Are We There Yet?
Part Four
Musings from Psalm 90:16-17
Moses’ road trip through the desert with the children of Israel took decades longer than God intended it to. Why? In a nutshell, God’s people had a fatal bent toward unbelief.
- God knew His kids would grumble and complain against Moses, so He gave Moses immense patience.
- God saw the Israelites sin in horrible ways, so He gave the Ten Commandments for their instruction. Twice.
- God wanted the mixed multitude to know they could rely on Him, so He gave them Manna every morning. All were welcome at His table. Not all were thankful.
God’s desire for the first string of Israelite sojourners was to see them enter the Promised Land. When they refused, their hearts hardened, they lost their blessing, and their fate was sealed.
Unfortunately, those who experienced crossing the Red Sea on dry ground would remain in a state of unbelief for forty years never knowing the freedom God had for them on the other side. Moses interceded for God’s people many times over their forty years of wandering. In all that time, he never failed to ask for mercy on their behalf.
In the end, Moses asks the maker of heaven and earth to establish the work of their hands – to help a guy out, so God’s people can leave their handprints in the concrete of His story, an indelible marker saying, “ ____________ was here.”
Let Your work appear to your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:16-17, NKJV)
Israel’s problem was not that they did not believe in God for they had seen His power exhibited repeatedly over the course of eighty years. The real problem, the one that cost them the Promised Land, was their refusal to believe God for the future.
The Bible is replete with stories of faith and failure in the lives of everyday people like you and me. Psalm 90 in its entirety teaches us that life is hard, but God is for us. God will take us through the desert to reveal His beauty in the dry places. Are you walking with Him today? If not, call on Him. He hears your cry and will meet you where you are.