19“Then we set out from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’
22“Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ 23The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.’
26“Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; 27and you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there.” ’ 29Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32But for all this, you did not trust the Lord your God, 33who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.
15For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,
16And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.
17One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top
And as a signal on a hill.
35Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
37For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38But My righteous one shall live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
39But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
1) Where does fear make you “flee” instead of returning and resting in יהוה?
2) How do confidence and endurance counter unbelief when promises seem delayed?
3) What concrete act of trust can you take today toward obedience?
The Bride’s Troubled Dream
1“On my bed night after night I sought him
Whom my soul loves;
I sought him but did not find him.
2‘I must arise now and go about the city;
In the streets and in the squares
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
3The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4Scarcely had I left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”
5“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the gazelles or by the hinds of the field,
That you will not arouse or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
Solomon’s Wedding Day
6“What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like columns of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all scented powders of the merchant?
7Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel.
8All of them are wielders of the sword,
Expert in war;
Each man has his sword at his side,
Guarding against the terrors of the night.
9King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair
From the timber of Lebanon.
10He made its posts of silver,
Its back of gold
And its seat of purple fabric,
With its interior lovingly fitted out
By the daughters of Jerusalem.
11Go forth, O daughters of Zion,
And gaze on King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
And on the day of his gladness of heart.”
Song of Trust in God’s Protection
1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for security.
2Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that remains faithful.
3The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
4Trust in the Lord forever,
For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.
5For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
6The foot will trample it,
The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”
7The way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.
8Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Lord,
We have waited for You eagerly;
Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.
9At night my soul longs for You,
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For when the earth experiences Your judgments
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.
11O Lord, Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it.
They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.
12Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.
13O Lord our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.
14The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.
15You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16O Lord, they sought You in distress;
They could only whisper a prayer,
Your chastening was upon them.
17As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,
Thus were we before You, O Lord.
18We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.