seeking the Lord's help and your very prayerful attention. I direct your thoughts for a few moments this afternoon to the chapter we read, the book of Deuteronomy chapter 33. And our verse this afternoon is this, thy shoe shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deuteronomy 33 verse 25. thy shoe shall be iron and brass and as thy days so shall thy strength be. God's dear servant Moses was just about to lay aside his armour The race had been won, run, the victory gained, the battle finished. He had come to the end of that long period of service in the wilderness. Though he was 120 years old, yet still he retained all his faculties, all his strength, and all his vigor. this so the verse before us this afternoon hour is one that Moses could say I've proved it as thy day so shall thy strength be and friends it is true as long as God has a work for us to do As long as there is a life of faith to be lived out, as long as the work of grace is continuing, so this Word will accomplish and accompany God's dear people till their dying breath. And even then, it will prove faithful as they pass from time into eternity. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Now, we often think of Moses as the lawgiver. Under God's hand, he was the one to deliver, in many respects, the holy mind of God in the sacred precepts of the Old Testament. But in this chapter, Moses is a prophet. and the things he speaks of are those things that will take place in each tribe when they settle and there was a settling canyon and there would be a proof of the truth of his words as the years unfolded. And it seems that Asher in particular, both in Genesis where Jacob was used of God to bless Asher himself, and now his tribe, they seem to be a particularly favoured tribe. And one that seemed to be under the smile of Almighty God. But here is a wonderful promise not just for Asher, but for all those blessed with the faith of Asher. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Or it might be a word in season to one poor sinner this afternoon, perhaps, who's come to the end of their strength, the end of all their efforts, and perhaps come to a dead hold, and wondering how they can even take the next step. Well, here is the strength in which they were taken. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Now in three particular ways, Moses proved the truth of having shoes. You remember that when he came to the burning bush at Horeb, And he saw that great sight of the bush burning, but not being consumed, the wonderful type of Christ. Also a foretelling of the trials that lay before him, but he would not be consumed in them. That voice from the bits of the bush said, draw not, neither take off the shoes of thy feet. The place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And the taking off the shoes of the feet were in one sense the indication that Moses now had a new chapter in life to walk out. He needed new shoes, as it were, for the path that now lay before him. And the anointing that he received at the burning bush provided him in the second place with shoes to walk in. And in Moses' case, the shoes to walk in, were that beautiful word, wonderfully complementary to our text this afternoon. Certainly, I will be with thee. Certainly, undoubtedly, unreservedly, unconditionally, absolutely, I will be with thee. And that was a path that Moses had to take up. In a sense, they were the shoes he now had to wear in what lay before him. It was a wonderful miracle that followed the shoes of the children of Israel in the wilderness. We read in the book of Deuteronomy elsewhere, they did not wax old. God miraculously preserved the shoes of his people as they walked through the wilderness. Remember, it was a rocky way, it was a desert land. Normal shoes would wear out under normal circumstances probably in a few weeks. But no, for many, many years, the shoes of God's people did not wear out. And again, for Moses, you see how true it was. Did that promise wear out? Did it prove that it were not lasting long enough? No, even to his dying day, he could say, certainly God has been with me. And so, my dear friends, it may be with you this afternoon hour. God may have given you a promise perhaps many years ago and put you in the path that you now are. And perhaps you've come to the end of your strength and wisdom in it. But friend, those shoes are still there for you to walk in. and that promise the Lord gave you has not worn out, nor he who gave you repented of giving it to you. You must go back to the giver of that promise and ask him to give renewing and reviving of his word as we know he can. Did not the dear psalmist say, I shall be anointed with fresh oil, not different oil. No, we don't want a different gospel, do we? We do want it renewed and it's Our gospel isn't stale, and our poor hearts are stale, aren't they? And our poor minds are. But the gospel, when applied by the Blessed Spirit, has a blessed, renewing, reviving effect. May this Word this afternoon be a reviving Word to one of you. