Moses Rejoicing Before the People in the Desertby CBPepper
103:7Psalms 103:7
He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
The verse draws a sharp contrast: his ways were made known to Moses, while the children of Israel knew only his acts. The psalm stands among those that recount the Lord's dealings with his people, his mercy when they backslide, and his assurances if they return. His ways are his character and purposes, mercy, patience, kindness, and goodness.
To know his ways is to learn how he gives life and how to live in harmony with its laws, a knowledge that enables faithful living and is open to anyone who uses life faithfully. That knowledge is bound up with his benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, tender mercy, good provision, and renewed youth. The verse enforces his law and commandments in exalted terms, and the Sabbath precept belongs to that law, showing sacred regard for the Sabbath. His leadership of Israel included revealing his way and showing his statutes and judgments.
He made his ways known to Moses as he delivered Israel from Egypt and began the written revelation of Scripture, and at Sinai he made his law known in a special way by proclaiming it with his own voice and giving a copy written by his own finger. Moses did not learn about creation from any living man or from earlier documents, since no man saw creation happen, not even Adam, and he did not imagine it. God himself as Creator told Moses what to write, speaking to him mouth to mouth. That direct revealing to Moses is the way the entire Bible was written, with men speaking from God as moved by the Holy Ghost.
That revelation of his ways and deeds is preserved in a sufficient written record so his children today can understand his attitude toward his people and his work in their daily temporal life. He made his ways known to Moses because Moses was faithful and lived a life of trust that pleases God, looking to the One directing him for counsel when others would forsake him and turn back to Egypt. At the Red Sea, shut in by the sea before him, rough mountains on either side, Pharaoh's hosts closing in behind, and murmuring against him on every side, he was not discouraged. Because he knew God's ways he knew the God of heaven would not fail him, so he stepped forward in the name of the Great Shepherd and bid the waters open to receive the flock from Pharaoh's grasp.
The deliverances, protection, and care given to Israel are typical of what spiritual Israel will experience in the last days. As the march from Egypt to Canaan succeeded only by faith and trust in a mighty leader, the journey today succeeds only by leaning on divine aid. The advance of his work is not limited by hard times or difficulties but only by failure and faithlessness, because heavenly resources are limitless, so faith, courage, and prayer are urgently needed now.
The verse draws a sharp contrast: his ways were made known to Moses, while the children of Israel knew only his acts. The psalm stands among those that recount the Lord's dealings with his people, his mercy when they backslide, and his assurances if they return. His ways are his character and purposes, mercy, patience, kindness, and goodness.
To know his ways is to learn how he gives life and how to live in harmony with its laws, a knowledge that enables faithful living and is open to anyone who uses life faithfully. That knowledge is bound up with his benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, tender mercy, good provision, and renewed youth. The verse enforces his law and commandments in exalted terms, and the Sabbath precept belongs to that law, showing sacred regard for the Sabbath. His leadership of Israel included revealing his way and showing his statutes and judgments.
He made his ways known to Moses as he delivered Israel from Egypt and began the written revelation of Scripture, and at Sinai he made his law known in a special way by proclaiming it with his own voice and giving a copy written by his own finger. Moses did not learn about creation from any living man or from earlier documents, since no man saw creation happen, not even Adam, and he did not imagine it. God himself as Creator told Moses what to write, speaking to him mouth to mouth. That direct revealing to Moses is the way the entire Bible was written, with men speaking from God as moved by the Holy Ghost.
That revelation of his ways and deeds is preserved in a sufficient written record so his children today can understand his attitude toward his people and his work in their daily temporal life. He made his ways known to Moses because Moses was faithful and lived a life of trust that pleases God, looking to the One directing him for counsel when others would forsake him and turn back to Egypt. At the Red Sea, shut in by the sea before him, rough mountains on either side, Pharaoh's hosts closing in behind, and murmuring against him on every side, he was not discouraged. Because he knew God's ways he knew the God of heaven would not fail him, so he stepped forward in the name of the Great Shepherd and bid the waters open to receive the flock from Pharaoh's grasp.
The deliverances, protection, and care given to Israel are typical of what spiritual Israel will experience in the last days. As the march from Egypt to Canaan succeeded only by faith and trust in a mighty leader, the journey today succeeds only by leaning on divine aid. The advance of his work is not limited by hard times or difficulties but only by failure and faithlessness, because heavenly resources are limitless, so faith, courage, and prayer are urgently needed now.