March 18, 2026 - Exodus 16 & Psalm 62

We reflect on Israel’s grumbling in Exodus 16 and God’s surprising patience as he provides manna and quail day after day. We connect that daily provision to Psalm 62 and the call to wait in silence, trust God alone and stop looking for “God plus something else.”

For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compassbiblesv.org. Keep reading. Keep growing. God’s Word is a lamp to your feet, and a light to your path. 

Transcript

Exodus 16 Summary And Setup

Psalm 62 Reading

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Lamp and Light by Weirding Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word lighting the way. I'm Josiah Smith, joined by Tyler Sanborn. Today's Wednesday, March 18th, 2026. Here's a quick summary of Exodus 16. Now, of course, the nation of Israel has been delivered dramatically and decisively by God from the Egyptians. We just read about that, the parting of the Red Sea, them walking on dry ground, all of those fantastic acts of God. And here in Exodus 16, we see the Israelites grumbling. They're grumbling because they don't feel like they have enough food to eat, and they are thinking about and longing for the provision that they experience in Egypt. And so they're complaining to Moses and Aaron and God, despite their complaining, says that he will provide for them manna from heaven and quail. So they're going to have meat and they're going to have bread. And there's some specific instructions that he gives about gathering them and how much and how much they should keep and what they should do with it when they are done with it. And we see all of those instructions and ultimately God's faithfulness to provide for his people in the midst of their time in the wilderness. It says 40 years here in Exodus 16, where God provides for them, both again the quail and the bread and the instructions that go along with those things.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Listen intently to God's written word. How long will all of you attack a man to batter him? Like a leaning wall, a tottering fence. They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken. On God rest my salvation and my glory. My mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Those of low estate are but a breath. Those of high estate are a delusion. In the balances they go up. They are together lighter than a breath. Put no trust in extortion. Set no vain hopes on robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them. Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this that power belongs to God and that you to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love, for you will render to a man according to his work.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Exodus 16, Tyler, reminds me of when I was a kid and we'd go on family vacations. My parents, specifically my dad, but my parents, they made it a priority for us as a family to get away, usually once a summer, to take a family vacation. And a lot of the time we would travel to a different state and we would often go to amusement parks of some variety. So I went to Busch Gardens, I went to um Universal Studios, I went to Disney, I went to different six flags in Texas, six flags over Texas, six flags over San Antonio. Uh went to a lot of different theme parks. Some of them are water parks. I went to Schlitterbahn in Texas. Uh there's multiple, and there's some in New Braunfels, there's some at uh Gal, what is it, South South Padre Island. Um and we went to a lot of different theme parks. So, of course, theme parks are all about having fun, going on rides, you know, roller coasters, whatever. And my dad, and this makes sense for anyone that spends a lot of money on things like that. My dad would want to get there before the gates opened and not leave until the gates were closing. All day. All day, because he was spending a lot of money for me and my three siblings. So six of us total, he was paying for to go enjoy the fun at the amusement park. So we'd get up super early, we'd be at the amusement park typically by like 7, 7:30 in the morning, and we would not leave until like 11 p.m. at night. Uh so because of that, you can imagine amidst all the fun and amidst all the the just you know, the what do they call Disney, the happiest place on earth, and all of that stuff, as a kid, I complained a lot because I had to wake up early, I had to be somewhere all day, late into the night, and I was exhausted and I and I wanted to go home. At some point, the fun stopped being fun. And even though my dad was providing something for me out of his own generosity, uh, I was often complaining, me and my siblings, because it just felt like too much.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

But what you're saying is, even in the experience at the theme parks, at a certain point, you're like, eh, can this be can we can we go home? Can we go back to the hotel?

Israel’s Grumbling And God’s Patience

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Because I'm tired. I'm tired, Dad. And uh actually to this day, I don't really care for theme parks. I think because of that, because I I am just burnt out. But that reminds me of Exodus 16 because, of course, in a in a far more serious and significant way than just taking a family vacation to a theme park. God has done something out of his kindness, out of his generosity, out of his character for the nation of Israel. He has delivered them from slavery to the Egyptians. And yet, what do we see in Exodus chapter 16? They are grumbling and complaining. Verse 2 says, And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

And this isn't their stomachs, this is with their mouths, correct?