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass, as thy days, so shall thy strength be. In other words, whatever lays before you, whatever lays before you, this word will prove acceptable, suitable, seasonable, and enduring. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass. We just mentioned two other shoes, three other shoes actually. which the Word of God speaks to. Then we come to our text more directly. I think of the prodigal shoes. I think, dear friends, when he came home, he hadn't got any shoes left. He'd worn them out in sin, hadn't he? Do you know what that is? When you look back at your unregenerate days, worn out in sin. But you see, his father had shoes for him, didn't he? Bring forth the best robe, put shoes on his feet. And we're told, you see, in Ephesians 6 about those shoes, about the preparation of the gospel of peace. You note in the previous verse, it has let him dip his foot in oil. And the oil, it reminds of the work of the Holy Spirit, doesn't it? Let him dip his foot in oil. That will make the shoes, as it were, wearable. It will make them suitable, comfortable. How we try to wear these shoes without the spirit, how uncomfortable they are. How our poor flesh begins to complain, none are so tried as we. But when we are able to dip our foot in oil, the oil of the spirit, oh then we can wear our shoes comfortably. and how it was with the prodigal son. Then on he had to wear those shoes and walk a path of obedience and humility in his repenting state. But then we must remember what John the Baptist said about the dear Savior. He said, I'm not worthy to lose the latchet of his shoes. Oh, the shoes of the dear Redeemer. Oh, that walk from Bethlehem to Golgotha, every step of the way necessary. And oh, with what love did he put, I say it most reverently, did he put those shoes on when he came as verily God, verily man, to walk it out for his dear people's sake. Oh, friends, and even when it came to Gethsemane, so I have a baptism to be baptized with, how my strategy should be accomplished. And from Gethsemane to Golgotha he goes, and, oh, dear friend, how worthily he walked in those shoes. I deny it to my father's will, yea, thy law is within my heart. Friends, have we walked worthy of the shoes we are in hand? or we haven't, have we, so often? God, have we murmured and complained and grumbled and said things are not as they ought to be? But friends, if you have the mind of Christ, the spirit of Christ, then you won't say that about the path God has ordained, nor about the shoes he's given you to wear. You will say with another dear hymn writer, my Jesus hath done all things well. There's no complaining there. As one of themselves put it, let there be no complaining in our streets. Friends, have you been complaining? Have you been grumbling? Have you been murmuring? Oh may God give you a view of the dear Saviour's pathway. His way was much rougher and darker than mine. Did Christ my Lord suffer? Shall I reply? Let's come back to our text. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy dance, so shall thy strength be. Now notice first of all, thy shoes. Now even in a natural sense, we need shoes that fit our natural feet, don't we? And so my dear friends, the shoes God gives his people exactly fit the feet that are to walk out the way. They couldn't be more suitable. It does bring to mind a very wonderful instance in the time of the Great Depression in Coventry. There was a dear family there who were really struggling and they had four children and they all needed new shoes. And they made it a matter of prayer. And to their amazement, a few days later, a box came to their doorstep. In it were four pairs of shoes, and they exactly fitted the feet of each of the children. They looked on in amazement. They couldn't have chosen better. No, my dear friends. Could you? You say, well, the path is rather difficult. Yes, it may be. But do you think God has made a mistake? Has he erred somehow? No, God forbid you to think that. No, thy shoes especially suit the path you are called to walk in, whether it be a path of affliction or disappointment or discouragement or even temptation. Dear friend, the Lord knows exactly the shoes you need. