Psalms 78:20, commentary and pictures

After God struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed, the people asked whether He could also furnish a table in the wilderness and give bread and meat to sustain them.
Their question was distrust and unbelief in the heart, tempting God and speaking against Him despite the evidence already given, in rebellion against the light, covenant and salvation they had received.
Their murmuring did not spring from real hunger but from lust learned in Egypt, where they had lived largely on flesh food, showing dissatisfaction with the simple, wholesome food provided and disregard for wise restraint of appetite.
God withheld flesh because He knew it was not man's natural food but would bring disease and shorten life, for He was leading them into the wilderness to train them in right habits that they might be a pure, holy and healthy people, yet their self-indulgence brought physical and mental decline and their distrust kindled His anger in judgment.
Even so, God did set a table and sustain His people in the wilderness, showing His power to supply is not limited to water, so those who have Christ abiding within and fully receive heavenly truth will advance in the divine life and will not complain and forget God when trials come.

Wilderness Unbelief and Rebellion

Psalm 78 recounts how richly God blessed Israel and how poorly, unfaithfully and ungratefully the people returned His benefits. It is a song for the wilderness journey, to be kept in time as the people marched, and attentive reading of it brings correction and instruction, calling hearers to turn from reliance on lawyers and come into harmony. After He struck the rock so that waters gushed out and streams overflowed in abundance, Israel asked whether He could also give bread and provide flesh and furnish a table in the wilderness. Even after seeing that blessing they treated past provision as no assurance of further supply, exposing unbelief that looks at poor, unpromising conditions and doubts His power to provide.

Their question showed distrust, discontent and unbelief despite the evidence already received. It was tempting God in the heart by asking meat for lust, and speaking against God. It was rebellion against the light and covenant and salvation received, and constantly working against a good God. Their murmuring did not come from hunger but from lust formed in Egypt, where they had become accustomed to flesh food and had subsisted largely upon it. Dissatisfied with the simple, wholesome food supplied, they disregarded His provisions and wise limits on appetite, with weeping and murmuring and complaining that He had brought them out to pine away and die in the wilderness.

God withheld flesh meat because He knew it is not man's natural food but would produce disease and shorten life. In leading them into the wilderness He purposed to educate them in correct habits that they might be a pure, holy, healthy people. He provided the very best food that would have preserved them in health and lengthened their lives. Yielding to self-indulgence and self-gratification instead brought physical and mental decline. Their unbelief and distrust of His salvation kindled His anger and brought judgment against them. Through disobedience they brought themselves into the state that was the sure result of their own course of action. Under rebuke and chastisement they repented, but afterward they fell again under temptation.

Divine Provision and Trust

The questioning came after the rock had been struck and water had gushed out in overflowing streams, yet the people still asked whether bread could be given and meat provided for them in the wilderness. The answer is that a table was indeed set in the wilderness and the people were sustained there, proving that the power that brought water from the rock was not limited to water alone. The same care extends to food and to what the earth yields for diligent workers, showing that the ability to supply is not confined to one kind of gift. That blessing and provision do not cease even as the earth grows old and changes.

The flowing water from the rock stands as assurance that a table can be spread for God's people even in barren places. With divine blessing joined to proper cultivation, the earth will supply what faithful, diligent workers need. Where He directs His people, His blessing will rest on the place and make the land produce good crops and make a home in the wilderness. This holds despite poor, unpromising conditions and doubts about fertility, as seen in the application to the school land, which could be made productive under God's blessing though its fertility was questioned.

In contrast stands the example of complaining when trials came and forgetting the source of strength. Those who have Bible religion, with Christ abiding in them and they in Him, will continually advance in the divine life. Those who fully receive truth of heavenly origin will become sanctified through it, so that when trials come they will not complain and forget God as Israel did.