January 12

10 ¶ And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquently, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumber, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, A not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to

meet thee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.

15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.

16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

18 ¶ And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be ye, alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

Moses offers four distinct excuses for declining the work to which the Lord called him.

The first was his own personal unworthiness; and that was removed by God's assurance, "Certainly I will be with thee" (Ex. iii. 11, 12). The second excuse was his inability to answer the Israelites if they should ask him, "Who sent you? What is his name?" And that was met by these far-reaching words, "I AM THAT I AM: Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Ex. iii. 13-15). The third excuse was that the people would not believe him, but would say that the Lord had not appeared unto him; and God took that stumbling-block out of his way by showing him two miracles which he was to perform in Egypt (Ex. iv. 1-9). Driven thus from all the outworks which he had so skilfully thrown up, Moses falls back on his first difficulty—his own incompetency (Ex. iii. 10-17). The Lord met this plea by reminding him that he was not sending him in his own strength.

Moses was sufficiently equipped. A rod constituted his visible means. God made it sufficient. And so when we engage in anything which has for its end the glory of Christ and the welfare of humanity, we may rely on His co-operation. Do we need anything more?

Closet Promise.—He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.—Isa. xl. 29.

"Oh! wonderful Thou art!

Too wonderful for me is such great love, Shining in such a heart

Like sunbeams from above. How rich am I! yea, all things I possess—

Peace, joy, life, strength, and perfect righteousness.

Jehovah shows Himself, and gives to me All my desire. Look, trembling soul! and see

On what a treasury thy want may call— 'I AM thine all in all.'"