And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
The people could hardly tear themselves from that triumphant shore, yet the pleasures of our way to Canaan must not delay us, though a wilderness lies ahead. God trains His people by want and disappointment in the creature, that they may turn to the Creator where true comfort alone is found.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 15:22-27
And he cried unto the Lord,.... Or prayed, as all the Targums, that God would appear for them, and relieve them in their distress, or, humanly speaking, they must all perish: happy it is to have a God to go to in time of trouble, whose hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear!
The people murmured - They were in a state of great mental degradation, owing to their long and oppressive vassalage, and had no firmness of character. See Clarke's note on Exo 13:17.