Deuteronomy 1:9

Moses here attributes the appointment of the judges to his own suggestion… That dear and most honoured servant of God felt the burden of the congregation too heavy for him, and it was indeed very heavy. Yet we know well that the grace of God was more than enough for the need. What is more, that grace could act as well by one man as by seventy.

"At that time I said to you, 'I am not able to bear you by myself'" — surely not; what mere mortal could? But God was there to be counted on for the need of every hour — "The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. (May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as He has promised you!)" Lovely parenthesis! Exquisite breathing of a large and lowly heart!

Moses did not want his words "I am not able to bear you by myself" to be misunderstood. So he added a gracious wish: may the LORD, the God of their fathers, make them a thousand times as many as they are, and bless them as He has promised. These beautiful words still breathe the warmth of the loving heart of Moses, and they also express his faith in the promise of the LORD.

In all this we see Moses stepping back from a post of honour. The responsibility was immense, but faith would own that God was more than enough for it. He was not asked to bear them alone, for God was with him. They were not too heavy for God. It was He who was bearing them; Moses was only the instrument… This is where the servants of Christ keep failing. The failure is all the more dangerous because it looks like humility. Shrinking from heavy responsibility seems like distrust of self and deep lowliness of spirit. But the only question to ask is this: has God laid that responsibility on me? If so, He will be with me in carrying it, and with Him beside me I can carry anything. With Him, the weight of a mountain is nothing; without Him, the weight of a feather is crushing.

Here lay the secret of much of the "weight" and the "burden." They could not agree among themselves. There were controversies, arguments and questions. Who was equal to these things? What human shoulder could sustain such a burden? How different it might have been with them! Had they walked lovingly together, there would have been no cases to decide, and therefore no need of judges to decide them.

Where the Holy Spirit is working, one instrument is as good and as effective as seventy; and where He is not working, seventy are worth no more than one. Let the lonely servant take comfort and courage. As long as he has the presence and power of the Holy Spirit with him, he need not complain of his burden or wish the work were shared. If God honours a man by giving him a great deal of work to do, let him rejoice in it and not grumble. If he grumbles, he can quickly lose that honour.

It was failure on his part when he complained of his burden… May we think here of the great burden-bearer, our Lord, who never fails His people and who never complains. We can cast our burdens and cares on Him, and we shall always find that He cares for us.