Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Nehemiah 9:16-20
“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. (ESV)
by Grace Crouch
Am I the only one who gets really annoyed with the Israelites? They constantly, amazingly, and repeatedly made the obviously wrong choices. How many times did God have to perform a miracle or get them out of another “pickle” before they finally got it?
Can the same be said for us today? Do we insist on doing things our own way only to find ourselves groveling at the Lord’s feet for help?
Praise the Lord for his continued grace and mercy to all of his children. We are blessed to be covered by his Grace.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2010, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

