“Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in His promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.” Psalm 106:24-25
You know, it is tempting for us to look at the people of Israel, particularly as they wandered and grumbled in a desert for forty years, and wonder about their behavior. After being participants in the mind blowing events of the plagues and the Red Sea, how could they doubt God’s presence among them, God’s power, God’s concern, God’s plan for their lives? It is tempting to keep their behavior at a healthy distance, as if in its ancient context, it is wholly un-relatable to my own. But in seeking to believe that Israel’s actions are in complete contrast with mine, I repeatedly discover that I lie to myself. The behavior of the Israelites is still among us; at times, is it frustratingly close to home.
Though the events of Egypt could have similarly been held at a distance by the psalmist, the writer of Psalm 106 decided to remember the events of Israel’s past so as to see his present situation clearly. As if forging it in his memory, the psalmist speaks bluntly of Israel’s experience in the desert. “Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the LORD.” (106:24-25).
I wonder this morning, like many other mornings, what does it take to come to despise what once seemed promising? What would it take for us to refuse to believe the one thing we want to believe most? When hopes are dashed in trying places, I don’t believe their reaction in the desert is so far removed from our own. The Israelites were not unusually slow in understanding; they were no more stubborn than you or I am. But they were entirely disappointed; all they longed for seemed altogether unreachable…the promised Land; where is it? They could not believe that the wilderness was the way to Canaan. They could not and would not see how their current trouble was consistent with God’s love or could possibly work for good in the end. Who among us cannot at some point relate? This “blindness” distracts us from the true answers in the resurrection.
As the Israelites considered the long desert ahead they missed what God was doing because they were troubled by the unexpected. In these days after the resurrection, we must consider where and why we fall into similar patterns. Do we not still swing between being too uncomfortable to trust and too comfortable to believe? How do we guard against missing our deepest hope, though we fear the unexpected? And how do we not come to despise what once seemed promising, though we stand broken in the wilderness?
Like the psalmist, we stand poised to remember, seeing God in history, seeing ourselves, seeing today. Though I am tempted to keep the behavior of those who have gone before me at a distance, I am comforted by the proximity of God throughout their story, continually drawing them nearer, even in the desert. Though they grumbled and failed, God continued to lead them, in mercy breaking each idol they put before Him, prying from their hands the things that blocked their view of the promise God would not forget.
Praise the Lord that He keeps His promises to His people even when we struggle with belief which seems too often these days. Let us remember it is okay to pray like this, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” On those days when the distance seems too far and the mountain too high make this your prayer until you arrive at God’s destination for you and I.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
