Careful Requests

They soon forgot His works and would not wait for His counsel. They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert. He gave them what they asked for but sent a wasting disease among them. - Psalm 106:13-15

Has anyone ever warned you to be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it? Did you, like many of us, go ahead and ask anyway?

David's psalm above points to a time in Israel's past when they asked God to meet a particular need, which He met, but with some nasty consequences. Their story, coupled with David's words, gives us some insight into those moments in life where bringing a request before the Lord can (sometimes) be a mistake.

Verse 13 informs us that the Israelites forgot all that God had done for them in the past and decided not to wait for His counsel, to in fact, ignore it; therefore, when they cried out to God in distress, they did so with ungrateful hearts. Like screaming infants, they demanded more without a conscious "thank you" for what they already graciously received.

To ask ungratefully is an insult to grace. Let us be careful, not only for what we ask, but also how.

We are urgent about the flesh; God cares about the soul. We cry out for present comforts; He considers our everlasting rest. And therefore, when He sends not the very things we ask, He hears us by sending greater than we can ask or think. - Richard Cecil