Bird's-eye view
This brief but potent passage is a case study in the anatomy of corporate sin and its tragic consequences, not just for the people, but for their leaders. The Psalmist, in his long litany of Israel's covenant faithlessness, comes to the infamous incident at Meribah. Here, the sin of the people becomes a contagion that infects even the great lawgiver, Moses. The people's grumbling rebellion provokes Moses to a flash of sinful anger, a rash outburst that dishonors God and results in his own barring from the Promised Land. This is a sobering lesson on several fronts. It demonstrates how the sins of a congregation can bring a terrible weight to bear upon their pastor. It shows that even the godliest of men are susceptible to falling, particularly when provoked by the persistent foolishness of those they lead. And it reveals the high standard to which God holds his appointed authorities; their sin is not excused by the provocation of others. Ultimately, it points us to the perfect Mediator, the Lord Jesus, who endured the ultimate provocation on the cross without a single rash word, bearing the sins of His people perfectly.
The core issue is a chain reaction of sin. The people rebel, their spirit of rebellion vexes the Spirit of God at work in Moses, and Moses, in turn, acts and speaks out of his own vexed spirit rather than God's. The consequence is severe, "it went badly with Moses," a stark reminder that leadership carries with it a heavy accountability. The people's sin did not occur in a vacuum; it dragged their leader down with them, and God's judgment on Moses was a judgment on the whole nation he represented.
Outline
- 1. The Contagion of Sin (Psalm 106:32-33)
- a. The People's Provocation (v. 32a)
- b. The Leader's Consequence (v. 32b)
- c. The Root of the Failure: Rebellion (v. 33a)
- d. The Fruit of the Failure: Rash Speech (v. 33b)
Context In Psalms
Psalm 106 is a companion to Psalm 105. While Psalm 105 recounts the history of Israel from the perspective of God's covenant faithfulness, Psalm 106 tells the same story from the perspective of Israel's persistent covenant unfaithfulness. It is a national confession of sin, a long and sorry record of rebellion, idolatry, and ingratitude. The psalm begins and ends with praise ("Praise the Lord!"), framing this history of sin within the context of God's enduring mercy and goodness. The incident at the waters of Meribah is just one example in a long list that includes the golden calf, the rebellion at the Red Sea, the lusting for meat, and the idolatry at Baal-peor. By including the failure of Moses, the psalmist underscores the pervasive nature of this sin. No one was immune. From the common man to the great prophet-leader, all had sinned and fallen short, demonstrating Israel's constant need for the salvation that could only come from God Himself.
Key Issues
- Corporate Sin and Leadership
- The Nature of Provocation
- Rebellion Against God's Spirit
- The Sin of Rash or Unguarded Speech
- Accountability and Divine Judgment
- Moses as a Type of Christ (in failure)
When the Shepherd Stumbles
There is a deep and painful principle embedded in this text that every pastor and every congregation ought to consider with fear and trembling. The sins of the people do not stay with the people. A rebellious, grumbling, and contentious congregation creates a spiritually toxic environment, and the fumes from that toxicity can poison the leadership. It is a heavy burden to lead God's people, and when the people are determined to be stiff-necked, they can provoke even the meekest of men to sin. Moses was renowned for his meekness (Numbers 12:3), yet here, the incessant pressure of a faithless people finally got to him. He snapped.
But while we can understand the cause, we must not excuse the effect. God holds leaders to a higher standard precisely because they represent Him. When Moses struck the rock twice in anger and spoke presumptuously, he misrepresented the character of God before the people (Numbers 20:7-12). He made it look as though God were an exasperated, angry tyrant, just like Moses was in that moment, rather than the gracious provider of living water. The people's sin created the conditions for the fall, but the sin was still Moses' own. This is a two-way street. Congregations must pray for and support their leaders, lest they become a snare to them. And leaders must guard their own hearts, knowing that the pressures of ministry will inevitably expose any weakness that is there.
Verse by Verse Commentary
32 They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, so that it went badly with Moses on their account;
The psalmist identifies the location: the waters of Meribah, which means "strife" or "quarreling." The name of the place memorialized the sin that happened there. The people quarreled with Moses because there was no water, and in doing so, they were actually quarreling with the Lord. They provoked Him to wrath. Their faithless grumbling was an assault on the character and provision of God. But the text immediately pivots to the consequence, not for the people, but for their leader. "So that it went badly with Moses on their account." The Hebrew is direct; the trouble came to Moses because of them. This is corporate responsibility. Their sin had a direct, causal link to the downfall of their federal head. It is a terrifying thought that the sins of a people can be the occasion for the judgment of their leaders. A church gets the leadership it deserves, and sometimes a rebellious church can ruin a good leader.
33 Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.
This verse drills down into the spiritual mechanics of the event. Why did it go badly for Moses? First, the people's rebellion is defined more precisely. They were rebellious against His Spirit. This could mean they vexed the Holy Spirit of God, who was present with them. Or, it could mean they embittered the spirit of Moses, God's representative. The two are likely intertwined; in rebelling against God's appointed man, they were rebelling against the Spirit who appointed and worked through him. Their sin was not merely against a human leader, but against the divine authority he represented.
The result of this provocation was that Moses "spoke rashly with his lips." The original account in Numbers 20 tells us he said, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" The "we" was presumptuous, taking credit that belonged to God. The tone was one of angry exasperation, not holy authority. The words were foolish, intemperate, and unbelieving. After forty years of patient leadership, the constant friction of the people's sin finally wore him down, and out came the unfiltered contents of his own vexed heart. It was a momentary failure, but a catastrophic one. It was a sin of the tongue, fueled by a heart that had, for a moment, forgotten whom it served. It serves as a permanent warning about the immense danger of unguarded speech, especially for those in authority.
Application
This passage is a bucket of cold water for any romantic notions about church life or leadership. It forces us to confront the reality of our shared sinfulness and corporate responsibility. For those in the pews, the lesson is stark: your sin, your grumbling, your contention, your faithlessness does not just affect you. It creates a spiritual atmosphere. You are either contributing to an environment where your leaders can thrive in holiness, or you are contributing to one that tempts them, provokes them, and wears them down. Do you pray for your pastors? Do you encourage them? Or do you join the chorus at the waters of Meribah, demanding water and forgetting the God who split the sea?
For those in leadership, the warning is equally severe. You are not immune. The very people you are called to serve will, at times, be the source of your greatest temptations. You will be provoked. You will be misunderstood. You will be sinned against. In those moments, the temptation will be to respond like Moses did, with fleshly anger and rash words. This is why a leader's primary responsibility is the cultivation of his own heart before God. You cannot lead others to the living water if you yourself are not drinking deeply from it every day. Your authority comes from God, and you must represent His character faithfully, not your own exasperated feelings.
And for all of us, this failure of Moses, the great lawgiver, should drive us to Christ. Moses, the meekest man on earth, stumbled. He could not bear the weight of the people's sin. But Jesus, the greater Moses, bore the full weight of all our provocations, all our rebellion, all our filth, and He did it without sin. When reviled, He did not revile in return. He is the perfect Shepherd who never stumbles, the High Priest who never fails. He is the rock that was struck for us, and from Him flows the living water of grace that can wash away the stain of our own Meribahs.