May 27

22 ¶ So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore the name of it was called Marah.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet; there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.

26 And 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 put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the LORD that healeth thee

27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters

1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came into the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

3 And the children of Israel said unto them,

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Would the God we had died by the hand of the fight in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the hunger fall; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger

Murmuring, some one has said, "is the mother of sins." The children of Israel not only chided Moses for bringing them out of Egypt, but they wished themselves already dead! "Taking it according to their own way of looking at it, and it was only a choice between graves, but it was a choice between one of honor or dishonor; between the grave of a slave or that of a freeman; a grave of hope or one of despair! Better to starve as a freeman in Christ, than to revel as a slave in the luxuries of this world. Their stomachs for the time being made them forget how their backs had suffered." First of all, let us learn that we are not done with hardships when we have left Egypt. The young convert imagines that when he has found Christ, his whole after experience is to be that of comfort. But he knows not what he thinks. He will never be done with disagreeables until he has entered heaven; and his first three days' journey will bring him to some bitter fountain.

Again, we need to learn that life is not all hardship. There are Elims, with their springs of water and their palm trees' shade, as well as Marahs.

"It is matter of universal experience. You are proving it now. Some are at Marah, some are at Elim. We all know the general features of both; but we must all remember that they are only stations on our way. We cannot be forever either at the one or at the other. Soon the pillar of the cloud shall move again, and bring to us either a new difficulty or a new deliverance. But the comfort is that God is in both. He will make the bitter sweet, and the pleasant safe. So long as He is with us, adversity has no power to destroy us, and prosperity has no charm to tempt us. At Marah He is the Lord the healer, and at Elim He is the Lord the shade."—W. M. Taylor, D. D.

One of the old commentators has well said, that no man has any more trust in the Lord than he can show in times of adversity. It is not the Elims, where every want is supplied, that enables one to prove how much faith he has in God, but those places in life, like the wilderness of Sin, where the supplies give out, and there is no apparent source for getting any more, that faith really is tested. Then if one holds to his trust, and does not murmur through unbelief, he greatly honors God, and becomes an inspiring example to men.

Closet Promise.—Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.—Psalm xxxvii. 3.

Who shall tell our untold need, Deeply felt, though scarcely known? Who the hungry soul can feed, Guard, and guide, but God alone?

Blessed promise! while we see Earthly friends must powerless be, Earthly fountains quickly dry; God shall all your need supply. —Frances Ridley Hatergol.