Milk and Honey

DEVOTION

PSALMS

MILK AND HONEY

Ps 78:40-55

40 How often they rebelled against him in the desert and grieved him in the wasteland! 41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember his power — the day he redeemed them from the oppressor, 43 the day he displayed his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan. 44 He turned their rivers to blood; they could not drink from their streams. 45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them. 46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet. 48 He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. 49 He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility — a band of destroying angels. 50 He prepared a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague. 51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham. 52 But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the desert. 53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies. 54 Thus he brought them to the border of his holy land, to the hill country his right hand had taken. 55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance; he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

NIV

We are still in that frame of mind in this song regarding the rebellion of Israel. This stanza is a recount of the Exodus, of his deliverance of them from the oppression of Egypt. He not only delivered them from their hardship, but he led them to a place flowing with milk and honey. This is indeed a story of our life. We were living under the oppression of an evil empire, the prince of this world had enslaved us. God delivered us from the hand of the oppressor with mighty acts. Although we cannot say that we saw locust, frogs, flies, hail, fire, grasshoppers, rivers of blood, or a darkened sun, we were living in a darkened life. There were many things which were needed to be destroyed in our life. Because of the Holy Spirit, we were given sight of the light. There was a beckon of hope, a shining light to guide us out of the darkness into the light. There were things in our life which needed to be overcome by his mighty power, which he did as swiftly as he moved against the oppressor of Egypt. The Holy Spirit threw Satan out, he gave him the boot, he put his foot in his neck and caused him to release us to follow Jesus through the desert to a land flowing with milk and honey. This land we could see in a twofold way. First, we could view it as the new city of Jerusalem where we will spend all of eternity with our Lord, This is certainly a divine land which the Lord is leading us to. Every day we get on step closer to it. In this view we would have to say we are, at the moment, traveling through the desert, that our life is certainly a temporary situation and we are totally dependent on the Lord to provide us the food of angels, water from the rock, the quail which comes to us. We would also have to admit we are lost in this place, but can only follow the pillar of fire at night and of smoke in the day. We move when he does and we stay when he does. Life might be a bit like that, at least in some ways. Second we could see this land of milk and honey as the place we are already in. That our life is flowing with milk and honey. We are in the land God has led us to. He has drove out all things in our path and he has brought us to a great land, a place of his choosing, designed especially for us. He has made this place his temple, he has taken up residence within us. He has planted us by the spring of living water that flows from the Rock, his Son Jesus, and causes us to send our roots into the stream and to bear much fruit. He ensures our leaves will not wither and whatsoever we do will prosper. (See psalm one) We are living in a great place filled with the presence of the Lord. What a joy to know that he has led us here.  But we must not be like the Israelites, We need to learn a lesson from their rebellious ways. The always complained, they were never satisfied, they always wanted more, and then they forgot about God. Here we are living in the land flowing with milk and honey, it is well with my soul. That is our song, the words of our mouth and the meditation of our mouth be pleasing in the sight, the ears of God. We are flowing with milk and honey.