21 They forgot God their
Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
In Psalm 106:12-23, we see the
dangerous decline of the people of Israel soon after they were delivered out of
their bondage in Egypt. It started with,
“they soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel” (v. 13).
Then notice in verse 21, the next thing they did was, “They forgot God their
Savior”. This same thing can happen
to us very quickly in our Christian experience! When we start enjoying the
blessings of being saved from our sins, (peace, joy, forgiveness), so much that
we don’t take the time to remember the great work of our salvation, our
suffering Savior on the cross and His resurrection, with grateful and thankful
hearts, it won’t be long that we tend to “forget God” too!
I try to wake up every morning
quietly singing, (at least to myself), a little chorus I learned years ago. “Thank
You Lord for saving my soul, thank You Lord for making me whole, thank You Lord
for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and so free.” Before I even get
out of bed, I want to be reminded of how Jesus saved me from my sins and will
continue to take care of me throughout the coming day! Romans 8:31-32 reminds
us: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
If we will take the time to daily
remember our “great salvation through Jesus Christ”, maybe we will also be
confident that the same God Who saved us, is willing and ready to give us
everything we need to face the giants we might encounter throughout the coming
day! When you think of this and our passage in Psalms 106 today, these verses
in Hebrews 2:1-4 will come alive! “Therefore
we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift
away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if
we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness
both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy
Spirit, according to His own will?”
The seeds of unbelief buried
in the hearts of the Jewish people took root and bore bitter fruit in the years
to come. I have often said, "The Lord took Israel out of Egypt in one
night, but it took Him forty years to take Egypt out of Israel." The
people were slow to remember God's past deeds but quick to rush ahead and
ignore His desires. However, they did not hesitate to make known their own
desires, for they craved water (Ex. 15:22-27), food (Ex. 16), and meat (Num.
11:4-15, 31-35). "What shall we eat? What shall we drink?" (See Matt.
6:25) God provided daily manna, water at an oasis and then from the rock (Ex.
17), and enough fowl to give meat to the whole nation. People who grumble and
complain are people not walking by faith in the promises of God (Phil.
2:14-15). We must resist the temptation to yield to our fleshly cravings (1
Cor. 10:1-13).
The rebellion of Korah (Num.
16-17) followed soon after Israel's apostasy at Kadesh Barnea when the nation
refused to enter the Promised Land. Pride and selfish ambition have always
brought trouble to God's people (Phil. 2:1-11; James 4:1-10). Then for forty
days, Moses had been on Sinai with the Lord, and the Jewish people were nervous
without their leader, and In spite of what the Lord had taught them at Sinai,
they wanted a god they could see (Deut. 4:12-19). They rejected the eternal God
("their Glory"—Rom. 1:26) for a manmade piece of gold that could not
see, hear, speak, or act! Once again, Israel forgot what the Lord had done for
them.
If we are not careful, we
might quickly do the same!
God bless!
