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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Psalm 95:7-9
For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen what I did.
The longer I remain in ministry, the more I realise how accurate God is.
We are all like sheep. David gave us the picture in Psalm 23 and in many other instances, God reminds us that we are like sheep. Here again, we are encouraged to bow down in worship, and kneel before our Maker. Worship Him because “we are the people of His pasture” and “the flock under His care.”
How much He loves us. How helpless we are without Him. We need Him to lead us to fresh water and grass – to provide for us – to love and care for us. We need Him to protect us from disasters – our own foolishness, natural hazards and our enemies. But sheep need to respond to their master’s voice. If they don’t, they will end up lost, cast or diseased. They cannot fend for themselves. They need the constant attention of the shepherd.
So do we. So often I find in counselling, the problems began when the sheep walked away from the Shepherd. As that great old country and western gospel song said,
“If you feel away from Jesus – guess who moved?”
Our problem is that we keep thinking that we know best, go our own way and then are usually too proud to ask for help. As all counsellors know, there is nothing you can do to help someone who refuses to be helped.
This Psalm looks at the Children of Israel. Their delight at being freed from slavery in Egypt – their sheer relief at their escape from Pharaoh’s chariots by passing through the Red Sea on dry land. Praise and worship follows because of God’s almighty love, care, protection and miraculous preservation.
But – “they came first to Marah and then to Meribah” (see Exodus 15:22-25). Marah had water but it was bitter so they complained and God made it sweet. Did that satisfy them? Did it prove that God loved them and was their provider? It should have done. But God had to provide needed manna and quails because they grumbled that they had no food (see Exodus 16:11-15). But isn’t that the problem with miracles – they are great but once they start, they must continue or we no longer see or trust God?
They moved on from Marah to Meribah but their heart attitude hadn’t changed one iota. There was no water there, so they grumbled and complained again. “Is God among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7) Had God not already proved that? Had He not done incredible miracles in front of their very noses? So why the doubts?
They didn’t want God – they wanted a genie or some ‘Father Christmas’ who would give them whatever they wanted at the click of their fingers. But Jehovah is not like that. He is Holy, Holy, Holy.
Tell me, do you worship a god made in man’s image or the True Creator, Almighty Holy One? Remember – He is our Shepherd. We can trust Him to know what is best for us. And He will never leave us or let us down.
Rather than complaining and grumbling, we should thank and praise Him for His grace and goodness. Don’t you agree?
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