Trust the Lord for Spiritual Food

Sunday

Today’s Old Testament reading is the Exodus story of manna in the wilderness. Reformed slave trader John Newton has a good poem on the episode.

The Israelites are understandably complaining about starving to death. “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread;” they cry out, “for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Relaying God’s word, Moses assures them, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” And so it happens:

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

There’s a follow-up that Newton references in his poem:

Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Best known for “Amazing Grace,” Newton contends that we must continually renew our faith in God since not doing so will lead to “the worms of pride and strife.” He may be talking about how religious awakening can degenerate into sterile ideology. Although (to quote “Amazing Grace”) God may have brought him through “many dangers, toils and snares,” he’s not home free yet. He must continue to renew that faith daily lest it become a “notion[ ] resting only in the head.” 

Manna Hoarded
By John Newton

The manna favored Israel’s meat,
Was gathered day by day;
When all the host was served, the heat
Melted the rest away. 

In vain to hoard it up they tried,
Against tomorrow came;
It then bred worms and putrefied,
And proved their sin and shame. 

‘Twas daily bread and would not keep,
But must be still renewed;
Faith should not want a hoard or heap,
But trust the Lord for food. 

The truths by which the soul is fed,
Must thus be had afresh;
For notions resting in the head,
Will only feed the flesh. 

However true, they have no life,
Or unction to impart;
They breed the worms of pride and strife,
But cannot cheer the heart. 

Nor can the best experience past,
The life of faith maintain;
The brightest hope will faint at last,
Unless supplied again. 

Dear Lord, while we in prayer are found,
Do thou the Manna give;
O! let it fall on all around,
That we may eat and live. 

In my experience, renewing one’s connection with God is like exercise: if one doesn’t attend to it regularly, the heart suffers. However meaningful past experiences have been, “the brightest hope will faint at last/ Unless supplied again.”