THE SWEETENING TREE

And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them – Exodus 15:25

“Moses and Israel had seen God triumph over the horse and its rider and bury the Egyptian army in the sea. They paused for a moment to sing the “Song of Redemption” (Exodus 15:1-18), then marched three days through the vast wasteland of Shur to an old oasis where they expected to find water.

There was water there, but it was bad water, and it left a bitter taste. God’s people began to mutter among themselves and murmur against Moses. “What are you going to do now?” they grumbled, “What are we going to drink?” Moses didn’t have a clue.

Then the Lord pointed out a tree to Moses – a rugged piece of wood that grew beside the oasis – and told Moses to throw it into the water, which he did, “and the water became sweet” (15:25).

Joy and sorrow are often juxtaposed. How quickly our enjoyment can turn into bitterness. One moment we’re singing the Song of Redemption, the next moment we’re crying the blues, complaining about our circumstances, muttering over our lot, and allowing the bitterness of the moment to seep into our souls.

The power of these foul moods is that they make the old self seem right in its insistence that we were made for ease and affluence and that present circumstances are depriving us of the good life. “It isn’t fair!” we complain, then sulk and pout. We grow more embittered and rancorous with every memory; we lapse into lethargy and depression.

There is, however, a tree which, when cast into our bitter waters, can make them sweet. It is

The cross on which the Savior died,
and conquered for His saints,
This is the tree by faith applied,
that sweetens all complaints.
(ALFRED NEVIN)