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass. Thy shoes. Well, you may say iron and brass aren't very comfortable. Naturally speaking, of course, they're not. But then go back to what I said just now about Asher dipping his foot in oil. By dipping his foot in oil, we might say, without being fanciful, it made it possible to wear these shoes that would be iron and brass. But iron and brass, what does it imply? Some that will not wear out. You know, it was going to be a rocky path, wasn't it? Before some of them, a stony path, an uphill path. Mountains and valleys were going to have to be traversed. And so it was necessary that there should be shoes of iron and brass. It had also been interpreted by some godly scholars, under thy shoes shall be iron and brass, implying that in the tribe of Asher there were minerals to be mined under the feet, where they were walking. There is a spiritual counterpart there, isn't there? As God calls his people to walk, there are hidden treasures that will be brought to light in due season. Doesn't Isaiah speak of them? Are these the treasures of darkness and those things of secret places? You may, as it were, find much in the dark at the moment, but you will find that under those shoes you are walking in, there is a rich vein of God's goodness and mercy. the rich vein of his providence and his grace to God's dear people. Iron and brass. Well, godly scholars, and I walk with them in this, have often said these two metals are indicative of faith and prayer. Faith and prayer. Take that word faith. Where does faith anchor? not in frames and feelings, though we want to feel in religion, don't mistake me. But faith doesn't anchor there. Faith anchors in the God who's given the promise, or we may say in the context of our verse, given the shoes to walk in, ordained the path to walk in. This is where faith will anchor in the unchanging, unchangeable Word of God, that Word applied by the Blessed Spirit, and of course the incarnate Word, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Isn't it a wonderful thing that God's promises don't wear out, isn't it? Godly Jacob, what a word he had. Oh, within all places, with us wherever thou goest, I will not leave thee till that thing which I have spoken to thee of. You see, dear friends, that didn't wear out, did it? And he could plead, and more than once he did, Lord, thou saidst. Friends, you've got a good anchor to your prayers this afternoon, if you've got a thus saith the Lord behind you. And dear Moses himself, do you remember he came to a dead halt? And perhaps they're the one who we're preaching to this afternoon may soon come to a dead halt if they're not already done so in the way. And poor Moses was greatly distressed because the Lord said, Depart and take this people up to the land that I promise. And that word depart filled Moses' heart with dread. Nor will they come with us. We can't go on without thy strength. And he said, wherein shall it be known here, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not that thou goest with us, that so shall we separate I and thy people, all the people on the face of the earth, and consider the stages thy people? Oh, how the Lord answered the dear man. It was really a confirmation of the burning bush, wasn't it? Thy presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Oh, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not uphead, says dear Moses. And the Lord, I've got to say, reinforced the promise, but confirmed it with those words, I will make all thy goodness pass before thee. Now, dear friend, have you forgotten the word he gave you? Have you forgotten to plead it? You may be in discouraging times. You may be in disheartening times. But have you forgotten what he said? Did not the Lord say to them, Arthur, saidst thou not unto thee, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God? And he gave you that promise, dear friend, to plead, that promise that lay before him, that promise to humbly remind him of. Not that he's ever forgotten it. You've forgotten it many times. But when we say that he will not forget, it is a human way of saying, Lord, remember the word unto thy servant. upon which thou hast caused me to hope. These are shoes of iron and brass. But friends, without a word from the Lord, without His divine approbation, oh, we can't go on, can we? We'll be sheer presumption, sheer presumption. But oh, when the Lord says, speak of the children of Israel, they go forward. then you can be sure that the Lord is in the matter and he will make a way even through the Red Sea, should that be necessary. Pharaoh had no right to follow into the Red Sea. He followed in presumptuously to his own destruction. But the children of Israel had the authority of God to go forward. They had the word from his own mouth through his servant Moses. Speak unto the children of Israel, they go forward. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, And as thy days, so shall thy strength be. What a mercy then to have a word to plead! Where would some of us be when we get into our difficulties? Have we not a word to plead? Something to go back to. Lord thou says, and we have proved it again and again. What he promised us when he put us in the way has been most abundantly fulfilled. Of all these promises we have to say, lacked we anything? Nothing Lord, nothing. Thy shoe shall be iron. and brass, iron that will not wear out, iron that will not be eroded, will not rust, iron that will endure every storm, every fiery trial, every dark dispensation, yea, death itself, thy shoe shall be iron and brass. And what does the brass teach