Do Not TEST The Lord, Our God
BRD REFLECTION 2026
Genesis 6 and Psalm 73: 1-11 (NIV)
(Christina Stanley from Small Group Ministry)
READ:
Psalm 73: 1-11 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
In Psalm 73, the wicked shirk off fear of retribution “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?”. The psalmist struggles to understand why the wicked prospers. I contrast that with Genesis 6. God saw the wickedness of the human race and regrets “… that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled”. What follows is God unleashing a devastating flood that destroys the earth and all mankind, except for Noah, his family and two of all living creatures.
Our God is omniscient. He knows and sees everything – past, present and future. He is also sovereign, He has supreme authority. Nothing that I do, think or act escapes Him. Yet I can be lulled into complacency when everything around me is going well. I become arrogant, I sin, very much like the wicked in Psalm 73. But because He is sovereign, judgment will come, but in His time. In Genesis 6, God takes drastic action to destroy His creation to wipe out corruption and wickedness. God covenants with Noah and his family to spare them, because Noah is deemed righteous.
APPLY:
Reflecting on these passages, I am reminded that I am not to test our Lord God. I am not to underestimate Him. Yes, He is a God of grace, mercy, love and compassion. But He is also a Holy God, to be revered with fear and trembling, and to be obeyed above all. How I am blessed, how I respond to challenges and crises, I am reminded that I am to be accountable. Because everything belongs to the Lord and if I say I love Him, then I must give Him all honour.
DO:
I have to be mindful and intentional that there is a consequence to every word I utter, and how I behave and respond in every situation, knowing that I will always be held accountable by God.
PRAY:
Heavenly Father, knowing that You will hold me accountable in whatever I do, think and say, I pray that the Holy Spirit will help me to extend patience and grace in every situation; to be less quick to judge but to be merciful and compassionate; and to pay attention to the plank in my own eye, rather than to look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye. I pray that You will guide me in all that I do and keep me from stumbling, that others will see Your light in my life. Amen.
