“Doubtless you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land, which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness” (Numbers 14:30-32).
It was a crisis at Kadesh-Barnea. The whole crowd wailed and wept overnight as they were convinced that they were not strong enough to fight the enemies. In their rejection of God, they cried out, “Would to God that we would die in the wilderness.” That is just exactly what the Lord God would give to them. We spoke of the young believer who was witnessing to gruff old Robert who responded by saying, “I told the Lord I didn’t want anything to do with Him – to just leave me alone. And that is just what the Lord has done. Now you leave me alone, too.” The young man purposed in his heart that he would put a watch before His mouth to guard against saying something profoundly unwise to the Lord. He would also guard his heart so as not to become hardened and indifferent to the Lord. This is good for us as well, isn’t it, folks?
For today: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).