This note is the "Sequel" as it were to my other note on here entitled " A stone's throw from the Israelites of Moses' day."
I have been reading in Psalm 78 for the past week for my devotions. This is a psalm of Asaph and he reflects on Israel's complaining in the wilderness
and states very clearly in vs. 19 the seriousness of complaining in that
it is speaking against God. But he also states God's reaction to Israel's complaining. In that though they complained He still provided for their needs and not only that but He provided them to the fill, they had the exact amount they needed as seen in verses 22-25:
22. Because they did not believe in God,
And did not trust in His salvation.
23. Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
And opened the doors of heaven,
24. Had rained down manna on them to eat,
And given them of the bread of heaven.
25. Men ate angels’ food;
He sent them food to the full.
I don't know about you but if I were God I would have just taken them out first thing that they started complaining, forget sending them manna! I would have stated the fact that I have lead them up to this point all the way out of Egypt, and that I had parted the red sea and just get angry at them. But I am no different than them! In fact as stated in my last note I am worse than them! For I have it WAY better than they did and yet I complain more than they did and not just for daily needs like food and water! I too like them forget the works that God has done, they forgot that God delivered them from Pharaoh, they forgot all about God's glory and power displayed through the plagues. They forgot His leadership through the wilderness (Ten Commandments, the pillar of fire and the cloud that lead them.)
But I too forget God's works; I too choose to not live in the light that God sent His son to die for me! I choose not to live in the light of about just who I serve! You see every time I complain I not only speak against God, but I also am choosing not to live in the light of all I have been given. It is like as if I am right at the foot of the cross, with Christ dying and suffering there for my sin, and all I do is look at Him and say "I don't care, because I don't have what I want and you dying is not enough, I want MORE."
And as I have been reading through this passage i have been convicted over and over again about my complaining. It has literally been a spiritual spanking for me everyday! And it has been exactly what I have needed, because I never saw complaining as serious, and I never realized how much I complain! I do it all the time 24/7, and it comes WAY too easy for me. I praise the Lord for bringing this to the forefront, because complaining is serious and something that I am steeped knee deep in!
So I have saw that the Lord provided for the Israelites needs by sending them manna ( bread like substance) but He also sent them what they desires. The God I serve not only supplies for the needs of His children but also their wants!! He is so intimately aware of what I go through that He not only knows my needs but He also knows my desires…my wants.
After the Israelites had been eating Manna for awhile they got tired of the "same ole, same ole" so they wanted some meat. So they complained again and so God sent them meat, He sent quail to them Psalm78:27-30a:
27. He also rained meat on them like the dust,
Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas;
28. And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29. So they ate and were well filled,
For He gave them their own desire.
30. They were not deprived of their craving,
Though they complained, He not only provided for their needs but also their desires. But the end of verse 30 reveals that complaining does anger Him.
And He did punish them. And if He thought that their complaining was serious and punished them, how much more serious is mine? Because as I stated I have it way better than the Israelites and yet I complain more! Psalm 78:30-31:
30.They were not deprived of their craving;
But while their food was still in their mouths,
31 The wrath of God came against them,
And slew the stoutest of them,
And struck down the choice men of Israel.
He struck them down! And though He may not do this to me, it does not mean that He could not! My life is totally in the hands of an almighty God who at any moment could call me home, should this not affect the things I do and say? Should I not more readily fear Him? Should I not want to please Him? And not just to keep Him "happy, so that I won't get struck down" but rather to be able to know that He can use me here on earth and that I am of use to Him here on earth, for this is the only chance on this earth that I have to serve Him. Should I not be making the most of it?
God's frown was not enough to keep the Israelites from wrong and His smile was not enough to compel them to do right, thus He was left with no choice but to strike them down. Though I have been worse than they in my complaining, may I not continue in it. May God’s frown be enough to keep me from wrong and His smile enough to do right! May I learn from their mistakes and strive for better, for God’s glory!
These verses also show that God does not miss anything; I cannot "hide" my complaining from God for He knows me better than I know myself.
He heard the Israelites; He knew what was in their hearts. He knew that they thought they deserved better than what He had given, but the truth is they did not even deserve what they had been given. And I am no better or any different than they!
And after reading of the seriousness of complaining, and of the Lord showing me that I am worse toward Him than the Israelites were, it has been wonderful in that I am more able to correct my life, because I can see my faults…my shortcomings.
You see for this past week in Psalm 78, it has been like getting up every morning and looking in the mirror (the mirror being God’s word___), and the more I have looked the uglier I began to look (in that I realized and my eyes were opened to the seriousness of my complaining)
He has revealed my matted hair and all of my blemishes that I have just been letting grow and have neglected to take care of. And when looking in the mirror of God’s word and seeing all these problems I was shocked that I had been walking around like that and did not even notice or care or try to change it ( for I was not really trying to change my complaining because I never even realized how much I complained!!)
But today was especially wonderful because God gave me the brush and facial cleanser to clean myself up!!
For Psalm 78: 34- 35 reads:
34. When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
And at first glance one might think “How in the world did you get an application for complaining from these verses?” (Or maybe you like I saw it at first glance ;)
You see in verse 34 it states the first way that I turn from complaining. First it shows that I have to return. It says that “they returned” (vs. 34b). So I see that I have to acknowledge that by my complaining I have wandered from the Lord, I have disobeyed Him and sinned against Him. And thus I must confess and ask His forgiveness and by confessing I “return” as it were to Him. I must acknowledge that complaining is a sin, and take it for the serious matter that it is.
The second way is also found in verse 34b. You see complaining is Satan’s counterfeit (like all sins are) of a good virtue that God’s REAL DEAL.
And what is the opposite of complaining (the Counterfeit)?? Contentedness, or an attitude of gratitude is (these are God’s REAL DEAL). And how do we have an attitude of gratitude?
By seeking God whole heartedly!! You see when I am seeking “things” or anything besides God and His will then we are complaining because we cannot always get the temporal “things” that we want or think we need.
But when God consumes my life, in that I desire and want only what He desires and wants me to have, then my complaining ceases for He truly fills every gap, every need and even sometimes my desires (that is when they are aligned to His).
And finally the third way to overcome complaining is by remembering that I do not even deserve what I have and by choosing to keep before my eyes and in my mind the fact that God has redeemed me (the greatest need I have.) and also the fact that HE is ALL I will ever need verse 35 “Then they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer”
I must choose to be satisfied with God and God alone! I must rest in the fact that “There might be days where I have NO ONE ( people) and NOTHING ( material things) at ALL but GOD and that is ALL I will ever NEED.”
I must allow God to be enough for I do not even deserve Him!
I have looked in the Mirror of God’s word, He has revealed my problems, the matted hair, the blemishes, but He has also given me a brush and facial cleanser, may I USE THEM! May I not go away unchanged!
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” James 1:22-24
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