promised land. We're at the right at the entrance. Deuteronomy again is, of course, They've gone through the wilderness 40 years for all that they had to go through. And he brought them through and he carried them through and he's brought them back and he's about to carry them and bring them into the promised land to this place. He says again, what is this place? The promised land? He said he'd get them there. So he gets them there and he will carry them if need be. And in fact, he did carry them. Speaking metaphorically, of course, but nonetheless, remember the special miracles, such as their sandals never wore out, the sun never burned their skin, the special cloud over them during the day, the pillar of fire at night bringing them through, all the ways he delivered them through the Red Sea, from the attack of the Malachites, all these different ways he's delivered the people back to this place. It's as if he's saying, look, I brought you through the wilderness. I carried you those 40 years. You never would have made it without me. You would have died of thirst. You would have died of hunger. You would have died killing each other. And I brought you here. And now I've brought you and I'm placing you down, my son. Right here, ready to enter into the land flowing with milk and honey. This is what God says he does for us. He got them there through many attacks and many of their own self-debilitating problems that caused them to stumble again and again and would have had them left for dead if it were not for the Lord who picked them up and carried them, His sheep. And so beloved, he will still carry you to heaven. He will get you there. He is, in fact, carrying you along. And those moments when you might feel most alone, most deserted, most isolated, when you feel as if there is no one with you and God has deserted you. In fact, he is carrying you. And if he wasn't, you wouldn't even be worrying about it. You would perish. But he is the one carrying you as his beloved sheep, his beloved children. Later on in Deuteronomy 33 verse 27, it says the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. Isn't that a glorious thought? He loves you with an everlasting love. He's bringing you into the place of everlasting life. He is the everlasting God with everlasting arms that never tire. I don't think any of us can say that. Even you, Mr. Delgado, you're a little younger and stronger than me, but I think at some point you got to put the kids down, right? Our arms get tired. God's arms never, never, never tire. You never have to say, Dad, do you need to let me down? Maybe I'll just have to stop here. He never tires. He carries you in his everlasting arms. Isaiah 46 verses 3 to 4 reads, hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age I am he. And even to whore hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry, and will deliver you. And beloved, thinking of our Thanksgiving sermon a little while ago, and the makeup of most of our church, saying even you in your older years, I'm still carrying you, and I will carry you. 1 Peter 5 verse 7. Be casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you." Isaiah 40 verse 11, He shall feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. You hear that language? He's going to carry His sheep in His bosom. That language of the good shepherd, that's why we sang Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He'll carry me through even the dark valleys who carry me up onto the paths of righteousness for his own namesake. And of course, Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep. That's Hebrews 13 verse 20, but you go back to verse 5 and it says once again, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And in fact, I'm often carrying you. That image of the great shepherd would cause us to think of Luke 15 verses 4 to 5 that Jesus says these words, what man of you having an hundred sheep if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he find it. And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders." This is Jesus the Good Shepherd. Even as we stray, He grabs us, gets us back on our feet, and lays us, the wee lamb, on His shoulders. You can have the imagery of the legs on both sides. Alright, now let's go back to the fold again. He carries us. So, beloved, let us pray often to the Lord. Psalm 28, verse 9. Save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them up forever. For so He will. For so He always does. As you go along life and leave your little footprints along the way of following Christ, notice how often when you look closely, He has proven by His own solitary footprints to be your Jacob's ladder. You will make it to heaven on the narrow way, that is, on the back of Jesus who is the way, as He carries you on His shoulders, as He carries you in His everlasting arms. Rest assured, you are never alone, because Jesus has carried you all along. And all along, Jesus will carry you. And that's the message for you this evening, beloved. And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that you went until you came into this place. There'll be a day where he takes you and lays you down on your feet and says, okay, enter into my father's kingdom. Until then, trust that Jesus has carried you all along and all along he will carry you. Let us pray. Almighty God, great shepherd of the sheep, Lord Jesus Christ, let us recognize so often when we feel utterly alone and deserted and forlorn and desperate and as if we cannot move forward. Let us faith our future because you have been carrying us and we haven't even noticed. Let us notice and let us recognize you will continue to carry us. Bless your seat with this encouraging image that you have given us, oh Lord, and let us look in the sand and recognize what matters most is to see your footsteps anyways. Oh, let our footsteps, if there are really any, let us recognize them just simply to be washed away by the tide, but your steps remain like rock. as you bring us to the celestial city and set us on our feet like Heinz places there, Heinz feet on high places. Oh Lord, indeed cause us to walk in newness of life, cause us to walk in the light thankful that we assuredly will because you have made us the light of the world in yourself with your church shining your light in our hearts you who are the light of the world you are the way the truth and the life you who are the great shepherd of the sheep guide us forward oh lord and carry us and let us not be ashamed but thankful to rest in your everlasting arms for there we know that we will make it to our final destination where you have given us a hope and a future and an expected end. Bless us, O Lord, as we continue on with our pilgrimage for you this week. Keep our eyes on Christ and our hand to the plow, trusting that you will make a way and that you do with all things well. We pray through the blood of Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Father and all your people said, Amen.