Talk about your victory parade. About 650,000 men, along with women and children, shed their shackles of slavery . . . load up with the plunder of Egypt . . . gather together their flocks and herds . . . and they are outta’ there! Chaotic? I’m guessing. Euphoric? I’m guessing that too. Sure, there was that bit of a hiccup by the Red Sea . . . water on one side . . . ticked off Egyptians in chariots on the other . . . but there too, they saw the might of the LORD displayed on their behalf. As they crossed the sea on dry ground, can you imagine the cricks in their necks as they kept looking up at the wall of water on either side of them, and looking back at the Egyptians still pursuing them? But cross they did . . . and cross the Egyptians didn’t. Cue the singing . . . bring on the dancing . . . unleash the rejoicing . . . “I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously . . . The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” (Ex. 12:37 – 15:18)

And then . . . honeymoon’s over . . .

The singing turns to complaining . . . the rejoicing turns to discontent . . . the faith that was so easy to exercise in the victory turns to frustration in the day-to-day walk of following the LORD.

The water’s bitter at Marah . . . so the people grumble, “Moses! This tastes terrible! We can’t drink this?” (15:23-24). Their stomachs begin to growl on the way to Sinai . . . and they complain again, “Moses! We’re hungry! Did you bring us here so we could starve to death?” (16:1-3). They arrive in Rephidim and there’s no water to be seen anywhere . . . so again, with the murmuring, “Moses! We’re thirsty! Is this why you brought us out of Egypt? To kill us with thirst?” (17:1-3)

And I’m not judging . . . no, I’m relating. I’m not trying to be condescending . . . I’m actually convicted. Because, the record is clear . . . they weren’t grumbling against Moses . . . their bone-to-pick wasn’t about his leadership . . . it wasn’t his care for them that they questioned . . .

So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, ” . . . in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because He has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us? . . . When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against Him–what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”   (Exodus 16:6-8 ESV)

How easy it is to grumble against the Lord? Oh, I don’t think I do it directly . . . never put it on my prayer list. No, the venting is directed at someone else . . . the murmuring is about a set of circumstances . . . but how often, is it really grumbling against the Lord? That, at the core of that smoke coming out of my ears, is an issue with God’s leading . . . a questioning of the apparent roadblocks being thrown in my way by the Sovereign God who directs my paths . . . an uncertainty about really acknowledging Him in all my ways. And so, Moses’ words penetrate me this morning, “Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

But the grace of God continues . . . the water at Marah is made sweet . . . bread from heaven is provided in the desert . . . Moses strikes the rock at Rephidim and enough water comes gushing out to satisfy the thirst of 650,000 men, along with women and children, and flocks and herds. His grace is sufficient . . . His leading is designed to fulfill His promises . . . His sovereign purposes are designed that He might be glorified . . .

Oh, that I would grumble less . . . and would sing and dance more . . . “The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him . . . and I will exalt Him!”