Psalm 78:19-20

Psalm 78:19-20

Can God do it?

Questions! Questions! Questions! “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness? Can He give us bread? Can He supply meat for His people?” These questions were asked more than once by the people and the answer, quite plainly is, “Yes He can!”

Before we think a little bit more about the questions, just look at their admission of what the Lord had already done for His people. It was God who struck the rock. It was God who made water gush out. And the water flow was not just enough to fill up the pots and pans of 2 million people for a day or two. No! God gave them streams of water, that flowed abundantly and stayed with them on their travels! What a God! As we saw in v15-16, He is able to make streams flow into and out of our lives too, if we surrender to Him.

“So much for the water supply” say the Israelites, “but can He provide us with bread or, even better, meat?” These questions were not unreasonable if the people were really hungry, but it is not their hunger pains that the Lord God is angry about, it is the fact that the people do not trust Him. They are asking questions that do not need to be asked. Of course, He will provide. Of course, He knows their needs. Of course, He will not let them starve in the desert. Do they not yet know this?

Are we guilty of bitter complaints against the Lord when He fails to provide what we want, when we want it? Is the cause of our complaint more to do with our lack of faith than His ability and willingness to supply? As we often say to one another, “Be careful what you ask for!”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more