Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Psalm 78:19 exposes unbelief by the words it speaks. Israel had already seen Egypt judged, the Red Sea divided, the cloud and fire given, rocks opened, and waters flowing in the wilderness (vv.12-16). Yet they sinned still more against God and tempted Him in their heart by asking meat for their lust (vv.17-18). Then the heart spoke: “Yea, they spake against God.” Their unbelieving words did not begin at the mouth; they came from a heart that had forgotten His works.
“Yea.” The word adds force. Israel did more than inwardly doubt. Their rebellion came out in speech. Verse 18 says they tempted God “in their heart”; verse 19 says they “spake against God.” What was inward became audible. This is why words matter so greatly. Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). The tongue often gives public voice to private unbelief.
“They spake.” God heard what they said. Their words were not lost in the wilderness air. Men may treat complaints as passing expressions of frustration, but God weighs them. Israel’s speech became part of the inspired record of their rebellion. What they said revealed what they believed.
This gives a strong warning against careless speech in trial. Trouble may press hard, hunger may be real, circumstances may seem impossible, but affliction does not make unbelieving words harmless. The mouth must remain under the fear of God when circumstances are difficult. Israel had need, but their speech went beyond need into accusation.
“Against God.” This is the true character of their words. They may have spoken among themselves, but the Spirit says they spoke “against God.” Complaint against His power, goodness, wisdom, or provision is speech against Him. Men often imagine they are only venting about circumstances, leaders, hardship, or delay, while the complaint finally rises against the God who rules them all.
This is especially serious because they spoke against the God who had just delivered them. They had evidence everywhere. The sea behind them had been divided. The rock had poured out water. The cloud was above them. Yet they spoke against Him. Unbelief is not always caused by lack of evidence; often it persists in spite of evidence.
“They said.” Again Scripture records their actual words. God wants us to hear unbelief speak. False doctrine may appear in formal teaching, but unbelief also appears in ordinary conversation. A sentence spoken in frustration can reveal a heart that has begun to question God.
“Can God.” Here is the insult. They reduce the Almighty to a question of ability. They do not ask what God will do according to His wisdom; they ask whether He can do it at all. This is astonishing after everything He had already done.
The question is not humble inquiry. Verse 18 has already interpreted their heart: they tempted God. Verse 20 continues their challenge: “Can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?” Their words are not seeking instruction; they are demanding proof. They put God on trial.
This is the language of practical unbelief. Men may confess with the mouth that God is almighty, then speak in trouble as though their present need has exceeded His strength. They believe He made heaven and earth, raised Christ from the dead, and rules all things, yet ask in fear whether He can handle the next difficulty. Israel teaches how quickly remembered doctrine can be contradicted by present speech.
The answer to “Can God?” is everywhere in Scripture. “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Psalm 115:3). Jeremiah confessed, “there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jeremiah 32:17). Jesus said, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). The issue is never whether God has sufficient power.
Yet faith must not turn God’s ability into a demand upon His will. Because God can do a thing does not mean He has promised to do it according to our desire. Israel’s sin was not simply forgetting omnipotence; they demanded that God prove Himself by satisfying their lust (v.18). Faith trusts both His power and His wisdom.
“Furnish.” To furnish is to supply what is needed and set it in readiness. Israel asks whether God can provide enough in a barren place. The wilderness had no fields, markets, barns, or ordinary supply. Their eyes saw scarcity, and their mouths treated scarcity as though it limited God.
But the wilderness is precisely where God’s provision is most plainly seen. When ordinary means disappear, divine sufficiency does not disappear with them. God fed Elijah by ravens (1 Kings 17:4-6), multiplied the widow’s oil (2 Kings 4:1-7), and fed thousands through a few loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:15-21). Lack of visible means is not lack of divine power.
“A table.” The word makes their challenge stronger. They are not asking whether God can keep them barely alive. They ask whether He can furnish a table. A table suggests prepared provision, sufficiency, and abundance.
The next verses show how foolish their question was. God had already struck the rock so that waters gushed out and streams overflowed (v.20). He would soon rain manna upon them and give them “the corn of heaven” (v.24). “Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full” (v.25). Their question was answered abundantly, but their unbelief still provoked judgment.
