Chapter 15 of Exodus, and at verse 22. So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days' journey, three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. We consider the first part of this chapter, Last Lord's Day, the song of Moses, which is echoed with the song of Miriam. And we find it is a song of celebration. It follows the Exodus through the Red Sea, the deliverance of the children of Israel, and the destruction of the Egyptians. And it is a song of celebration. They who were in bondage and slaves are now set free. It was a song of commemoration as it spoke about what the Lord had done to set them free. And it was also a song of confidence because it then anticipated what would happen as the Lord would fulfill his promise and bring them to their journey's end into the land of promise. that their enemies would melt away as they considered the greatness of the God who had brought them thus far. And so we find the whole community taken up singing this wonderful song of praise. Moses and the people and the echo from Miriam and the woman. And there's something wonderful about being involved in singing God's praise. We experience that from Lord's Day to Lord's Day within the congregation. But there are perhaps times when that is particularly evident to you. Perhaps there's more people in the congregation. Perhaps it's at a communion time. And the singing, there seems to be a particular power in the singing. There's something particularly glorious about it. the words that are used, and the way the song is sung. And perhaps you've experienced that being part of a congregation, and the singing lifts you high. And as you find yourself joining in, you sing with bold confidence. You find strength put into you as a consequence, and you rejoice in the greatness of God. I wonder, friends, what happens afterward? I wonder how long does the memory of that song continue with you? Does it make a lasting impression upon your soul? Or is it more like the marks of pillow leaves on your cheek, which you see when you wake first in the morning, and then they're gone moments later? Isn't that the challenge of the Christian life? To be constant in faith. To be constant in praise. The just are to live by faith. It has to be evident. It has to be before us. It has to shape our thinking, not only on a large day when we gather to worship, but also on a Monday morning and the Tuesday morning. and the Wednesday afternoon and so on throughout all of life. But isn't it the case that all too often on Monday morning or on Tuesday or on Wednesday, perhaps even just when you leave church and the Lord's the evening, something seems to go wrong and it all falls apart. There you were, you were lifted up. You were joined in the singing of God's praise and your heart was delighting as you felt, as you were conscious of, as you were convinced of the truth of these promises and the certainty of redemption which has been accomplished and shall be accomplished. But then troubles press in. It all goes wrong. We know the words of Psalm 23 so very well. Verse two, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. What wonderful words, testimony. What wonderful words of comfort. And we delight in them. And we delight in that experience that the Lord is our shepherd. And we see His grace and His mercy in these things. But friends, this Lord who is our shepherd is the one who also leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, who leads us beside stormy seas, or even through stormy seas, who leads us through the barren desert or wilderness. But what then? Do we still sing with the same joy and delight? Do we still delight in Him? Sing His praise, fear no evil, not doubt His wisdom and His love. Isn't it the case that too often, when we encounter these troubles and trials, that we take our eye from the Lord and were overwhelmed like Peter when he stepped out to the boat. It was a storm, and there was the Lord. And the Lord bid him to come, and Peter came to the Lord. But then when he saw the waves, and they were great, he was full of fear, and he began to sink. Here's the children of Israel, and they sing this glorious song of praise. They are free, they celebrate that. They commemorate what God has done to bring them through and bring them out. They speak with confidence of what God will do to bring them home. And then they go out three days into the wilderness and there's no water. And then they come to a place where there is water, but the water is bitter. and they complain, and they grumble. It's all gone wrong. You're familiar with that experience of it all going wrong, aren't you? Too often that seems to be what life is like. It's all gone wrong. And perhaps in your own experience, you can say, well, I think I know why it all went wrong. It all went wrong because I took a wrong turn. It all went wrong because I made a mistake. I shouldn't be in this circumstance. And you can explain why you shouldn't be. But the interesting thing about the children of Israel here is that the Lord went before them day and night. There was a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night. It was the Lord who directed them this three-day journey out into the wilderness where there was no water. It was the Lord who brought them to Mara where the water was bitter. It wasn't that they had gone the wrong way, but for them it was the wrong experience. And the people, verse 24, murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink? Is that your own experience tonight? You find yourself murmuring? You're saying, why is it this way? I can't go on. I don't have what I need. It's not the temptation and all the different circumstances. And I want for us to look at this passage tonight, first of all, under this heading, dealing with discontentment. Because that's the challenge for the Christian, is how to deal with discontentment. Verse 24, the people murmured. That word murmur is an onomatopoeic word, which means that the sound of it, the sound of the word gives you a sense of the meaning of the word. They didn't speak clearly. It was under their breaths they spoke. The word murmur, it's a bit like mumble. Again, not clear speaking, except when you murmur, there's more of a growl in it. There was a resentful complaint against the Lord, not clearly expressed, but it was there, and it was eating away, and they spoke one to another, and together they murmured against the Lord. Perhaps they were able to understand, as they look back, the trauma of going through the Red Sea, and it must have been a trauma to pass through the Red Sea. The Egyptians were behind them, and the walls of water on either side of them. And yet the Lord brought them through, and they look back, and they can see, well, there was sense in that, there was wisdom in that, and now we are free. But this, Have we been brought out into the wilderness to die of thirst? Three days with no water and now our supplies have gone and all we find is bitter water. How are we to deal with disappointment? Because disappointment comes, doesn't it? Disappointment comes often. I suppose the first thing we should notice is that it's appropriate that we bring our complaint to the Lord. The children of Israel, they murmur against Moses, but what does Moses do? Moses, he cried unto the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? that we're not simply to be silent and to get on with it. We're not to be stoic and act like it doesn't matter. There are trials and troubles and disappointments and frustrations and hurts and pains and agonies in the Christian life. And we are to cry unto the Lord, and we see that not only from Moses' example here, but we see that when we turn to the Psalms. How many of the Psalms articulate for us a complaint to address unto the Lord? Psalm 6, my soul is also sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, how long? And then I am weary with my groaning. All the night make I my bed to swim. I water my couch with my tears. Psalm 6, what about Psalm 10? Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? Psalm 6, Psalm 10, what about Psalm 13? How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? And so we find again and again, Words that are prepared for us to use to express the troubles and the trials and the frustrations and the difficulties and the impossibilities of life. You see, the Lord knows. He knows this will be our experience, for He knows the way that He leads us. And He expects us to bring our cries to Him But the difference between Moses and the children of Israel is that Moses was expressing his anguish to the Lord, whereas they were making an accusation against him. It's one thing to express the angst of the situation, it's another to come with anger and to condemn. The children of Israel might have said, ah, but we murmured against Moses, not against the Lord. But Moses was God's man. He was raised up by the Lord. And so really, it was a complaint against the Lord. For Moses led them in the way that the Lord would lead them, because it was the Lord and the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud that went before them. dealing with disappointment. We're not to ignore disappointment, but rather we're to confess it, not with resentment and anger and bitterness, but rather with honesty and integrity before God. We find that you think of the Psalms that express the pains of life and the impossibility of life. We find these Psalms even on the lips of our blessed Savior. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? The disappointment arose in part because there was a failure to understand. Yes, they were through the Red Sea. Yes, they were out of Egypt. Yes, they were no longer slaves. Yes, the Lord had delivered them, but the Lord was yet delivering them. And they were not yet in the land of promise. A work which had been begun had not yet been brought to completion. Moses himself had a better grasp of that. We're told in Hebrews, looking back in the example of Moses' life, that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward, he looked ahead. He knew it would be trouble today, that there was trials and hardships. But he saw further than the children of Israel themselves who could only see what was in their hands now. A passage in Hebrews which speaks of the example of Moses in chapter 11 is followed in chapter 12 by these words. You have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And what is the Lord doing here by leading his people three days into the wilderness, where there is no water, and bringing them to Mara, where the water is bitter? He's teaching them to cry to himself. He's teaching them not to complain, but rather to commit themselves into his care and to seek for his provision by the way. Isn't it a danger that so often we presume to know what is best for us? We nurture wrong expectations. And we think this