us? Prayer. I thought of those words in meditation. They're very well-known words, but they've been such a help to God's people. And this poor sinner, so many times this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Friends, where would we be without the means of prayer? Oh, we couldn't continue in this way, could we? We must have the actions of the throne of grace. And you know the armors don't want to be fanciful, but you know you take brass. If brass is not polished, it becomes, it loses its color, it loses its beauty. So what do you say, friends, those fiery trials, those differences that make you pray the Lord's means of polishing the brass of your prayers? That's what he's doing. May that be needed, perhaps, at the moment. Perhaps you grew slack in prayer, less diligent. You forgot what wrestling prayer was. Now the Lord's brought a fresh trouble, a fresh trial, a fresh difficulty. May the Lord's polish in the brass of your prayers. How David proved it, friends. What would he have done in Gath when Achish's angry men surrounded him, ready to wreak vengeance for him, slaying Goliath? What would he have done without prayer? It wasn't him scrambling on the gate that eliminated him. It was this poor man crying when the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Ah, dear friends, what a merciful prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God. There were a grief I could not bear. Didst thou not hear and answer prayer? But a prayer-hearing, answering God supports me under every load. And you have a dear friend in the Midlands, a most godly man. And his four-year-old lamb lay dying. And he said to the Lord, I couldn't bear it, Lord, if he were taken. And the Lord spoke in those words. That were a grief I could not bear, didst thou not hear and answer pray? but a prayer hearing, answering God, supporting under every load. He knew the ladder would be taken, but he knew the Lord would support him under the load by prayer, by prayer. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding to keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh, what a mercy to have a prayer hearing, prayer answering God. Friends, I hope polishes your brass this afternoon. Thy shoe shall be iron and brass. The Word of God and access to God in prayer. With those two things, friends, you can go on. In fact, Jesus Christ, your Father's Son, bids you, commands you, undismayed, go on. Yes, what a mercy we have a God like that. Do you remember it was in Nehemiah? when he was rebuilding the walls and sand ballots and all the opposers came and tried to stop the work. We read, in one hand he had a sword, in the other a trowel. And there again they say, one had the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. they had the trowel of praying. It's the same likeness, the same truth, a different metaphor. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass. And I'll say one more thing about the brass. My dear friend, there's no place where this path may lead you, but what you will be excluded from praying. Even Jodah found it in the belly of the wild, the dying thief found it on a cross, Jeremiah found it in a dungeon. Friends, wherever this path you're in may lead you, one thing is absolutely certain, you'll never be beyond the throne of grace, child of God. You won't be out of reach of the God who sits on that throne of grace. And this poor man cried, yes, from the very depths of the earth, from the ends of the earth, but the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass. Until prayer must give way to eternal praise, these shoes will carry you safely on and safely through. Then it says, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. And again, we have two personal things here, thy days and thy strength. And again, there are three things which appertain to it. First of all, how personal it is. Dear friends, the path you walk is personal to you. Dear Peter was amiss when he said to the Lord concerning John, What shall this man do? And the Lord answered, What is that to thee? Follow thou? Me? Peter? It's a personal following. And so it is, dear friend, with you this afternoon. You may be looking what this man may do or may not do. But that is not where you should look at it. It's what would I have me to do? That's where God began with Saul of Tarsus. From that moment on, it was not what others were doing, but what he would do in the fear of the Lord, as the Lord enabled him. As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Secondly, it means this. Whatever comes in those days, and we read a lovely word, that beautiful hymn just now, did you not? The last verse of that hymn, let me quote it exactly so we don't get it wrong. It's one of the best hymns in the book, isn't it? So, apocytes are God's people walking through this wilderness. Our sorrows in the scale he weighs and measures out our pains. Your days are weighed, they're weighed. That balance, the joys and the sorrows, the light and the darkness, the deliverances, yes, and the trials, are wonderfully weighed. We read in Isaiah 26, the Lord weighs the path of the just. He weighs it. He measures it out. He doesn't lay too heavy a load on you. And dear friends, you must live one day at a time. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Some of us are looking too far ahead sometimes, and we see a day approaching, we know we'll need the Lord's help, and we begin to tremble. How will it be? Friends, live a day at a time, and sometimes just an hour at a time. As thy days, they're appointed. They're appointed. And when things come into those days you didn't expect, things you never planned for or looked for, remember, God has appointed it. You sung of it, sovereign ruler of the skies. ever gracious, ever wise. When a new trial afflicts you, a new fire begins, a new storm breaks, remember, God has ordained it, God has permitted it. It's part of the way as thy days. And then it means also how many days there may be. Then we read that of tribulation, 10 days. Nine, you cannot shorten it. 11, the devil cannot lengthen it. There is a wonderful purpose in the way the Lord ordains the length of the trial of his dear people. I think there's one good man put it, referring to Job 23, when he has tried to come forth as gold. And apparently the refiner certainly in Job's days would sit by the fire while the metal was melting and scoop out the scum that came to the top, the impurity, and he would sit there until he could see his own reflection in the molten metal. that the gold had been refined to it. And when, dear friends, the Lord sees his own reflection in you, then when his own resemblance is printed there, or as we sing sometimes, then the fire has done its work, then the trial will end. Thy days. And friends, the Lord people ordain to live many years in the face of this earth, especially in these more recent times, people tend to live longer, but you can't presume upon that. None of us know how much longer our journey may be. Soon the Lord may return and call you or me, hence. But whatever it may be, whatever the time is, whatever the means whereby the Lord may call us, right to a dying bed, This word will stand. As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Isn't that a mercy, friends? This stream will flow as you need it, as you require it, as you come into the want of it, so it will be there. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. And perhaps some of you have come into peculiarly difficult days, particularly trying days, here the text still stands, as thy days. And some of us look back, and some of the days we have passed, and we wonder how we brought through, but we know how we came through, because as our day, so was our strength. We didn't feel it at the time, perhaps, but looking back, it's unmistakably so. Without the Lord's strength, we could not. We could not. have continued. When Elijah was fed by the angel of the juniper tree, remember, he had come to a dead halt and thought it better to take him home. The Lord gave him meat to eat, and he went to the strength of that meat, 40 days and 40 nights. What a meal it must have been for him. And when the Lord gives you a banquet in his house, you know, or on your knees, for the reading of his word, that that strength, for whatever lies ahead, It's like an anointing, we may say, for the path in which you are to walk. Now it says, so shall thy strength be. How wonderful it is that God calls it our strength, when we know it is not really. Just as the righteous as God's people are clothed with, He calls their righteousness, but of course it's imputed by the dear Saviour. The Saviour's obedience. He's given it to His dear people. It passed from Him, the giver, to His dear people who receive it as a gift. It becomes theirs. So it is with the strength. It's God's strength. But He gives it to His people. And then it becomes their strength as they're unable to walk. and to persevere and to endure and walk through the fires and through the deep waters. So shall thy strength be. But God has, and I say it most reverently, he must not lay down a night for him to work in. He has a peculiar method of teaching us where our strength has come from. The psalmist said he weakened my strength in the Y. He weakened it. The Lord knows how to do that. Sometimes we admit indwelling sin to get the better of us, or the devil with his temptations, or the world. And we become so weak, oh, we won't have any life at all. And the Lord in that way, empties us of any trust in self, any confidence in our own strength. He that trusts his own heart is a fool. The Lord sometimes, often gives a thorn in the flesh. Paul was wonderfully strengthened in one way when he looked within the central city gates and saw the glories within that he couldn't even mention with human language. He might have thought he didn't need any more strength for the rest of his days. But a good J.C. Philpott put it, he