People who are blessed

Num. 22:12

We have been following the Israelites in their wilderness journey for some days now. Now, they have come to the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho. They have defeated the Canaanites, Amorites and the king of Bashan. As Balak, the Moabite king saw them, he became afraid and summoned Balaam to curse the Israelites. But the LORD spoke to Balaam and said, “You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed” (Num. 22:12). Balaam went on the bless Israel instead of cursing them – much to the chagrin of Balak and the Canaanites.

All these happened without Israel’s knowledge.

From this story, we can understand how the LORD protected His people. Though Israel did not know, the LORD was always there to protect them. The LORD always had plans for His people, plans to make them prosper (cf. Jer. 29:11).

Meanwhile, the Israelites continued to grumble (as they always did) and wanted to go back to their lives of enslavement. They did not understand the love of God or how blessed they were.

Today, many of us are still like the Israelites of those days – never really understanding the love of God. We do not know what God did for us so we could see another light of day, do we? Instead, we pride ourselves in our ‘free thinking’ and ‘liberal ideas’, often ridiculing God’s love. We have become so insolent that we fail to see goodness in people and in the LORD. We spent our days running after our own vain shadows. How would the LORD feel?

Just as the LORD said, “they are blessed,” we are also blessed beyond measure. We have eternal life, we have been protected and shown kindness and immeasurable blessings. Do we really understand how blessed we are?

Psalm 3:5 says, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.”

Don’t you also think that it is time to count all our blessings and praise the LORD for all his providence, instead of just lumbering around and gloating on our own vain achievements?