Yu cain’t never tell what yore ootfit is until it’s tried.”
–Zane Grey (The Trail Driver)
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
–Psalm 50:15 (NKJV)
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“It is hoped we shall never live to see a time when the miracles of our redemption shall be forgotten; when the return of Jesus Christ from heaven shall be despaired of; and when people shall fabricate a new philosophical deity for them to worship, instead of the God of their ancestors, to whom glory has been ascribed from generation to generation.”
–George Horne
How quickly we forget! Oh, that we never forget what the Lord has done for us. Let us always be thankful. But, that is what this portion of Psalm 106 is about–people forgetting. If people forget the Lord and what He has done for His people, then the next thing is to find a false god. It may be an idol, money, fame, career, success, pleasure, or any number of things that we put in the place of the Lord.
13 — They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel,
14 — But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.
15 — And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
16 — When they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD,
17 — The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, and covered the faction of Abiram.
18 — A fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
19 — They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molded image.
20 — Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 — They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 — Wondrous works in the land of Ham, awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 — Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them. (NKJV)
If you find yourself with “leanness” of your soul, check who/what you are serving. When we don’t seek the Lord, He will not easily be found. Then there is that tendency to rely upon ourselves, our job, or to escape into pleasure and entertainment. The people here became tired of the monotony of the same routine day in and day out. They wanted more “tasty food.” They desired more, hmm, similar to Adam and Eve. They had everything but one thing, and what did they do? They desired more. God didn’t let this slide by for He gave them over to something that made them sick, a “wasting disease.”
The people grumbled and complained. They became impatient. So impatient that they decided to make their own god. We think that God is slow to act sometimes, so what do we do? We go to the god of self, or of money, or of credit, or of… Where was their trust, ah, but hold on, then we must ask when we find ourselves doing the same thing–where is our trust? And think of the foolishness–a golden calf, that is what brought them out of Egypt and displayed power through the plagues and the parting of the Sea. It reminds me of a Psalm, “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4) Yet God cares, He is mindful of man for man was made in His image. Man, the fool, has been offered salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Redemption is possible. Yet so many refuse, they are like Dathan and Abiram.
We put aside our thoughts of God unless we direly need Him. We forget His blessings, His miracles in our lives. We forget that He promised that He will come again for those who are looking for His appearing. Are we looking to a cow for our answer, or do we look heavenward from when our Savior will soon come? I would encourage you this Thanksgiving to remember what God has done for you. Count your blessings and be thankful for what you have. A solemn note–they could be taken away. Thank God Moses stood in the breach–thank God that Jesus came to stand in the breach.
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.”
–Robert Robinson
———————————–
“It is hoped we shall never live to see a time when the miracles of our redemption shall be forgotten; when the return of Jesus Christ from heaven shall be despaired of; and when people shall fabricate a new philosophical deity for them to worship, instead of the God of their ancestors, to whom glory has been ascribed from generation to generation.”
–George Horne
How quickly we forget! Oh, that we never forget what the Lord has done for us. Let us always be thankful. But, that is what this portion of Psalm 106 is about–people forgetting. If people forget the Lord and what He has done for His people, then the next thing is to find a false god. It may be an idol, money, fame, career, success, pleasure, or any number of things that we put in the place of the Lord.
13 — They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel,
14 — But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.
15 — And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
16 — When they envied Moses in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD,
17 — The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, and covered the faction of Abiram.
18 — A fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
19 — They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molded image.
20 — Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 — They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 — Wondrous works in the land of Ham, awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 — Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them. (NKJV)
If you find yourself with “leanness” of your soul, check who/what you are serving. When we don’t seek the Lord, He will not easily be found. Then there is that tendency to rely upon ourselves, our job, or to escape into pleasure and entertainment. The people here became tired of the monotony of the same routine day in and day out. They wanted more “tasty food.” They desired more, hmm, similar to Adam and Eve. They had everything but one thing, and what did they do? They desired more. God didn’t let this slide by for He gave them over to something that made them sick, a “wasting disease.”
The people grumbled and complained. They became impatient. So impatient that they decided to make their own god. We think that God is slow to act sometimes, so what do we do? We go to the god of self, or of money, or of credit, or of… Where was their trust, ah, but hold on, then we must ask when we find ourselves doing the same thing–where is our trust? And think of the foolishness–a golden calf, that is what brought them out of Egypt and displayed power through the plagues and the parting of the Sea. It reminds me of a Psalm, “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4) Yet God cares, He is mindful of man for man was made in His image. Man, the fool, has been offered salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Redemption is possible. Yet so many refuse, they are like Dathan and Abiram.
We put aside our thoughts of God unless we direly need Him. We forget His blessings, His miracles in our lives. We forget that He promised that He will come again for those who are looking for His appearing. Are we looking to a cow for our answer, or do we look heavenward from when our Savior will soon come? I would encourage you this Thanksgiving to remember what God has done for you. Count your blessings and be thankful for what you have. A solemn note–they could be taken away. Thank God Moses stood in the breach–thank God that Jesus came to stand in the breach.
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.”
–Robert Robinson