would be the best way for life to unfold. Friends, we must remember that God is wise and he knows all things. And he will teach us about his own gracious provision by bringing us to depend more and more upon him by removing the self-confidence and ease. dealing with disappointment. Well, first of all, disappointment comes because of our wrong expectation. But when disappointment comes, we are not to murmur against the Lord, but to cry out to him. We must remember, there is a reason. There is a reason for it. And I can't tell you the reason in detail, but I can tell you what the Scripture affirms, that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. He knows the way that you take. So there's a lesson here, isn't there? In dealing with disappointment. And we see the negative lesson from the children of Israel who don't deal with it well because they murmur against the Lord. But we see the good example of Moses who called out that the Lord would deliver. And then secondly, we can think about dealing with God's demand. And what is God's demand? Well, God's demand is that we walk by faith. That we walk by faith. Verse 25, when Moses said, what shall we drink? Or the people said, what shall we drink? And Moses brought it to the Lord. The Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. word. He showed him a tree. It means he instructed him concerning a tree. The Lord taught him. He taught them. He teaches us through the provision of this tree. And it wasn't so much the properties of the tree, and some of the commentators will say, well, a tree which is burnt to charcoal, the charcoal can be used to filter water, or there are certain trees that have certain medicinal purposes. That's not the point. What takes place here is a miracle. Think of the number of the people. This is a multitude of people. The Lord teaches Moses, and through him, the children of Israel, and through them, you and me tonight, that we are to walk by faith. We are to be obedient. And that is what takes place by the cutting down of this tree and casting it into the water. It's not a naturalistic solution. It was the tree that did it. It was the Lord that did it. But the Lord works through means. Remember Naaman? When Naaman came with leprosy? And what did the prophet say? Go wash in the River Jordan. Not because the River Jordan had particular properties that other rivers didn't have. But the Lord used these means. Think about the man who was blind and the Lord made clay. It wasn't the clay that gave him sight, but the Lord used his means. Or when the Lord sent the lepers to the priests, and they were healed as they went along the way. The Lord uses means. Why does the Lord use means? The Lord could simply have done it. but he requires that there's a cutting down of the tree and a casting it in the waters. It is because he requires that we act upon faith, or faith is an action, faith is an activity, that we believe him and we show our confidence in him by doing what he requires. That's why James says, faith that has no works is dead. Faith that doesn't transact into action isn't faith. It's a notion. But it must be followed through. And that's the demand that the Lord makes here. He says, trust me. You've cried out to me. Well, here I am. And what I say to you is do this. The Lord showed him a tree, which, when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. And there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. And he said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will not put the diseases of Egypt upon you, but I shall deliver you. Dealing with God's demand. God's demand is that we walk, live by faith. We are to hearken and do. We are to give ear and keep. We are to listen to the voice of God. But how are they to know what God has said? Well, it is because of God's spokesman. He has raised up Moses. And that fact is authenticated by the mighty miracles which are done through him. He speaks with power and with authority. What we have here is an early echo of the words of our Savior when he says, take up your cross and follow me. You know the words of Proverbs 14, 12, repeated in chapter 16. Repetition always means emphasis. It says, there is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death. There's a way that seemeth right unto man, but there's another way, friends. And it might not seem right to you or to me, but it is the way that God commands. If we're obedient unto the Lord, we shall be saved. Faith is not blind. Not a blind leap in the dark. The Lord, in his mercy, had provided this tree. It's interesting, when they reached Elam, there were 70 palm trees. We don't know how many there was at Mara, but there was one specific tree. And it was there. It was there that it might be taken up, that it might be cast in. Not only that, but the Lord who spoke through Moses was the Lord who was evidenced in the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud. It was the Lord who brought them through the sea. And this is the Lord who says, follow me. It's the one who's had mercy on you, whose hand has been upon you all the days of your life. who has spoken to you through his word many times before, and he is the one who, having shown his faithfulness and his mercy, says, follow me, hear my word, and keep it. Be hearers and doers." There are three things here that is dealing with disappointment. There's dealing with God's demand, but there's also dealing with