So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
The people quarrel with Moses when they should call on God alone, for only He commands the waters and all elements. This reveals their impiety and their faithlessness; if they possessed even a spark of faith, they would pray. Their true sin is unbelief: they doubt whether the Lord is among them, and so they neither honor His power nor trust His promises.
AI summary
We may walk in the way of duty and still meet troubles; God brings us into straits to test our faith and be glorified in our relief. Their violent thirst made them outrageous, and they demanded water from Moses as a debt, forgetting that former favors ought to humble the unbelieving rather than embolden them to insist on more.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 17:1-7
They chide with Moses as if he, not God, kept water from them, when they might have prayed and exercised faith in the One who had parted the Red Sea, sweetened Marah's waters, and rained manna upon them. To tempt the Lord is to try whether He is present with them, to question His power and His care.
AI summary