Certain Power

Exodus 15:1-2, 17-18Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him”…17 “You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance - the place, O Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established. 18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
 
GOD’s people had experienced a great deliverance from Egypt’s slavery. Then the LORD God saved them from Egypt’s certain re-capture and death on the Red Sea’s shore. God’s 400-year-old promises to Jacob had come true! Genesis 35:11 “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.
      And how did God’s nation respond? They did what was good and right in God’s sight – what was righteous. Israel worshiped. Exodus 15:1-20 records how they sang the Song of Moses. Then we read Moses’ sister Miriam’s praise song in Exodus 15:21.
      But (And there’s always a “but”, isn’t there?) read on in Exodus 15, and you will see God’s people need water. What is their response? The singing stopped. Their complaints began. Exodus 15:24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
      Faith one day turns to fear and frustration the next day. How quickly they forgot God’s miraculous power. They did not remember what God had done. Righteous worship became wrongful blame. “Moses, God, what are you doing?”
      How would you answer their question? Would you tell them to drink of God’s power and love? Would you encourage them to continue to praise God, to call on his name in prayer and supplication? Would you remind them of what has done and how his purpose is to protect his nation?
      That’s what the psalmist did centuries after the exodus. See, for example, Psalms 47:1-3 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2 How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! 3 He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. Israel constantly and quickly turned from God, forgetting his benevolent power. The psalmist called for righteous worship of the Living God.
      What is your thirst today? Whether it is physical needs or emotional strength, remember Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. He taught us to seek what is righteous, to desire his truth and his commands. He commanded us to seek, know, remember and trust his truth for all aspects of our lives.
      This is the faith God required of the Jews to do that dry day in the desert. That’s what he wants from you today.
       
LIFE Link: Psalms 47:8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.