Tuesday: The Lord’s Test
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 20th of February 2024
Read Psalms 81:7-8; Psalms 95:7-11; and Psalms 105:17-22. What does divine testing involve in these texts?
Meribah is the place where Israel tested God by challenging His faithfulness and power to provide for their needs (Exodus 17:1-7; Psalms 95:8-9). Psalms 81:1-16 makes an intriguing reversal and interprets the same event as the time when God tested Israel (Psalms 81:7). And, by their disobedience and lack of trust (Psalms 81:11), the people failed God’s test.
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The reference to Meribah conveys a twofold message. First, God’s people must not repeat the mistakes of past generations. Instead, they are to trust God and to walk in His way (Psalms 81:13). Second, although the people failed the test, God came to their rescue when they were in trouble (Psalms 81:7). God’s saving grace in the past gives an assurance of God’s grace to new generations.
Psalms 105:1-45 shows that the trials were God’s means of testing Joseph’s trust in God’s foretelling of his future (Genesis 37:5-10, Psalms 105:19). The Hebrew tsarap, “tested,” in verse 19 conveys a sense of “purging,” “refining,” or “purifying.” Thus, the goal of God’s testing of Joseph’s faith was to remove any doubt in God’s promise and to strengthen Joseph’s trust in God’s guidance.
The goal of divine discipline is to strengthen God’s children and to prepare them for the fulfillment of the promise, as shown in Joseph’s example (Psalms 105:20-22).
However, rejection of God’s instruction results in growing stubbornness and hardening of an obstinate person’s heart.
“God requires prompt and unquestioning obedience of His law; but men are asleep or paralyzed by the deceptions of Satan, who suggests excuses and subterfuges, and conquers their scruples, saying as he said to Eve in the garden: ‘Ye shall not surely die.’ Disobedience not only hardens the heart and conscience of the guilty one, but it tends to corrupt the faith of others. That which looked very wrong to them at first, gradually loses this appearance by being constantly before them, till finally they question whether it is really sin and unconsciously fall into the same error.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 146.
What has been your own experience with how sin hardens the heart? Why should that thought drive us to the Cross, where we can find the power to obey?
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I think we need to understand that the Lord is not running around designing tests for us to see if we are good enough to get into heaven or have eternal life. Testing comes from the fact that we live in a battleground between good and evil and our reaction to the testing depends on our relationship with Jesus.
A few years ago I did a trip to Cape York, the very tip of northern Australia. It involved travelling on about 1000km of unmaintained corrugated and potholed roads. My vehicle was a Toyota Troopy. This is a tough no-nonsense 4WD vehicle which is the vehicle of choice for the police, ambulance service, aboriginal affairs, and mining companies that work in this area. Furthermore, I had high-level breathers put on the transmission so that I did not suck water into the gearbox when crossing flooded creeks. I also had a two-way radio, all-terrain tyres, spare parts, and an extra supply of oil and coolant. Most importantly, I did not go alone. There were three other vehicles so that we could help one another out if needed, Further, we did not take unnecessary risks. The trip was a success. We did have one emergency. We had to airlift one of the drivers back to civilization because he got appendicitis.
We were making our way back home and stopped off at Townsville. At the campground I met a driver from another country (I won't mention which one) who had done the same trip to Cape York. He had bought a Toyota Prado - a luxury 4WD road vehicle with nice paint, and had driven north in it. He had decided to cross the notorious Nolan's Brook and had drowned his vehicle in the process. He had the car towed to the nearest town and had it repaired but even in Townsville his car was still pretty sick. I asked him what his plans were. He told me he was going to tackle the Birdsville track, one of the loneliest tracks in Australia by himself. I shook my head in amazement. I would only tackle that track with a vehicle in top condition, with full preparation, and in the company of others.
There are two attitudes to testing aren't there? We cannot do much about the road, but we can take precautions and make preparations; we can learn from the experiences of others, we can read the road conditions; and we can share the journey by travelling together and watching out for one another.
Doing it in your own strength with your own ideas and taking risks unnecessarily is a recipe for hardening one's heart.
Without tests we will not have testimonies,
Without trials we will not have victories,
Without faith we will not have hope,
Without grace we will not have forgiveness,
Without Jesus we will not have the plan of salvation.
Many people view tests and trials as an unnecessary part of the Christian experience, however, my attitude to the test and trials that come my way is rooted in St Matthew 16:24:
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me".
May God give us the strength to daily take up our cross and follow Him!!!
Psalm 95:7-11 - God calls out to the Israelites: “Today, if you will hear His voice: do not harden your hearts ...". Israel's hardened hearts challenged God. As the lesson writer shows, individuals who harden their heart become disrespectful and rebellious toward God. I believe that most of us can testify to this.
Israel failed God’s ‘testing’ of their faithfulness in His ability to provide and sustain them; causing Him to ‘grieve’ with that generation’ for 40 years. He said: ”It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.” Because God is longsuffering, He places us on ‘probation’ until we learn to love and trust Him with all our heart!
Throughout Israel's growing up as a nation, He mitigated their disobedience and suffering through His Mercy and Grace; standing by them as long as it took to finish His work to bring Salvation to all mankind. And when the time had come to send Israel His Son, He did so without hesitation.
Again, I appreciate the writer’s Hebrew translation for the word “tested”; it means “purging”, “refining”, or “purifying”. In the context of their and our ‘rebellion’, God knows this is needful because of the hardness of our hearts. Through the Holy Spirit, the believer's faith grows and understands God's Wisdom/Truth.
Yesterday we learned how important it is to redeem the time God gives us here on earth; we cannot be lax about it. All I can see is how our faithful God stands by His people – His Ecclesia – through all their individual trials and tribulations.
We love Him for His faithfulness to teach us, because we want our God to ‘purify’ His People - Heb.12:5-7.
A test is an opportunity for growth. A test is a moment for knowledge trial, the ability to use the tools acquired. My answer to the test shows the importance I give to experience. The good news is that even if I fail this whole life of testing, my Savior can still provide me with victory. What matters is Who I rely on to continue trying.