Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 106:32-33 (New Living Translation)

32 At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trouble.
33 They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

This is part of the (hi)story of the people wandering the desert before entering the land promised to them by God. It mentions the incident at Meribah. The people complained about the lack of water. That was a legitimate complaint, but poorly delivered. I mean, you need water. Still, you don’t have to be a baby about the whole thing.

God told Moses to go to a rock, speak to the rock, and water would flow. Instead, Moses struck the rock to have water flow. And then Moses tossed in a few poorly chosen words to chastise the people.

Moses was a smart guy. Moses was a righteous guy. What happened to Moses? Why did he fail so miserably here?

Moses was angry. In his anger, he spoke foolishly. Other translations use the adverb “rashly.” He had a short fuse (do people still say that?). He blew his top (do people still say that?).

Not much has changed with us in the past 3,000 years or so. Foolish and rash talk seem to go with anger. How to avoid such talk? Don’t become angry. Well, avoiding anger is a tough one. How about this, when angry, walk into a back room and scream at the walls. Once the anger subsides, come out and talk without so many foolish and rash words.

I don’t want to look like a fool. That is one thing. The more important thing is avoiding the sin. Please God, help me in my anger.