Num 10:35+36, Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, "Rise up, O Lord! And let Thine enemies be scattered, And let those who hate Thee flee before Thee." And when it came to rest, he said, "Return Thou, O Lord, To the myriad thousands of Israel." 
    	In this morning’s reading, we are given the scene wherein the Children of Israel were fully prepared to march forth and conquer the Promised Land. All the preparation had been done over the previous 11 months. The Tent of Meeting with all its utensils and furniture had been completed. The priestly order had been sanctified and the Levites had been cleansed and consecrated. The Ark of the Lord had been constructed. The tribal order of encampment and march had been instituted and the people themselves had been prepared.
	All the necessary sacrifices had been done, the Passover observed, the feasts and festivals accomplished. The rag tag escapees from slavery in Egypt had been coalesced into a nation ready for their inheritance. All was set for the people to go forward, and that was what the Lord then did. He led them with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. When He knew the people were prepared, He guided them in a path that protected them from the fortified cities of the Egyptians to the north to the soft underbelly of the nations inhabiting the Promised Land. They became the nation whose God was the Lord.
	In this context, then, we have the words of Moses at each instance as the Ark, representing the Divine Presence of God set forth every time of movement, as well as the words proclaimed every time the Ark of the Covenant was settled down. These were not words from Moses that became just ritually spoken expressions as were so many mantras throughout the nations of the pagan deities. 
This was the heart-felt assurance and knowledge that God was going before His people each day, and was protecting them each night. It reminded the nation, as a whole, exactly Who was going before them in the pillar of cloud and fire. It also proclaimed to all the surrounding realms that they were coming against the One, True, Living, Lord God Almighty Who had brought forth this people from the most powerful nation of that day, Egypt. This new nation, under the banner of the Lord, would wreck havoc and desolation upon any who tried to stop His mighty Hand of deliverance in operation.  
	There was assurance and there was the deliberate statement of fact in the words that Moses proclaimed. This was not a wishful pronouncement at the beginning and ending of each day’s march. It was a certain and confident decree of Who God was and how He was going before His people unto the fullness of His promises. These decreed pronouncements were expressing the very heart of why this nation was even in existence. It was the testimony of the One True Living Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth going forth through His nation’s march. They would only go as He directed and they would go where He directed through His Omnipotence and His Omniscience with His Omnipresence.
	The Psalmist, in Ps 68:1-3, picked up this theme of the Sovereignty of The Lord keeping His people in the midst of their opponents and adversaries. Ps 68:1-3, Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; And let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God. But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness. 
Here again is that confident assurance in the reality that God will go before His people. He will deal with the wicked and cause them to be utterly defeated and scattered in the smoke and mirrors of their deceptions. Accordingly, the people of God need to be glad in Him and count on Him and trust Him and rejoice with gladness in the fact that God rules and overrules in all the affairs of mankind. Nothing is beyond the scope of His glorious work in the fulfillment of His plan and purpose. No one can thwart Him and no one can remove His people from Him. This is cause for utmost joy and thanksgiving in the truth that God cares for His people.
The Psalmist also used the phraseology of the Lord arising to the defense of His people, scattering abroad those who would stand against the progression of the Lord. In that reality, the people of the Lord are to go forth with the confident knowledge that He goes before us. Accordingly, we are to be characterized by rejoicing and gladness in Him. That joy is not set in our enemies’ demise, as is so often the gloating attitude of this realm. No, it is fully and concretely founded on the truth that God is The Lord God Almighty and that He has chosen such as ourselves and He has His mighty hand upon us for His name’s sake! We rejoice and are glad because we belong to Him and He loves us so much that He will not let anything snatch us from His protective hold. Our physical lives may be forfeit in this realm, but our eternal security rests with the Lord God Creator of Heaven and Earth and the One Who gives us life in Jesus Christ. For that, we are to rejoice and exult in Him.
	 Again hear the Psalmist, in Ps 20:5-8, as he revels in the full measure of the certainty that we need no other defense but the Lord! No other hope but the Lord! He is our victory in every situation, big or small. 
Ps 20:5-8, We will sing for joy over your victory, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven, With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stood upright. 
    	As the people of God, we should be honoring and reverencing Him to an increasing measure in our hearts, and our homes, and our corporate fellowship. He is the Altogether Mighty One in Whom we place our everything. Nothing is outside the realm of His protective hand. We often forget that He is the Victorious One, and we often tend to set aside His triumphant Being as we are muddling around in the everyday dealings of this realm. It is so easy to just lose the knowledge that everything that comes our way first comes through Him. He allows trials and circumstances and dilemmas to arise around and within us in order to build up our earnest faith and trust in Him. This is a lesson that needs repetition because we are so careless and so thoughtless at times as to in Whom we place our trust as He goes before us.
