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trusting, not testing

Deuteronomy 6:16 Do not test Yahveh your God like you tested him at Massah.

Deuteronomy 6:17 Carefully observe the commands of Yahveh your God, the reminders and prescriptions he has commanded you.

Deuteronomy 6:18 Do what is right and good in Yahveh’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and take possession of the good land Yahveh your God swore to give your fathers,

Deuteronomy 6:19 by pushing away¹ all your enemies before you, as Yahveh has said.

trusting, not testing

Exodus 17:1-7 tells the story of Massah. The Israelites were thirsty and turned on Moses, blaming him for their having to leave Egypt! God provided the water by having Moses strike a rock. But the place was renamed testing from that time on.

The choice was to trust God or to test God. That day, the Israelites made the wrong choice. Moses brings up Massah here as a reminder that tough times will test God’s people, but they do not give us permission to test God.

Lord, we choose to trust you, not to test you.