Psalm
78:19 "Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God
furnish a table in the wilderness?"
The 78th Psalm is a great history lesson for Israel. It's also a great history
lesson for America. It's a great history lesson for you and me. The
writer was reminding the people of their past history WITH GOD. I'm going to
weave their history with our history today. America has a wonderful history
WITH GOD. God had provided every need for the people of Israel, beginning
with deliverance from a nation that restrained them from true worship of God.
America was delivered from a nation that restrained them from true worship of God.
Israel had to go through some hardships in order to get to the promised land.
But God delivered them through every situation and circumstance. The people who
were freed to come to America had to go through many hardships; yet, God
delivered them from them all.
God reminded them and us through this beautiful Psalm how He had miraculously
provided things such as these deliverances. He opened the Red Sea for them to
walk across on dry land. When they were thirsty, He provided water out of a
rock. When they were hungry, He gave them bread from heaven. The writer of the
Psalm refers to that as angels' food (Psalm 78:25) When they wanted meat to
eat, God caused quail to fall out of the sky. The account of that is very
interesting. It is found in the book of Numbers, chapter 11:18-20.
"Therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Ye shall
not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty
days; But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils..."
Moses questioned God about this. "Where will the meat come from? Do we
have enough cattle to provide for all these people? Shall all the fish of the
sea be provided for them?" He had no idea how God was going to meet
their lusts. God caused a wind to blow and the quail began to fall from the
sky. Quail lay on the ground a day's journey in every direction and 36 inches
deep. It took 2 days and a night to gather all the quail to eat.
The purpose for the history lesson here in Psalm 78 was to answer their
question that was based upon their unbelief: "Can God furnish a table in
the wilderness?" I have heard people make a certain statement that
makes me shake inside: "I don't know if God can even do that."
That question is definitely answered several times in the Word of God.
Nothing is impossible with God. He has shown that over and over to the nation
of Israel and to the nation of America. And I believe we all can say that He
has shown each of us in our lifetimes this wonderful truth. Jesus answered it
in Matthew 19:26, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things
are possible."
History has shown this to be true and yet we find so many people, even God's people, thinking the answer to America's problem will be found in the hierarchy of Washington D.C. In other words, too many people are placing confidence in man rather than God. Let us keep our history alive in our hearts and minds. Let us continue to be reminded of God's ability to deliver His people. I close with this statement from the Psalms, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." (Psalm 118:8)