Blessed People Deuteronomy 33:29, NIV Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places. I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Blessed People,” which is based on Deuteronomy 33:29. Please repeat after me: Blessed people, Blessed people. Who are truly happy? Many people in this world are seeking for happiness. Most people think that happiness comes through worldly wealth, fame, and power; and therefore strive for these things above all else. They strive to accumulate more material wealth, seek higher positions, and aspire to worldly power. However, possessing many worldly things will not bring you true happiness. Some people give up their lives even when they are on the top of all worldly things. These people help us to realize that worldly things cannot be the conditions for true happiness. True happiness comes from the satisfaction of our souls. Humankind is a spiritual being; therefore true happiness comes to us when we accept the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior. We cannot find happiness anywhere else. We can find true happiness only when we dwell in Jesus Christ. First, I would like to speak about people who are blessed in the Lord. We should not forget that man was created by God. Those who do not know God say that this world accidentally came into being. They say that a life accidentally came to exist about a billion years ago and it kept on evolving into the world we see today. This is not true. Nothing comes into being accidentally. Every existing thing has its creator. Nothing can exist accidentally. More than anything, we should never forget that man was created by God and became a spiritual being when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. We will find true happiness only when we come to God because humankind was created as a spiritual being. We can enjoy true happiness only in the Lord. We are blessed only when we dwell in the Lord. We can never be happy when we go away from God. A life away from God is filled with hopelessness, sorrow, unhappiness, pain, and agony. We must therefore go back to God our Creator. There is only one way that leads us to God. We can approach God by accepting Jesus Christ in our hearts. When we come to God through salvation, we begin to know Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life; and we are progressively transformed into truly happy people in Him. We must therefore find true happiness in the Lord and must strive to live for the glory of God throughout our lives. Today’s Scripture says: “Blessed are you, O Israel!” Why was Israel blessed? Israel was happy and blessed because God specifically chose Israel. God chose Israel out of many nations and profusely blessed them. That is why Scripture called Israel blessed. Christians, by God’s grace, are considered as spiritual Israelites. We are blessed in the Lord Jesus as spiritual Israelites. We can attain true happiness by the grace of God not by our efforts. We are neither saved by our endeavor nor good acts. We are saved solely by the grace of God. We are saved and have become the children of God by the grace of God. We have become spiritual Israel and as such we are living a new life with happiness and God’s blessings. We used to live in hopelessness, sorrow, and pain before believing in Jesus. There was no joy in our lives. We end up feeling hopeless and empty even when we possess many worldly things. We do not know why but God has chosen us and called us His children by His enormous grace. We should be grateful and joyous. We have become blessed people in the Lord. We must therefore always confess, “I am blessed in the Lord. My Lord is with me. He leads my steps throughout my life. I am changed. I am a new creation.” Hallelujah! We must always confess our faith in the Lord this way. It is not important what quality of life we had before believing in Jesus Christ. It does not matter what failures, wounds, pain, and agony we experienced before believing in Jesus Christ. We are totally transformed after believing in Jesus. We are new creations now. 2 Corinthians 5:17 say: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” “The old has gone, the new has come!” What has past has past. Our sad and tormented past has long gone. Our past of failures is behind us. We are new creations in the Lord now. We are blessed children of God. Art Linkletter is a Canadian born radio and television personality. He was found abandoned as an infant on the steps of a church and then adopted by a preacher. He must have been raised as a good Christian in the house of a preacher. Mr. Linkletter had good speaking skills and was very adept at interviewing people. He became a well-known talk show personality. Mr. Linkletter was especially famous for interviewing children on children’s TV programs. He was invited to speak in many places. In 1955 Mr. Linkletter was the commentator on the opening day celebrations of Disneyland. He received honorary degrees from a number of universities. Mr. Linkletter turned away from the Lord when he became rich and famous. However, God used a whip of His love to bring Mr. Linkletter back to the grace of His love. While a student at UCLA, his 20-year-old daughter, Diane, jumped out of her apartment window and killed herself. Mr. Linkletter was stunned. His beloved daughter committed suicide at a most promising age. His sorrow and agony was beyond description. From his place of hopelessness and sorrow, he began to think upon the grace of God again. Mr. Linkletter came back to the Lord. Thereafter he traveled around giving his personal testimonies about God. True happiness does not lie in our success in this world, being famous and powerful. We can enjoy true happiness when we dwell in the Lord Jesus. We will find true happiness, true joy, and true satisfaction only when we abide in Jesus. As we abide in Christ, we will be filled with His grace and joy. We will live as blessed people in the Lord. As God’s shepherd David did not lack anything throughout his life. David confessed in Psalm 23:1: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” David looks back over his life in retrospect and records it like a memoir in Psalm 23. