When it comes to a relationship like marriage, doubt is destructive. But why does something recognized as destructive in human relationships get elevated to virtuous when it comes to God? The problem is that many think of spiritual matters as if they were discussing something impersonal. However, God is a someone to whom you relate. When you doubt in spiritual matters, you are putting a question mark behind someone.

This is why the Bible never describes doubt as a virtue. Unfortunately, there is a long history of doubting amongst God's people. Take Psalm 78, which was written for God's people to instruct and teach their children. There were lessons to be learned from the Exodus out of Egypt. There were ups and downs in the covenant relationship. The downs were because the people were fickle. Throughout this Psalm, there's a con­stant refrain of human rebellion.

This is the context for the doubts expressed in verses 19 and 20. The people of Israel had been set free from slavery, for God had heard their cries to him. The people witnessed how God destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. He had been faithful towards them. And when they were in need of water, he provided from the rock. God never let his people down.

That makes verse 19 shocking. They spoke against God. This is person­al; the language here reflects the stance of someone who's become an adversary.

This is relational language, but it's not friendly relational language.

The questions being asked here are not genuine questions. Rather, the people were discontented, and that's reflected in the tone. The Israelites looked back on Egypt and its food in endless variety. Egypt was like a buf­fet. Now they'd gone from the buffet to the bare minimum and they weren't happy about it. They blamed God, and they said, "Can God give us the var­iety of tasty foods that we enjoyed in Egypt? We're sick of what's here!" They acknowledged that he'd given them water. But could he give them the meat they really wanted?

Notice the one word that pops up three times in verses 19 and 20. It's the word "can." Can God spread a table? Can he also give us food? Can he supply meat? That word is one of doubt. Is God able to do these things? That's in question by his people here.

It's little wonder that God reacted with anger. He disciplined them for slapping him in the face. These ques­tions and doubts did not go unnoticed in heaven. God heard them and was not pleased.

Yet God remained faithful. That's the other theme that runs through this entire psalm. There's human rebel­lion, but despite that, there is divine faithfulness. There is grace and mercy. God still provided food for them. He rained down manna from heaven. He sent quails to fill their stomachs. God always provided for his people.

The point Asaph makes here is that God has always been faithful – always is, and always will be. How­ever, God's people doubt. They should not, but they do. Still, God never lets go. The take-away is that God's people should never doubt his power and willingness to provide.

The food and drink he provided in the wilderness pointed ahead to the spiritual food and drink he would pro­vide in the Savior. In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul speaks of the Israelites eating and drinking the same spiritual food and drink as we do. This all relates to God's grace in Christ. If God can and will provide food and drink for our physical needs, then he can and will provide for our spiritual needs also. We ought never to doubt God.

God has given us certain things so that we do not doubt. One of those things is his Word. His Word comes to us regularly, testifying of his power and ability to take care of us in every way. We need to hear, read, and be­lieve that Word. We need to ask for the continued grace of the Holy Spirit, so that we would never doubt any­thing that our Father says.

The Word of God is powerful to dispel our doubts. It firms up our faith in a gracious God. Listen to that Word and never doubt God's power and willingness to provide for all we need. He is truly faithful always!