SPEAKER_01 6:40

The whole, yeah, the whole congregation. Can you imagine? I mean, sometimes, you know, Tyler, you and I, we we probably struggle with our kids complaining, but imagine a whole nation of people. Thousands. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people complaining to you and they want to go back. Like a low hum in the background. They want to go back to Egypt. It even says in verse 3, Would that we have died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full if you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. So that reminds me of when I was at the theme park, I was like, I would rather be in the hotel, in my bed with room service or whatever. We never got room service. We didn't have it like that. But uh give me the continental breakfast. The continental breakfast. Let me go back, Father. Uh, of course, that's obviously tongue in cheek. But here, that's exactly what they're doing. They are saying we would rather go back. We had the meat pots and ate bread to the full. Uh, we made we might have been slaves, but at least we were full with food, which is such a crazy thing to say. But Exodus 16 details their grumbling. And God in his kindness, here's what's so fascinating to me about Exodus 16. God in his kindness hears their grumbling and decides out of his generosity to provide. How often, even in our parenting, do we say, um, you know, we don't give things to kids that are complaining, right? Like that's not how you ask. And we make them ask in different ways, and we make them express gratitude. And those things are right and good. Um, but here in Exodus 16, we see God's just patience and his kindness and his willingness to provide, even in the midst of a people, a nation that were grumbling. So in verse 12, it says, I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God. So of course he gives him the quail, he gives him the manna, but what incredible patience from a patient God amidst the grumbling of his people to provide both in the evening and in the morning. That's that's so incredible to me.

The Daily Test Of Trust

SPEAKER_00 8:58

What a what a miraculous gift uh of God just to continue to provide for his people. And it goes on for for how long? We look to the end of this chapter and we blink, we blink again. Uh in verse 35, we read 40 years, 40 years God provided faithfully, right on time, right according to the schedule. Six days you'll you'll collect, and on the sixth you're gonna collect double because uh you're gonna have enough for the next day, and you're not gonna have to do anything. Just relax, hang out, be be at home. Uh, and a great encouragement for us to just as we see the the theme, the patterns of God's faithfulness, his steadfast provision, uh often not in the ways or in the timing that God's people have would hope, but and nonetheless they they are challenged in their grumblings to can consider the ways that God is uh continuing to provide.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Yeah, and I love the the tight rope of trust that God puts the nation of Israel on because he tells them in verse 16 this is what the Lord has commanded, gather of it, this is the the bread, each one of you, as much as he can eat, you shall you shall each take an omer according to the number of the persons that each you has in his tent, and the people of Israel did so. They gathered some, some more less. Uh but basically he's he says, You are to gather what you can eat, eat it, but don't save it. Uh and of course, what does it say? Uh they did not listen. Some did not. They did not listen. Uh of course in verse 19, and Moses said to them, Let no one leave any of it over till the morning. But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. So the whole point of this, and why I said the tightrope of trust is uh he gave them what they needed for each day, and he said, Don't save it for the next day, because it was it was sort of a test, even it refers to it as the test here of are you going to trust that I will provide? And the Israelites that were hoarding their food were basically saying, I don't trust that I'm gonna have provision for tomorrow. So I got to store it up for myself. And so uh God was not pleased with that, and Moses was angered by that, and I believe rightfully so, they disobeyed. Um, but this was such a, like I said, a tightrope where they each and every day had to trust that they would find bread in the morning, that even though they they couldn't keep it at night, uh except for on the Sabbath, of course, when they stored it up for two days in a row, uh, they couldn't keep it at night. They had to trust that in the morning it was gonna be there. And this kind of reminds me of God's mercy that is new every morning. And this is something for us that we can struggle with, where of course we don't wake up every day with banana on the ground that tastes like honey, but we we can trust in and believe that God's mercies are new every single morning. And I believe in a very real way, we have to walk that tight rope of trust in God that when we wake up, in fact, his mercies are new every morning, that he will provide what we need, that he will give us what is needful for us. And of course, our needs and our desires are sometimes hard to distinguish. Um, but we need to trust that his mercies are new every morning, and that when we wake up, we will have exactly what we need to live an upright and godly life, as Paul says in Titus, in this present age. So I just hope that Exodus 16 is an encouragement to not complain, to not grumble. Don't be like uh younger kid Josiah who complained to his father about having too much fun. Uh, don't complain about the things that God has provided. Uh, don't complain about the timing of his provision or the quantity of his provision or the manner of his provision. There's so many different things that that we can grumble about, just like the nation of Israel. And you got to think that they they are forgetting. Remember, uh, in Exodus, it talks a lot about remember, remember, remember. That was the whole point of the Sabbath, or the rather the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread was for them to remember, to remember, to remember what God has has done, and they have already forgotten. Because they are forgetting how God has provided in the past, they are complaining and grumbling in the present. And so that's a warning for us uh today to not grumble, to not complain, to trust that God's mercies are new every morning, that he will give us exactly what we need to live an upright and godly life today and every day. And we just need to walk that tight rope of trust in the God that has provided so consistently for his people since the beginning.