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” David also confesses the following in Psalm 34:9-10: “Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” David’s confession should also be our confession. “We do not lack anything in the Lord. We are truly blessed. Our life is filled with happiness, joy, and grace as saved, believing children of God through Jesus.” Hallelujah! Let us greet each other, saying, “We are blessed in the Lord.” We are truly blessed and happy. What made us blessed and happy? We are happy and blessed since we have received salvation from God. Second, I want to speak about people who received salvation from God. God has chosen and saved us out of innumerably many people on earth. The Israelites were delivered by the special grace of God after 430 years of slavery in Egypt. They must have been thrilled and overjoyed when they were delivered from the hands of the Egyptians. Our Korean spirit was almost exterminated after 36 hard years of Japanese control. Korea was in utmost pain during those years. The pain and sorrow of the Israelites must have been indescribable after 430 years of slavery in Egypt. Deuteronomy 33:29 says: “Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD?” The Bible emphasizes that there was absolutely no other people like Israel which was miraculously delivered after 430 years of slavery. It is true. The Israelites were deprived of all hope, joy, and happiness while they were living as slaves in Egypt for more than 400 years. However, God’s special grace delivered them from slavery through the Passover event. God then led the Israelites to Canaan, their promised land flowing with milk and honey. It was impossible for them to deliver themselves. It was the absolute grace of God that delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians. It was not because they were better than other people. God loved Israel, had mercy and delivered them. Deuteronomy 7:6-7 says: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” God chose Israel by His grace and blessed them; even though they were the fewest of all people, there was nothing they could boast off, and they did not deserve it. God delivered Israel from slavery. God did not save us because we are better than others, we deserved saving, or because He is proud of us. We are sinners before God. We are full of mistakes and shame. It was by the absolute grace of God that God chose us and adopted us as His children. We must give thanks to the Lord now that we have been saved due to the wonderful grace of God. John 3:16 declares great blessing of God. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Hallelujah! We have eternal life by believing in Jesus. We are blessed by God through our faith in Jesus. It is by the grace of God we have been saved. Paul explains it in Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Salvation is the gift of God. Hallelujah! How great the grace of God is! He saved us from the power of sin and death, and adopted us as His own children. People generally fear death. They tremble at the fear of death. On the other hand, Christians should not be afraid of death. We can live on earth with confidence, joy, and gratitude. Then when the Lord calls us home; we will go to eternal heaven, where there are no teardrops, worry, pain, or agony. We will live there with the Lord forever. We must always give thanks to the Lord for this wonderful grace. We must give thanks to the Lord over and over again. His grace is so great that we cannot thank God enough even with ten thousand tongues. Hymn No. 141 sings: “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe! Here, Lord, I give myself away; ’Tis all that I can do.” “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe! Here, Lord, I give myself away; ’Tis all that I can do.” This should be the confession of all those who are saved. Now that we are saved by believing in Jesus, now that we live in the wonderful grace of God, and now that we are blessed this much; we must live for the glory of God, overwhelmed by His grace. We must always ponder about the grace of the Cross and live in accordance with the will of the Lord, making resolutions to give glory to God. I pray that your life will be a life of devotion for the Lord. What is even more wonderful is that God does not only save us but continues to help us throughout our life. Third, I would like to speak about those who are helped by God. Deuteronomy 33:29 says: “He is your shield.” The Bible declares that God is our shield, protecting and helping us. A shield protects us from the attack