F.B. MEYER
“Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? So they did eat, and were well filled.”
Psalm 78:19, 20, 29
This is always the cry of unbelief, Can God? Whilst the triumphant assertion of faith is: God can. What a difference is wrought by the collocation of words! Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? God can spread a table, even in the wilderness, and in the presence of our enemies our cup cam overflow. Can he give bread also? He can satisfy the desire of every living thing, by the opening of His hand. Canst thou do anything for us; our child is grievously possessed of the devil? If thou do anything for us, our child is grievously possessed of the devil? If thou do anything for us, our child is grievously possessed of the devil? If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
The wanderings of the Israelites for forty years were due to the fact that they looked at their difficulties and questioned is God could overcome them. Amongst the people, only Caleb and Joshua looked away from the Canaanites and their fortified cities to Him who had brought them where they were and was pledged to extricate them. Some people speak of Giants with a capital G and forget to magnify the power of God. What wonder that they account themselves as grasshoppers and lose heart! Let us not forget that we are sons and daughters of God, “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Compare Num. 13:33 and Rom. 8:17).
Look back on the past; see what God has done for you; remember He is pledged to finish what He has begun. If He gave water, He can certainly give bread.
“They did eat and were well filled.” When we are poor and needy, we are inclined to humble prayer. But if suddenly our lot is changed and there us abundance instead of poverty, how often there is a change in our demeanor. We are apt to become self-indulgent and forgetful of the needs of the world. Instead of remembering that we are still God pensioners, we magnify ourselves as though we were exclusively owners. Probably this is why God keep some of us in poverty, for no greater temptation could befall us than to find ourselves with riches. In this way he answers our daily prayer, “Lead us not into temptation!”
Prayer: We thank Thee our heavenly father, for the new mercies of each returning day, for all that Thou hast given to us, and not less for that which Thou dost withhold. May we be receptive of all things that pertain to life and godliness. AMEN.
