Considering Christ » grumblig

Distortions of a Grumbling Spirit

Eric Holter — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 15:53:03 +0000

“The sons of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’”
3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had 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, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (ESV)
', 'Exodus 16:3', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Exodus+16%3A3');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Exodus+16%3A3" >Exodus 16:3

It seems impossible that Israel would grumble so soon after seeing such a wonder as the parting of the Red Sea and the wholesale destruction of Pharaoh and the army of Egypt. Within three verses in the text (three days in real time for the Israelites) they go from the heights of praise singing and dancing, to grumbling against Moses for water. And then again, they grumbled about food, and then for water again. As an outside observer reading the story it’s easy to criticize Israel, but guess what? I do the same thing almost every day. Such is the blindness of unbelief. It will not be satisfied with the past works of God. It will not trust in the future works of God. At the moment of need it grumbles and complains rather than trusting in God.

All I have to do to see how much I have in common with Israel is to equate each impulse I have toward grumbling with the same sin of unbelief that Israel demonstrated in the wilderness. Ouch.

I don’t want to be unbelieving but believing. I’d rather act with anticipation waiting patiently by faith to see the gracious provision of God for my needs, than grumble and complain, poisoning my heart, blinding me to His goodness, and dishonoring Christ.

10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. (ESV)

', '1 Corinthians 10:10', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Corinthians+10%3A10');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Corinthians+10%3A10" >1 Corinthians 10:10 says that this exact passage (noting especially the grumbling of Israel) was written for my instruction, that I might take heed and resist temptation–the temptation in this case to grumbling. So what is there that can help me be more faithful and less complaining?

The passage reveals two things that happen when the grumbling of unbelief rises in my soul. By learning to recognize these two traits of unbelief perhaps I can enact an early warning system in my soul so that when I start to see them I can repent more quickly.

One, the grumbling of unbelief does not see who its accusation is really directed toward, and two, it greatly exaggerates and distorts the circumstances at hand.

First it is misdirected. When I grumble in unbelief it may be at my computer, my children, a client, or some other object of frustration. Yet, the providence of God is behind every circumstance and so my grumbling is really against God. I can just imagine my computer responding like Moses, “who am I, just a bunch of processors and circuit boards–that you complain against me–your grumblings are not against me, but against the Lord.”

Secondly, when I grumble in unbelief my perceptions get distorted. There may very well be a real frustration or need, but in unbelief I exaggerate and mischaracterize the problem. Did Israel really believe that Moses did everything he did with the purpose of getting them out into the desert just to starve them to death? Come on! How could they say that? Yet what do I do when my computer won’t print? “Ahgh, that Bill Gates is out to get me! Microsoft is evil, they are trying to drive me crazy” How exaggerated and distorted! How blind to the hundreds of blessings my computer enables every day! For every software glitch I experience there must be thousands working properly, each designed by an engineer with a genuine desire to make my life better or easier through software. Yet one failure and my flesh is convinced that “they’re all out to get me.”

If I monitor the thoughts of my heart closely, looking out for these two characteristics of a grumbling unbelieving heart, perhaps I will catch myself more often and thereby sin less and trust God more. But what of the dozens of times every day when I don’t catch my grumbles? After all, murmuring and complaining flow so naturally out of a sinful heart like mine. What of all these sins? Thank God, His Grace by the blood of Christ is powerful enough to both change me and to forgive me when I fail–though my failure is as common as breathing. John Owen described so well, the vastness of God’s grace in view of the commonness of my sins,

“How many millions of sins, in every one of the elect, every one whereof were enough to condemn them all, has this love overcome! What mountains of unbelief does it remove! Look upon the conversation of any one saint, consider the frame of his heart, see the many stains and spots, the defilements and infirmities, wherewith his life is contaminated, and tell me whether the love that bears with all this be not to be admired. And is it not the same towards thousands every day? What streams of grace, purging, pardoning, quickening, assisting, do flow from it every day! This is our Beloved, O ye daughters of Jerusalem.” Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Beware O my soul, of the misdirection of grumbling and the exaggeration of circumstances. Though they may be toward inconsequential things, like computers, they nevertheless reveal the presence of unbelief in your heart. So repent. Listen to the Word–it is not silicon chips that you vent your rage toward, but the Lord. And He is not out to get you. Far from it, He is out to bless you. When you hear the grumbling of unbelief rising up—be quiet, repent, and remind yourself of what is true and accurate about your circumstances. Put off the grumbling of unbelief and return to the songs of praise which flow from seeing and remembering the glory of the Lord, His goodness, His perfect care, and the millions of ways He blesses you every day. So be it Lord. Amen.

