comforts which they had there enjoyed Thus they mis- represented both their past and present condition, that they might the better conceal their ingratitude, and justify their complaints.]
This was nothing less than a contempt of God himself0 —
[What had not God done for them ? What more could he have done ? He had brought them out of Egypt with a high hand; and had overwhelmed their enemies in the Red Sea: he had been their Guide and Protector in all their way: he had given them bread from heaven, and water out of the rock : had revealed unto them his will, and taken them into a peculiar relation to himself above all the people upon the face of the earth; and yet, all that he had done was accounted as nothing, because they wanted flesh to eat. Is it possible to conceive a greater contempt of God than this ? ]
Such a sin is discontent, in whomsoever it is found —
[There are many things in this world which a discontented mind will pant after or regret. But the indulging of such a disposition is rebellion against the Sovereign Disposer of all events ; yea, it is an utter contempt of him. What ! is it not sufficient to have God for our Father, Christ for our Saviour, the Spirit for our Comforter, and heaven for our everlasting inheritance, but must we murmur and complain because all temporal circumstances are not to our mind ? What signifies any temporal want or loss, when we have such unsearchable riches secured to us ? In comparison of such blessings, the greatest of earthly comforts is no more than the dust upon the balance. But this, alas ! we are too apt to forget : we are ready, like the Israelites, to overlook all the mercies we en- joy, through an excessive regret of something lost, or an inor- dinate desire of something unpossessed.]
When we reflect on the exceeding baseness of this conduct, we shall not wonder at, II. The grief of Moses —
We cannot altogether approve of the manner in which Moses expressed his sorrow —
[He not only complained to God, but in reality complained of God himself. God had appointed him to lead that people to the land of Canaan. This should have been considered by him as a singular honour : but he complained of it as a bur- then. Not that he would ever have complained of it, if the
c ver. 20. " Ye have despised the Lord," &c.