Exodus 15:1-27

The word that comes to mind as I read this passage is flip-flop.  How easy it is for our hearts to be overflowing with worship towards God because of His provision of victory in our lives and then a short time later we are complaining to Him for not meeting our needs.  I think that dissatisfaction and conditional worship are two of the weapons that Satan uses most regularly in our lives.  At least I find myself constantly having to face these weapons in my own heart.  The contrast in attitudes and actions in this chapter are both clear and convicting.  It is easy for us to scratch our heads and wonder how the children of Israel could have been so forgetful, ungrateful and inconsistent.  However, when we judge them, we are really only incriminating ourselves because we do the very same thing.
A SHINING EXAMPLE OF PRAISE: God’s deliverance from Egypt and the victory God gave Israel at the Red Sea inspires a spontaneous eruption of praise and worship in the people.  Moses writes a song and the people learn it and I can picture them singing and dancing euphorically before our Lord.  They praise God for what He has done.  They worship Him for who He is.  They trust Him for what He will do.  This is what praising the Lord is all about.  His works, character and promises should be constant stimulants of worship and praise in our hearts.  God delights in the praise of His people.  We must never take God’s blessings for granted but should cultivate a spirit of joyful gratitude in our hearts.  The Lord delights in the praise of His people.  Unfortunately, we are far more prone to pray for what we think we need than we are to praise for what he has done.  We must learn to praise God in all circumstances and not make our praise conditional upon the circumstances of our lives.  We can praise God for who He is no matter what blessings we think He may be withholding from us.  We must remind ourselves that when He chooses to withhold something that we desire or to give us something that we don’t desire; He is doing this for His own glory and our eternal good.  He knows that this is what is best and is keeping His promise to make us like Christ.  This truth should be a constant motivation for us to praise the Lord in every circumstance and all trials.
A SHAMEFUL EXAMPLE OF POUTING: Fast forward three days from the seaside worship service and we find that the praising has turned to pouting.  The people are thirsty and the water they finally find is polluted so they cannot drink it.  I find in my life that hopes dashed are harder to overcome than desperate situations.  It may have been easier for Israel to have continued without any water than to get all excited about finding water only to learn that it was undrinkable.  Whatever the case may be, we find that Israel quickly changes from a party of praise to a pity party.  They are thirsty and legitimately need water.  It is not like they are complaining about something frivolous.  The problem is that they allow their unmet needs to fill their hearts with doubts about the person and character of God.  It is easy to praise and worship God for His provision.  It is much harder to praise and worship God for His promises not yet provided.  How could they think that God would liberate them from Egypt, open the Red Sea and obliterate the army of Egypt; only to let them die of thirst three days later?  It is easy for me to ask that question because I have two pitchers of ice cold water sitting in my refrigerator right now.  The true test of our commitment to worship God is a dry throat in a blazing hot dessert.  We must learn to be fully satisfied with God no matter what pain we face.  May God give us the grace to turn our pouting to praise.

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