Reading: Psalm 105:39-45
He spread out a cloud as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.
They asked, and he brought them quail;
he fed them well with the bread of heaven.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a river in the desert.
For he remembered his holy promise
given to his servant Abraham.
He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—
that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD (NIV).*

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Reflection
In the previous readings from Psalm 105, the psalmist described the LORD’s covenant relationship with His chosen people, the descendants of Abraham. The psalm then proceeds to outline the redemption and release of the people of Israel from cruel bondage and oppression in Egypt. Today’s reading celebrates God’s provision for them in the wilderness and their arrival in the Promised Land.

He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy; he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.

There is a striking parallel between the Old Testament redemption of the people of Israel and the New Testament redemption of the Christian believer. Paul, the apostle draws our attention to this parallel experience in the tenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).

In today’s psalm portion we read: He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert. From Paul’s writing we understand that the opened rock was Christ. On the cross he was opened, and water and blood gushed out. Life-giving—life-changing redemption flowed out to all who will receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:12-13).

Response: Father God, I live in thanksgiving for the rock that was opened for my redemption. By faith I receive you. Today, I drink in your new life and your redemptive purpose for me. Praise the LORD! Amen.

Your Turn: Is the Rock accompanying you as you travel through the wilderness of this life? What evidence do you have of God’s abiding presence in your life?

* NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, COPYRIGHT ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 BY BIBLICA

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