“In the wilderness.” This is where faith was tested. The wilderness lacked what Egypt had visibly supplied. Israel could no longer see the normal sources of food, so their confidence failed. They judged God by surroundings instead of judging surroundings by God.
The wilderness is often where the heart is revealed. It strips away visible supports and shows whether trust rested in God or in His usual means. Israel had followed Him out of Egypt, but hardship exposed how quickly their hearts returned to visible provision.
This does not mean needs are imaginary or that saints must pretend hardship is pleasant. Hunger was real. The wilderness was barren. Faith does not deny the condition; it refuses to make the condition greater than God.
Verse 21 shows how God regarded their speech: “Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth.” Their words brought wrath because verse 22 explains the root: “Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.” The Spirit interprets their question for us. “Can God?” was unbelief speaking.
This should make us examine our own words in adversity. Do we speak as though God has forgotten us? Do we magnify the difficulty and diminish His power? Do we recount everything that is lacking while forgetting what He has already done? Do our words strengthen faith in those who hear us, or teach them to doubt with us?
There is a better use of words. Instead of saying, “Can God?” the saint should remember and confess what God has done. Psalm 78 was written so later generations would “set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God” (v.7). Remembering produces trust; forgetting produces questions against Him.
Jesus Christ gives the perfect contrast to Israel in the wilderness. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred, and Satan tempted Him to use His power independently of the Father’s will: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3). Christ refused the temptation and answered, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Israel questioned God’s sufficiency in the wilderness; Christ, though hungry, remained perfectly subject to the word and will of God.
Psalm 78:19 therefore shows unbelief becoming speech. The heart tempted God; the mouth asked, “Can God?” Let every saint fear such words. Do not let a barren wilderness make you speak as though Jehovah were barren also. Remember His works, trust His salvation, ask lawfully for your needs, and leave the manner and measure of provision to Him. The faithful question is not, Can God? It is, What hath God promised, and will I trust Him?
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Psalm 78:19 exposes unbelief by the words it speaks. Israel had already seen Egypt judged, the Red Sea divided, the cloud and fire given, rocks opened, and waters flowing in the wilderness (vv.12-16). Yet they sinned still more against God and tempted Him in their heart by asking meat for their lust (vv.17-18). Then the heart spoke: “Yea, they spake against God.” Their unbelieving words did not begin at the mouth; they came from a heart that had forgotten His works.
“Yea.” The word adds force. Israel did more than inwardly doubt. Their rebellion came out in speech. Verse 18 says they tempted God “in their heart”; verse 19 says they “spake against God.” What was inward became audible. This is why words matter so greatly. Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). The tongue often gives public voice to private unbelief.
“They spake.” God heard what they said. Their words were not lost in the wilderness air. Men may treat complaints as passing expressions of frustration, but God weighs them. Israel’s speech became part of the inspired record of their rebellion. What they said revealed what they believed.
This gives a strong warning against careless speech in trial. Trouble may press hard, hunger may be real, circumstances may seem impossible, but affliction does not make unbelieving words harmless. The mouth must remain under the fear of God when circumstances are difficult. Israel had need, but their speech went beyond need into accusation.
“Against God.” This is the true character of their words. They may have spoken among themselves, but the Spirit says they spoke “against God.” Complaint against His power, goodness, wisdom, or provision is speech against Him. Men often imagine they are only venting about circumstances, leaders, hardship, or delay, while the complaint finally rises against the God who rules them all.
This is especially serious because they spoke against the God who had just delivered them. They had evidence everywhere. The sea behind them had been divided. The rock had poured out water. The cloud was above them. Yet they spoke against Him. Unbelief is not always caused by lack of evidence; often it persists in spite of evidence.
“They said.” Again Scripture records their actual words. God wants us to hear unbelief speak. False doctrine may appear in formal teaching, but unbelief also appears in ordinary conversation. A sentence spoken in frustration can reveal a heart that has begun to question God.
