“O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, As in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, Proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath That they should not enter into my rest.”
Psalm 95:6-11 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.95.6-11.KJV
A Way in the Wilderness
Have you noticed that sometimes life feels like a desert? In moments of pain and anxiety, it may seem like there’s no way out. All we see is an endless wasteland.
The people of Israel faced their worst “desert” when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took its inhabitants captive. Far from home, they lived for decades under oppression. In moments of anguish and despair, they remembered the prophet’s words: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (NIV).
In the ancient Near East, a king’s subjects would “prepare a way” by going ahead of him when he returned to his city. His return implied abundance and protection. The author uses this image to announce a way out of the desert; make a path for the King of Kings, trusting that he will arrive to lead everyone home.
The prophet’s confidence finds a basis in God’s history. God freed Israel from brutal slavery—with ...