went from the gate of heaven to the gate of hell, for where else would a messenger of Satan come from? And so that thorn in the flesh he had, and we're not told what it was, but Paul knew very well what it was. It was enough to bring him to a dead hold, so much so he told the Lord he couldn't go on with such a thorn as that. And he asked the Lord, and remember he was a man who prayed. He wrestled in prayer. And the Lord did answer his prayer, you know, but not in the way Paul expected. Now we'll just pause there, friends. When you pray, Yes, it's right to pray. As I said, the brass kept shining. But remember, the answers are what God ordains. And you must never dictate to the Lord in your prayers. Never. No. Oh, it's a mercy though when we learn this lesson. Where was the thorn given to Paul? We might learn where his strength has come from. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. That's how God's strength is made perfect, in our weakness. Every day that thorn wounded Paul, it humbled him, it perplexed him, it teased him. But as often as it wounded him, humbled him, teased him, so he fled to the promised God game. My grace is sufficient for thee. And friends, you might think that your load is so great that nothing could enable you to live with it. Never limit your goal. Never limit your goal. Whatever He lays on you as a load, He'll give you strength to bear. Yes. Let me know my Father will have thy sacred will ordained. Lord, give me strength to bear. Let me know my father reigns and feel his tender care. Oh, it's a tender care here. The Lord gives this thought not in anger, not in displeasure, but in a loving way of teaching us where our strength must come from. So shall thy strength be. Do you remember those words spoken by the dear Saviour to his disciples when they were to go before magistrates and judges? In that hour it shall be given thee what thou shalt say. In that hour. In that hour. And so it is with God's strength. In that hour it shall be given thee. In that moment it shall be given thee. So shall thy strength be. I think of a strange prayer that David offered when he was anticipating his end. He said, let me recover my strength ere I go hence. What a strange prayer. I mean, dying is losing our strength completely naturally. What did David mean? He was talking about his soul, wasn't he? Oh Lord, ere I come to my dying bed and this natural man fade altogether. Oh, let my heart be strengthened. That is Aesop's religion, wasn't it? My flesh and my heart fadeth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Now my last point this afternoon is this, the certainty of it. Here is one of God's shalls. And friends, when God says shall, Hell itself cannot undo what that shall ordains. The devil himself cannot undo it. He may go and say it, unbelief may question it, the world may come against it, but friend, this shall endure, or the opposition might meet in the way. Whenever your poor feet have to trample upon, remember in Psalm 91, they have to trample on the lion, and the dragon, and the adder, yes. And sometimes we have to tread those things underfoot, and the Lord has promised it. The God of peace shall tread Satan under thy feet shortly. It's a wonderful thing that, isn't it? We can't do that, but God can. The God of Peace shall do that work. Perhaps there is Satan working in your path at the moment in some particular matter, and you feel overwhelmed by it. The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Yes, so shall thy strength be according to thy days. And go back to the dear Saviour. Friends, he bore all incarnate God could bear, with strength enough and none to spare. And he has walked this path in his holy humanity of needing strength. You say, how, in what way? You go to Gethsemane's garden, there we find an angel from heaven appeared strengthening him. Now, his Godhead didn't need strength, no angel of God could strengthen that. but it's holy humanity do. And the dear spirit has kindly left that on record for our encouragement. Those who've come to the end of their own strength, here is one who will understand in his holy weakness. You understand what I say? In his holy weakness, he understands you see. Yes, he trod this path himself before. he did not prove it abundantly. Right through his holy life till the work was done, he bowed his lovely head and yelled up the ghost, oh the strength God the Father had given him to fulfill the work given him to do. And now at God's right hand, what does he say? All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Then Paul tried Trembling, troubled, child of God, this afternoon, Fear not, brethren, joyful stand, On the borders of your land. Jesus Christ, your Father's Son, Bids you on this night go on, Lord, submissive, make us go, Gladly leaving all below, Only thou our leader be. and we still will follow thee. May God so grant that grace to us, for the righteous shall hold on his way. May God add his blessing. Amen.