DCLM Daily Manna 2023: DCLM Daily Manna 9 December 2023: Don’t Provoke God
KEY VERSE: “Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” – (Psalm 78:19)
TEXT: Psalm 78:10-20 (KJV)
10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
Negative comportment in times of hardship leads to consequences of a worse nature, as the wandering Israelites learnt in the wilderness during their journey to the land promised them by God. They were impatient with Him when the “light” challenges of hunger and thirst came. They fretted and asked blasphemous questions that suggested that God could no longer take care of the basic needs of the millions He had saved from Egypt.
They lived with a short memory that failed to remind them of the power that freed them from cruel Egyptian servitude, commanded the Red Sea to part for them, brought them water from the rock and fed them in their millions, young and old, with food from heaven. The same Lord also fought their wars for them and prevented the enemy nations from annihilating them. Certainly, these were reflective of the unfathomable sovereignty of a Deity capable also of saving them from hunger and thirst. The unbelief of the Israelites provoked the Lord.
He threatened to disown them. At times, they were defeated by smaller neighbours. On other occasions, they suffered leanness rather than enjoying fatness. Their thoughtless reaction to the wilderness challenges brought more sorrow than the problems they grumbled about and did not trust the Lord to take care of.
It pleases the Lord when, in the midst of transient need, we show gratitude for the good things He has done and continues to do in our lives. We should develop a retentive memory that recollects when He “remembered us in our low estate” (Psalm 136:23). That is the stage when we should praise and serve Him, instead of confronting Him with complaints and murmurs.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: When in need, pray to God; do not murmur.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Obadiah
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Don’t Provoke God – by Pastor W.F Kumuyi
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Daily Manna 9 December 2023
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