	Please listen to Ps 24:7-10, and let the regal sovereignty of God be instilled deep into the inner core of both our minds and our hearts. He is the King of Glory and, as His people, we should be honoring Him in that capacity at all times. 
Ps 24:7-10, Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah. 
	There is no way to truly honor and worship God if we do not know and trust Him as the King of glory, strong and mighty, the Lord of hosts. It is because of His Supreme Sovereignty over all creation, that we can honestly and vibrantly and rejoicingly join our hearts together in the earnest praise and adoration for Who He is and all that He has done!
	Again share together in the Psalmist’s declaration as recorded in Ps 90:11-17, as the Lord works in the lives of His people to cause us to understand and to appreciate, through all the trials and tribulations of life, that God still reigns supremely and eternally.  For that fact, we should give Him praise and glory. 
Ps 90:11-17, Who understands the power of Thine anger, And Thy fury, according to the fear that is due Thee? So teach us to number our days, That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom. Do return, O Lord; how long will it be? And be sorry for Thy servants. O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days Thou hast afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. Let Thy work appear to Thy servants, And Thy majesty to their children. And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And do confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.     
	Again the Psalmist uses the call to God to arise in Ps 132:8+9. This time, however, it is to arise to His resting place, showing the fact that the Lord has accomplished His glorious work for His people. We are to rejoice in the certainty of that truth and proclaim our joy in songs of worship and adoration unto God. 
Ps 132:8+9, Arise, O Lord, to Thy resting place; Thou and the ark of Thy strength. Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness; And let Thy godly ones sing for joy. 
The Prophet Isaiah joins in the encouragement unto the people of God to know that God goes before us, as recounted in Isa 31:1+2. Isa 31:1+2, Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord! Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster, And does not retract His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of the workers of iniquity. 
	There were often times, as recorded throughout the Old Testament, when panic would strike the kings of Israel and they would send for help from other nations as they saw huge armies being arrayed against them. They would put their trust in the horses and the chariots, particularly of Egypt, once the most powerful nation of the known world. But the prophet is reminding us that our trust must always be in the Lord God Almighty! As powerful as our enemies may seem, as hopeful may appear our deliverance through the means of men and horses and human reckoning, the truth is that it is God Who rules and overrules all. 
There is no power of man or beast that can stand against the Omnipotence of God. There is no plan or intrigue of the human mind which can overthrow or thwart the Omniscient plan and purpose of God. When He arises against those who would seek to destroy His people, that army or nation, no matter how large, no matter how advanced in technology, no matter how rich in resources will never frustrate or prevent God’s divinely appointed operation from coming into full fruition. As much as man may try to stop the Hand of God, it will always and ultimately be evidenced that God was directing it all. 
It harkens us back to Gen 50:20, where Joseph sought to allay his brother’s fears that he would kill them for their treachery because they had sold him into slavery. The truth was that God used that treachery to bring forth a mighty nation of His Own Chosen people. Gen 50:20, "And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. 
We can fully count on God to do whatever is necessary for mankind to come into line with His will. Nation may rise against nation, but only under the direction of the accomplishment of God’s divine order. This was so evident throughout the Old Testament as God moved nations, like chess pieces, in order to establish the exact time and place for the birth of our Savior, His only Begotten Son. Nothing was happenstance, it was all under the eternal plan of God to bring forth the complete salvation of those who would respond to His call in Christ.
We conclude with the reinforcement of the Hand of God arising for the purpose of expressing His heart of everlasting redemption in Isa 51:9-11, if you would care to read along with me. 
Isa 51:9-11, Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not Thou who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon? Was it not Thou who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over? So the ransomed of the Lord will return, And come with joyful shouting to Zion; And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. 
This is the heart of God expressed in His own people. So the ransomed of the Lord will return, And come with joyful shouting to Zion; And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, And sorrow and sighing will flee away. 
Many well-meaning Christians see this as the way we will be in heaven, in the great by and by. However, this whole passage of our consideration was that the people of God would set forth every morning with the assurance and the knowledge and the honor and the praise unto God for the fact that He was going before them to make the way of their path in the wilderness. Then, each evening, He would manifest His presence within their camp as their Provider, their Comforter, their Safety, and their Lord. They were to rejoice and be glad in Him each day as are we today, tomorrow, and yes, forever. So be it!
Then it came about when the ark set out that Moses said, "Rise up, O Lord! And let Thine enemies be scattered, And let those who hate Thee flee before Thee." And when it came to rest, he said, "Return Thou, O Lord, To the myriad thousands of Israel." Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Gen 2:2+3. And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Amen.