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Shabbat Shalom!
I have a friend who is a rabbi in the Houston area. When I used to Read More
L. Roger Owens | Read Psalm 95:8-11
When I read the second half of Psalm 95, which reports God’s reaction to the Israelites’ complaining of thirst in the wilderness, I find myself asking whether God really said these words. Did God really announce that he “loathed” the Israelites who begged for water in the wilderness?
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God, I am thirsty to hear your voice but know how easy it is to confuse your voice with the voices of others. Help me hear you and respond in love. Amen.
Three of the passages this week connect water and faith. In Exodus and the psalm, we read about the Israelites grumbling in the desert. Although they have seen God’s mighty deeds in Egypt, they have begun to question God’s provision for them. God provides water through Moses, but the place is remembered (and named) as a site where the faith of the people fails. In John, however, a place to draw water becomes a site of salvation for the Samaritan woman and eventually for the people in her village through her faith. The reading in Romans goes a different direction. Paul emphasizes the importance of faith in the face of trials and the fact that God brings salvation through Christ when fallen humanity has no other hope.
Read Exodus 17:1-7. How do your memories of God’s provision sustain you through tough stages of your spiritual journey?Read Psalm 95. What object, image, or memory serves for you as a symbol of God’s faithfulness?Read Romans 5:1-11. How have you found hope in stages of life when God is forming your character through suffering and endurance?Read John 4:5-42. When has letting go of your expectations or rules allowed God to work freely in your life or in the lives of others around you?
Respond by posting a prayer.
