After rejecting God’s provision for them, the Israelites rejected God’s punishment for them and took off in pursuit of the Promised Land they had previously rejected! God’s mercy extended far enough that He didn’t destroy them all as He had Nadab and Abihu or the grumblers who perished at Taberah (v. 11:1-3), but no further. He did not relent this time, and they were stuck with the consequences of their choices.
One of sin’s effects on us is to harden us to sin. We grow used to our sin and it doesn’t offend us. We feel comfortable committing acts we never dreamed we could commit. That effect keeps us from seeing sin for the awful thing it is. The Israelites probably did not intend to show contempt for God with their complaints and turning away from the Promised Land, but that’s how God saw it. His viewpoint is the only one that matters.
Psalm 90 has felt like balm to my soul. Moses would have written this psalm during his forty years in the desert suffering not because of his own choices, but because of the people’s rebellion. In the midst of some painful and difficult situations of my own I appreciate the reminder that life isn’t easy for any of us, and we probably all have more difficult days than easy days in our lives. So why do we expect God to grant us better than that, or worse yet, expect to achieve better by our own efforts? Moses asked not for all glad days, but for more glad days than bad days.
This is probably important for us, because our enemy tries to convince us that a life of constant glad days is a realistic expectation, which keeps us striving instead of accepting from God and submitting to His will for our lives. Striving prevents us from ordering our days rightly. Rightly-ordered days each start with seeking God, being satisfied in His love and choosing to rejoice (there’s that word again!).
Can you imagine sitting in the desert, of all places, forty years with nothing to do, knowing that you could have been enjoying the fruits of your labor in an abundant land instead of twiddling your thumbs in that drab place? Those forty years would not have been glad days, but days of affliction. Yet Moses anticipated that God’s satisfying them with His love would result in their singing for joy and being glad all of the days of those forty years, and beyond. Can you expect the same in days of affliction?
Every morning we need to seek God. Moses didn’t admonish the people to be satisfied with God’s unfailing love; he asked God to satisfy them with His unfailing love. Can you choose to ask the same – each morning – and trust God to do it? I have placed this little gem before me so that I will remember to ask it each morning until it has become my habit.