of the enemy. When the enemy tries to defeat us with shooting arrows, slashing spears and swords; a shield protects us. God is our shield. He delivers and protects us from all trouble. The Israelites had to go through the desert after they were delivered from 430 years of slavery to the Egyptians. It was very hot during the day in the desert but God protected them from the sizzling sun with a pillar of cloud. It was freezing at night in the desert so God protected them from the cold with a pillar of fire. Hallelujah! God also protected the Israelites from vermin such as scorpions when they went through the desert. He led them to the promised land of Canaan, protected them from the attacks of the Amalekites. God keeps us, takes care of us, protects us, and leads us throughout our life. We have nothing to fear since the Lord is our shield. We have nothing to worry about. We need be neither dismayed nor frustrated. “The Lord helps me. The Lord is with me. Therefore, I am happy and blessed.” Hallelujah! We must have a positive self-image. When you wake up in the morning, look into the mirror, and say: “I will have a happy day in the Lord.” We must rejoice in the Lord and continually give thanks to Him. I read the following episode in a book. A guy was leaving a restaurant after eating a meal there. The waiter followed him to the door and said, “Have a nice day.” To everyone’s surprise, the man answered in anger: “A nice day! I am having the worst day. I am now outrageously upset.” The man could not even take the pleasantries of the waiter with good will. He was in a bad mood throughout the day. He met the pleasant waiter with raised anger and verbally shot at him, saying: “I am having the worst day of my life.” Our life cannot go smoothly if we have a negative self-image. We cannot have a good life. Therefore choose to have a positive self-image and say: “God has saved me. God is protecting me. God is always with me.” Hallelujah! We must proclaim every day: “I am happy and blessed. The Lord is with me. God is my helper and my shield.” Hallelujah! God helps us. He is always with us. He pours His enormous blessings upon us. Problems come to everyone from time to time. We often encounter trouble. The Lord nevertheless helps us. We must open our eyes of faith and lift up our eyes from despair. We must look to the Lord of love, the Lord of grace, and the Lord of blessings. Psalm 28:7 says: “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” Psalm 46:1 says: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” God said that He would be Abraham’s shield when He called him. Genesis 15:1 says: “After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’ ” Hallelujah! All God’s bible characters, without exception, were great through the help and guidance of God. We must believe and profess that the Lord is always with us throughout our lives. Rev. John Ortberg wrote a book entitled If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. Ortberg told the following story in his book: “One day I was walking with a few friends in Newport Beach, California. We went past a bar where a fight that was going on inside spilled out onto the street, like a scene out of an old Western. Three men were beating up one lone opponent, who was bleeding quite freely. The fight was so fierce that no one dared break it up. Somebody had to do something, so we got out of the boat. We spoke prophetically to them, ‘Why are you beating him up so fiercely? Cut it out now.’ Then I waited for my first fistfight since I became a member of the church deacon board. However, the thugs suddenly looked up at us with fear in their eyes and started to slink away. This caught me so much by surprise. Then I looked behind me. There I saw one of the biggest guys I had ever seen. I would guess the man stood about 6-foot-7 and weighed 250 pounds or so. He just stood there with muscles bulging. Thinking that he was with us, the thugs fled away.” Rev. Ortberg realized that God was always behind him. Hallelujah! Glory be to God! God is always with us. He helps us. He delivers us from all places of hopelessness. He pours overflowing joy, hope, and grace upon us. The God whom we believe and serve is the omnipotent and omniscient God. Nothing is impossible to Him. He will part the Red Sea in front of us when we believe in His omnipotence and omniscience. He will destroy the wall of Jericho; and fill our lives with marvelous miracles and grace. Trust in God alone when you go through a long tunnel of suffering no matter what kind of problems you may encounter, or how sad, painful, and agonizing the situation may be. The Lord is with us in the most devastating moment, upholding and leading us through. This is what David confessed in the following psalms: Psalm 23:4 says: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” “The Lord is with me. You are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 18:1-3 says: “I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.” Hallelujah! The Lord will deliver you from all despair. Fourth, God bestows us with wonderful victory. God gives us victory. Deuteronomy 33:29 says: “He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.” God is not only our shield but also our glorious sword, destroying all our enemies. God will pour His grace upon us, giving us victories in all the battles we fight. When we are with the Lord