And they moved him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account;
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For they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
This verse sits inside a long confession of Israel's history. Here the record turns from the people's sin to its effect on the man who led them: the crowd soured Moses' spirit, and Moses spoke words he could never take back.
The psalm traces one failure after another. Here the failure moves up the chain, from the people to their leader.
Further, the sin of the people leads to the failure of the leader of the people. Provoked by the perversity of the people, Moses spoke rashly with his lips, and has to suffer for his hastiness.
The loss was not only Moses' loss. The people had caused it.
Notice the words, "for your sakes." The congregation badly needed this reminder. It was on their account that Moses — that beloved and honoured servant of the Lord — never crossed the Jordan and never set foot in the land of Canaan. True, "he spoke rashly with his lips," but they "made his spirit bitter" and so provoked him to it. This should have cut them to the heart.
Provocation did not transfer the blame. God had given Moses a plain instruction, and He laid the failure at Moses' own door.
He was told to "speak" to the rock; but he struck the rock, and in his anger struck it twice… None was as meek as Moses. But here he failed and did not sanctify God in the eyes of the people… His indignation may have been righteous, but his words were hasty, and the weight of his sin was that he interfered with God's grace. God would be sanctified according to His grace, not then by judgment. That is why Moses could not enter the land… The people were no doubt the occasion, but the trespass was Moses' and Aaron's own.
Moses turned and spoke to the people instead, and one small pronoun exposed the problem.
He will honour His servants. But the moment we step out of the servant's place to take what we judge to be a higher one, He humbles us… Moses takes the rod and says, "Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" That is, he does not sanctify the Lord in the eyes of the congregation. It is "we," not "the Lord."
The speech took seconds. Its consequence lasted the rest of his life.
It was only for a moment that he left the "door of his lips" unguarded (Psalm 141:3), and the burning words of passion flew out, never to be called back. For a moment he was off his guard. For a moment he failed to watch. His unruly, rebellious tongue spoke those unholy words that cost him his inheritance in the promised land.
If provocation could pull a rash sentence out of the meekest man alive, no one should think the danger small.
When I find a rash speech of Moses in a heated moment recorded like this, I see how much we need a bridled tongue. It is here that Satan gets such an advantage over us… Perhaps it is not too much to say this: almost all the mischief that arises among believers comes from speaking rashly with the lips.
The remedy offered is simple, and it works on the gap between feeling provoked and opening your mouth.
Firmly refuse to open your lips to speak your words while they are red hot. Let them cool, so that you do not, like Moses, speak rashly with your lips.
Where Moses gave way, another stood.
Notice what is so remarkably testified of the Lord Jesus, standing where Moses failed. When He was here, all the scorn of those who tried to trap Him in His talk, all the opposition of sinners against Himself, all their objections, never drew one rash word from His lips.
Scripture does not hide the failure of its best men. That honesty has a purpose.
Let a man tell the life story of his fellow man, and he tries to hide his failures. Why? Because he wants to exalt the man. Let the Holy Spirit write the life of a believer, and He records the sins and failures of that believer. Why? Because He exalts the grace of God. It is a blessed thing, too, when we can use even our failures to exalt the grace of God. After all this, we still find Moses speaking with God face to face, in confidence and close fellowship.
- Provoked — the people soured the spirit of the man who led them. Their sin did not stop with themselves.
- Spoken — a bitter spirit came out as hasty words that put "we" where the Lord's name belonged.
- Responsible — the crowd was the occasion, but the trespass was Moses' own.
- Costly — one unguarded moment cost him his inheritance in the promised land; refuse to speak while your words are red hot, and let them cool.
- Recorded — Scripture keeps the failure on the page, not to shame the servant but to exalt the grace of God.