“Can God.” Here is the insult. They reduce the Almighty to a question of ability. They do not ask what God will do according to His wisdom; they ask whether He can do it at all. This is astonishing after everything He had already done.
The question is not humble inquiry. Verse 18 has already interpreted their heart: they tempted God. Verse 20 continues their challenge: “Can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?” Their words are not seeking instruction; they are demanding proof. They put God on trial.
This is the language of practical unbelief. Men may confess with the mouth that God is almighty, then speak in trouble as though their present need has exceeded His strength. They believe He made heaven and earth, raised Christ from the dead, and rules all things, yet ask in fear whether He can handle the next difficulty. Israel teaches how quickly remembered doctrine can be contradicted by present speech.
The answer to “Can God?” is everywhere in Scripture. “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Psalm 115:3). Jeremiah confessed, “there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jeremiah 32:17). Jesus said, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). The issue is never whether God has sufficient power.
Yet faith must not turn God’s ability into a demand upon His will. Because God can do a thing does not mean He has promised to do it according to our desire. Israel’s sin was not simply forgetting omnipotence; they demanded that God prove Himself by satisfying their lust (v.18). Faith trusts both His power and His wisdom.
“Furnish.” To furnish is to supply what is needed and set it in readiness. Israel asks whether God can provide enough in a barren place. The wilderness had no fields, markets, barns, or ordinary supply. Their eyes saw scarcity, and their mouths treated scarcity as though it limited God.
But the wilderness is precisely where God’s provision is most plainly seen. When ordinary means disappear, divine sufficiency does not disappear with them. God fed Elijah by ravens (1 Kings 17:4-6), multiplied the widow’s oil (2 Kings 4:1-7), and fed thousands through a few loaves and fishes (Matthew 14:15-21). Lack of visible means is not lack of divine power.
“A table.” The word makes their challenge stronger. They are not asking whether God can keep them barely alive. They ask whether He can furnish a table. A table suggests prepared provision, sufficiency, and abundance.
The next verses show how foolish their question was. God had already struck the rock so that waters gushed out and streams overflowed (v.20). He would soon rain manna upon them and give them “the corn of heaven” (v.24). “Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full” (v.25). Their question was answered abundantly, but their unbelief still provoked judgment.
“In the wilderness.” This is where faith was tested. The wilderness lacked what Egypt had visibly supplied. Israel could no longer see the normal sources of food, so their confidence failed. They judged God by surroundings instead of judging surroundings by God.
The wilderness is often where the heart is revealed. It strips away visible supports and shows whether trust rested in God or in His usual means. Israel had followed Him out of Egypt, but hardship exposed how quickly their hearts returned to visible provision.
This does not mean needs are imaginary or that saints must pretend hardship is pleasant. Hunger was real. The wilderness was barren. Faith does not deny the condition; it refuses to make the condition greater than God.
Verse 21 shows how God regarded their speech: “Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth.” Their words brought wrath because verse 22 explains the root: “Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.” The Spirit interprets their question for us. “Can God?” was unbelief speaking.
This should make us examine our own words in adversity. Do we speak as though God has forgotten us? Do we magnify the difficulty and diminish His power? Do we recount everything that is lacking while forgetting what He has already done? Do our words strengthen faith in those who hear us, or teach them to doubt with us?
There is a better use of words. Instead of saying, “Can God?” the saint should remember and confess what God has done. Psalm 78 was written so later generations would “set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God” (v.7). Remembering produces trust; forgetting produces questions against Him.
Jesus Christ gives the perfect contrast to Israel in the wilderness. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred, and Satan tempted Him to use His power independently of the Father’s will: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3). Christ refused the temptation and answered, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Israel questioned God’s sufficiency in the wilderness; Christ, though hungry, remained perfectly subject to the word and will of God.
Psalm 78:19 therefore shows unbelief becoming speech. The heart tempted God; the mouth asked, “Can God?” Let every saint fear such words. Do not let a barren wilderness make you speak as though Jehovah were barren also. Remember His works, trust His salvation, ask lawfully for your needs, and leave the manner and measure of provision to Him. The faithful question is not, Can God? It is, What hath God promised, and will I trust Him?