Nevertheless I Will Look Toward Your Holy Temple

Eric Holter — Wed, 05 May 2004 18:37:55 +0000

“I called out of my distress to the LORD,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol;
You heard my voice.
For You had cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current engulfed me.
All Your breakers and billows passed over me.
So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again toward Your Holy Temple.’ “

2 saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
3 For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’ (ESV)
', 'Jonah 2:2-4', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Jonah+2%3A2-4');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Jonah+2%3A2-4" >Jonah 2:2-4

Listen carefully my soul. What do you say when God, in his inscrutable ways, casts you into the deep? What happens in your heart when you feel expelled from the Lord’s presence? Whether you are engulfed as the result of your own sin, fleeing from the Lord like Jonah, or whether your trial is for no apparent cause, such as Joseph’s experience in prison, listen carefully to what your heart says in that day. O that you would say “Nevertheless I will look again toward thy Holy Temple!” Trials, whether self-inflicted from sinning, or purely from your heavenly Father’s perfect design for your holiness and purity, will come. Such times of affliction are appointed to you. What will you say when you are in such distress? Will you look toward the one who afflicts you, the one who casts you into the deep, and cry out to Him for help? Will you set your face steadfast toward His Holy Temple? Will you remember the Lord and look to Him to bring you up from the depths?

Listen soul; in the day of trouble do not make your struggle worse by turning away from the one who saves. Do not raise a complaint against Him. Cry out to Him, call to Him, look to Him and He will raise you up out of the pit. O that my soul would look to God, even though He strike me. Such fruit of faith, such steadfastness, will produce confidence and strengthen my assurance in God, the God who holds me in His hands. That my heart would look to God in the midst of affliction is in itself a blessing from God, a blessing that demonstrates the preserving power of the God I trust.

But what if I do raise a complaint like Job? What if I turn my face away and declare God unjust in what He has done to me? Beware soul, such a response is deadly; such a response in your heart maybe the very thing God is raising to the surface in casting you under the waves. Perhaps such poisonous thoughts of God were killing your faith quietly, until His afflictions came. So if your find your heart turning away from His Holy Temple in affliction, tremble and repent. Turn your complaint into deeply felt gratitude that your heavenly father is willing to go to any lengths to purify out all dross and faith-killing poison from your heart. Confess your weakness, your faithlessness, your discontent, and turn your gaze toward His Holy Temple. Cry out to Him and hear His answer to you. Know that all His purposes for you are for your good and your eternal happiness. Trust Him in the day of trouble and let your roots grow deep in Him.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD.
For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.”

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (ESV)
', 'Jer. 17:7-8', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Jer.+17%3A7-8');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Jer.+17%3A7-8" >Jer. 17:7-8

Singing Belief or Grumbling Unbelief

Eric Holter — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 18:20:03 +0000

“Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.”

“Then they despised the pleasant land;
They did not believe His word.
But they grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord. “

106:1 Praise the Lord!
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times!

4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.

6 Both we and our fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
that he might make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe
and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.

13 But they soon forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and put God to the test in the desert;
15 he gave them what they asked,
but sent a wasting disease among them.

16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses
and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 Fire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.

19 They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

24 Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
25 They murmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
scattering them among the lands.

28 Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31 And that was counted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.

32 They angered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33 for they made his spirit bitter,
and he spoke rashly with his lips.

34 They did not destroy the peoples,
as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and played the whore in their deeds.

40 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he abhorred his heritage;
41 he gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low through their iniquity.

44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he heard their cry.
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant,
and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by all those who held them captive.

47 Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.

48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord! (ESV)
', 'Psalms 106', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalms+106');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalms+106" >Psalms 106: 12, 24-25

What a contrast between belief and unbelief in the hearts of God’s people. When we walk in faith, believing in his Word, we sing his praises! Joy fills our hearts and we delight to be in His presence. “Whistle while you work” goes that simple song, but O how profound. His yoke is easy and his burden is light when we trust him and look to him to “act on behalf of the one who waits for him” (

64:1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly? (ESV)

', 'Isaiah 64', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Isaiah+64');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Isaiah+64" >Isaiah 64: 4). The hardest of tasks lose their oppressive weight when we, like Paul, work hard, “yet not I but the grace of God with me” (

15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (ESV)

', '1 Corinthians 15', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Corinthians+15');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Corinthians+15" >1 Corinthians 15: 10). To work and serve “so as by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (

11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

', '1 Peter 4:11', 'http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Peter+4%3A11');" onmouseout="domTip_clearTip('false')" href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Peter+4%3A11" >1 Peter 4:11) results in our singing and delighting in God’s praise and glory.

But O what struggle it is to do even the simplest tasks while groaning in unbelief. Even a pleasant land can seem dry and unbearable. Our songs are replaced by grumbling; our joy, replaced by frustration.

O to be believing and not unbelieving. It makes all the difference in the fruit of our lips and the condition of our hearts. Do not forget, O my soul, that God warns His people to be on guard against unbelief, which will always produce a hard grumbling heart. Therefore be engaged in the battle for a believing heart every day. Flee from sin so that to you will not be taken in by its deceitfulness. Thank you Lord that you will win the battle for belief on behalf of all your people. Therefore believe, O my soul! And trust Him to make your work an occasion for whistling and not for grumbling.

“Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks to Thy Holy Name,
And glory in Thy praise.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord.”