Psalm 62 Waiting On God Alone

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Amen. Amen, Pastor Josion. Um the this this thought and idea of of just waiting and patiently trusting in God um can be transferred here to our psalm in Psalm 62. And some commentators uh believe that this psalm was written while David was um uh in a season of uh what am I trying to say? Um a season where Absalom, his son, is um is trying to usurp his power uh and take the throne, and uh we we see this this waiting, it's it's repeated. My soul waits in silence. And in verse five, uh for God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. And we see this connection that whether God is going to deliver you from your son or or deliver you from uh a wicked Pharaoh and his army, we have a great hope that and a trust that we can trust in the rock uh of our salvation, as uh David says here in verse 2 He alone, Yahweh alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be uh greatly shaken. And and sometimes we can uh we can feel like doing nothing is uh is and praying, we can think that praying and doing nothing is um not taking action, not opening our mouths to other people is counterproductive. But the the longer that we wait, the longer that we lift our cares to the Lord, the more time we have to gather information about the situation, to receive wisdom from other people that could be a great help to us, that would be able to counsel us. And I think this this psalm this morning is a great reminder for us to uh to wait in silence, but also while we're waiting, there's there's an action that we can be taking. We need to cast our cares uh onto the Lord.

God Plus Something Else

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah, I wrote in the margin here in my in my Bible, it's not God plus, it's God alone. And that's what David says kind of resoundingly throughout Psalm 62. For God alone, my soul waits in silence. That's verse one. He alone is my rock in my salvation. That's verse two. For God alone, oh my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. That's verse five. He only is my rock in my salvation, that is verse six. And so often that's what we struggle with. We we struggle with the alone part, uh, the only part. We we want God, especially for Christians. We should. That should be a basic desire. Uh, we desire to trust in God, we desire to please him, but oftentimes, in very subtle ways, and functionally speaking, we can want God plus something else. We feel like we need God plus something else. And this conversation broadens to all kinds of topics that we don't have time to get into today, uh, like in counseling and things like that. Um, but David had this perspective of for God alone, my soul waits in silence. He alone is my rock and my salvation. So, some good heart work to do is to get out the spade and kind of dig around in the soil of your heart and and and see am I searching for something beyond God? Is it God plus something in my heart, in my mind, or can I say, no, it's God alone. He alone is my rock and my salvation, he alone who is who my soul waits in silence. He only is my rock in my salvation. Can we say those things? Or are we trusting in our finances? Are we having a an over over I don't know, overindulgence uh in uh just the the things of this world and feeling some sense of comfort and and confidence and those things and not God alone? Just some good some good heartwork to do. Again, get the spade out, dig around. I'm using the analogy for for Tyler here because he loves to do gardening and planting and a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Secrets out. The secrets out, and don't don't be confused. If if you have no grass in your yard, don't call it a yard. We were having this debate.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Tyler didn't have any grass in his backyard, and I said, stop calling it a card.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Just rocks and raise beds. It's more of a garden. No, yeah, the the the work that we get to do um waiting on the Lord, and whether it's a it's a setback um physically, whether it's losing a job, whether it's um even even losing someone that you love, there's ways that God is is working in our lives and in getting our attention and teaching us and growing us in ways that uh we might not expect while we're waiting with the unknown, waiting, not knowing what's next. Is is manna gonna be here tomorrow? Uh is God gonna provide? Is what what job is next? I just got laid off. Uh how is God gonna provide this time? And um, we need to to refix and reframe our mind and our perspective. Uh, our life is but a breath. We we're we have the privilege to be known and to know an eternal God, and um we have this encouragement. Life is a breath. Uh, we're not to put our trust uh in anything other than Him, even when riches increase. Uh, verse 10, set not your heart on them.

Heart Work While You Wait

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah, and that that's the difficult part. I even yeah, I I underlined that. I put don't trust riches, don't trust success, don't trust uh predictability, reliability from an earthly perspective, trust alone in God. Um that's the that's the great encouragement here in verse 10. Put no trust in extortion, set no vain hopes on robbery. If riches increase, set not your heart on them. Um the you know, in the New Testament, Jesus talks about how like our earthly treasures, uh thieves can steal, moth, and rust can destroy. Um, but if if you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, they cannot be taken from you, they cannot uh be uh, even as Peter talks about, they are uh undefiled, they are incorruptible, and they're kept in heaven for you. So we need to do that evaluation in our own heart. Is it God alone, or are we looking for God plus something else to find a sense of comfort and a sense of confidence as we navigate this the complexities and the circumstances of this world? Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Podcast. For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass bible sv.org. Keep reading, keep growing. God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.