deliverance. We're told that when they cast the tree into the waters, the waters were made sweet. And then they journeyed on and they came to Elam. And there was 12 wells of water. We see God's deliverance there in Marra. And we see God's deliverance again at Elam, 12 wells. That meant there was a well for every tribe. These 70 trees, well, 70 is a number that conveys fullness. The Lord turned the River Nile to blood. as a rebuke against the Egyptians. But for the children of Israel, he turned the bitter water sweet. And isn't that what the Lord does? Isn't that what is commemorated in Psalm 84? Who passing through the Valley of Baca make it a well. Speaking about the hard experiences in the Christian's life. Even in the Valley of Baca, it's possible to dig wells and the rain falls and fills these wells. that the Lord provides, even in the wilderness, streams in the desert. The Lord delivered His people. He delivered them at Marah. He delivers them on to Elam. But we have a responsibility to deal with God's deliverance well, just as we have a responsibility to deal with the disappointments well. You might say it was easy to deal with deliverance. It's easy to deal with good days. But I wonder if it is. I wonder if we're good at dealing with our good days, with the blessings of life. You see, there's a danger that when you enjoy privilege and blessing, that you simply enjoy it and don't apply yourself to it. And don't think beyond the short term, the immediate experience. They drank the water. But did they really consider the greatness of God who had given them water in the desert? It says in Ecclesiastes, it's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. Why is it better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting? Well, surely the idea is this. The house of mourning, uncomfortable as it is, disturbing as it is, you're made to consider the realities of life. But in the house of feasting, there's too much ease and comfort. The house of feasting, We can savor it and enjoy it, and then it's gone, and we've not gone anywhere with it. It's not driven us to the Lord. We're not seeing His hand in it. And it's just as the children of Israel found the bitter waters made sweet, and then found themselves brought to Elam, where there was these wells of water and these great palm trees. So the Lord, in His mercy, will bring, in your own experience, times of sweetness and times of rest. Just as the words of Psalm 23 say, to lead us by still waters, in the green pastures, But when you come to the still waters and you come to the green pastures, it's important that then you also apply yourself to God. So you might be bettered by these blessings. So your soul might be enriched by these blessings. It seems that we're always surprised by suffering, but we're not surprised by blessing, are we? Not in the same way. It doesn't make us think, ask the same questions. We take it too easily, perhaps because we feel entitled and because we're not humbled by it. But when the Lord is good to you, and when the Lord lifts you up and he gives you these times of joy and of praise, you are to consider the Lord. This is one of the failings of the children of Israel. That's why the wilderness journey and the experience at Mara was so bitter, was because they'd sung these Psalms, and then they'd forgotten. Had they sung the Psalms of Deliverance and continued singing the Psalms of Deliverance, then these hard days would have been less hard. These hard days would have been sweetened. They would have been made wise and given strength and confidence to endure. When the Lord brings deliverances, and deliverances will come in a Christian life, then sing psalms and keep singing psalms. When disappointments come, sing and keep singing. Throughout all of life we are to consider the greatness of God. Dealing with disappointment. dealing with deliverance. Whatever it is that comes your way, commit yourself unto the Lord in all your ways. Depend upon Him, not lean on your own understanding. We're told in 1 Corinthians 10 concerning the pilgrimage journey of the children of Israel through the wilderness. It says, all these things happened unto them for an example. And they're written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. It says, wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall. Learn the lessons that they learn. Don't presume yourself to be better. It's too easy to look at their experience and say, what folly. how fickle they were, how quick they went from rejoicing to complaining, and from complaining to rejoicing. Let us learn, and let us honor God, and let us praise Him when things go well and when things don't go well. No matter what the news is tomorrow, No matter what the reports are, God is in heaven and he knows the way that you take. There is no pleasure in a short term in chastening, but yet in the longer term, we look back and we see the loving kindness and the faithful mercy of our God. That's how it was in our childhood. It wasn't easy when you were disciplined, when you were rebuked, when you were challenged. Oh, you were just left to go your own way. But now you look back and it's with thankfulness that you were loved and you were nurtured. And so it is, friends in the Christian life, that the Lord will bring us the way that he knows best. So let us hear his demand. which is to be obedient to his word, to be hearers and doers also. Amen. Let's pray together.