we will win 100 times out of 100 battles. On the other hand, we will end up with sorrow, pain, failure, and frustration without the Lord on our side. We must therefore live for the glory of God, believing and trusting in Him. The Lord will go ahead of us, destroying all our enemies, and blessing us with His marvelous blessings. Deuteronomy 31:3-4 says: “The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said. And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.” God will go ahead of us and destroy all the enemies before us. God closed the Red Sea after the Israelites crossed on dry land and destroyed the Egyptian army; which was the strongest army of those days. He also destroyed the Amalekites and the seven Canaanite tribes. We will encounter various enemies in our lives. We cannot defeat them with our own power. Our biggest enemy will be hopelessness of our mind. Sometimes people cannot endure when they are overwhelmed with hopelessness and fear. It is during these times that many people make wrong choices. Never give up no matter how depressing, painful, and sad your situation may be. You can endure and hold on to hope because God the Great Victor is with you. Moses gave the Israelites assurance when they stood in front of the Red Sea. Exodus 14:13-14 says: “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.’ ” “Stand firm! God will fight for us.” We may have problems, sorrow, and difficulties for a while. However in the end victory will be ours if we endure and march forward with faith. Romans 5:3-4 says: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” God goes ahead of us, destroying our enemies before us. He will help us overcome all our problems. Our enemies who came to attack us will kneel before us and surrender. We must trust in God alone if we want to gain victory in our warfare. Prayer is the way through which we show that we trust in the Lord. We must pray to God and commit our ways to Him. We must cry out to the Lord in prayer. Prayer is the only way through which weak humankind can approach the Almighty God. Dr. Roger Barrier was quoted as follows in his book Kingdom and the Power. “A demonic problem is always a prayer project. Prayer is the fundamental tool in overcoming the evil one. Prayer provides prior protection and a place to reaffirm who we are in Christ. Prayer provides offensive weapons to neutralize attacking spiritual forces. Prayer provides healing balm for recovery from inflicted spiritual wounds. No justifiable reason exists for Christians to be afraid of spiritual warfare. God has given us every tool necessary for overcoming the evil one.” Hallelujah! What kind of problems do you have now? What kind of trouble are you in now? God will perform miracles when you trust the Word of God and kneel down before the Lord in prayer. God’s helping grace will come upon you. God will stretch His mighty hands and do marvelous things for you. God who parted the Red Sea for the Israelites, will also part all devastating Red Seas before us. God who defeated the Amalekites for the Israelites will also defeat all our enemies. God who helped the Israelites cross the Jordan River will also help us cross our Jordan River. God who destroyed the wall of Jericho will also destroy all our problems like walls of Jericho. Trust in the Word of promise and march forward! Cry out to the Lord in prayer. March forward with faith. Miracles will be yours. God’s blessings will be yours. God’s grace will be yours. All problems, sorrow, pain, and difficulties are only temporary. They will soon pass. As we endure all our sufferings with endurance and patience and pray and cry out to the Lord; He will break our pride and disobedience, and heal all our mistakes. He will transform us into pure, refined gold so that we can become great tools for the work of God. He will make us into His precious children. Some people may say, “My suffering is too long for me.” Your blessings and grace will be proportionate to the length of your suffering. Therefore, no matter what kind of trouble or sorrow you may be in now; endure them with faith. You will possess the marvelous blessings and miracles that God has prepared for you when you overcome your suffering. You are blessed people in the Lord. You are happy in the Lord. You are bound to prosper. Now, it is time for you to proclaim with confidence: “I am blessed in the Lord. No one can take this blessing and happiness away from me. I am happy. I have been happy since the moment that I believed in Jesus. I am happy, now. I will be happy for the rest of my life.” I pray that you will enjoy this grace of assurance and confirmation in the name of the Lord. This is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we give our thanks to You. We are blessed in the Lord. We are blessed because we are saved by believing in Jesus. Non-Christians try to find happiness in the world, ending up with losing hope, being stuck in the middle of problems. On the other hand, as precious servants of the Lord, we can conquer all problems, pain, and hopelessness more than sufficiently, giving glory to God because we believe in Jesus. Lord, we give our thanks to You. We give praises and glories to You. Help us remember that we are blessed people in the Lord. Make us into Your great servants so that we will live for the glory of God. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 11