The God Who Can

10/23/2025

Elijah McSwain, Sr.

Psalm 78:12-20 NKJV — Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?”

Many people throughout human history have questioned the power, person, character, and integrity of God. Doubt has filled the minds of millions of people regarding His nature, His existence, and His ability to do what seems humanly impossible. The human population has become skeptical of the Lord due to negative life experiences, unanswered prayers, spiritual blindness, self-sufficiency, unbelief, and more. Their unbelief has led them to question God, rebel against Him, hesitate to trust Him, and live apart from Him. Even in cases where God’s power has been displayed and proven in a person’s life, they still have developed spiritual amnesia, which has caused individuals to forget about the power of God as demonstrated throughout their lifetime. These actions are criminal in nature as these stances attempt to rob God of glory by diminishing His name, character, sovereignty, supremacy, majesty, and power.

Charles Spurgeon once stated, “Every other crime touches God’s territory, but unbelief aims a blow at his divinity, impeaches his veracity, denies his goodness, blasphemes his attributes, maligns his character; therefore, God, of all things, hates first and chiefly, unbelief, wherever it is.” 1

This is exactly what we find in Psalm 78:12-20 regarding the Israelites. God’s chosen people became forgetful, arrogant, rebellious, prideful, and ungrateful. They posed questions like, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” “Can He give bread also?” “Can He provide meat for His people? It is the intent from this passage in light of Israel's dismissal of God, to show us that He is the God who can.

The Historical Record of God’s Provisions

Psalm 78 is considered to be a didactic psalm. A didactic psalm is written to instruct, teach, and impart wisdom related to morality, ethical conduct, and spirituality concerning God’s law, righteousness, and the consequences of rebellion and sin. One writer stated, “This didactic psalm was written to teach the children how gracious God had been in the past in spite of their ancestors’ rebellion and ingratitude. If the children learn well the theological interpretation of their nation’s history, hopefully they would “not be like their fathers (v. 8).” 2 The writer Asaph, who composed this psalm, recorded in verses twelve to sixteen the miraculous and marvelous things that God performed for the Israelites.

In this psalm, he reflects on or recounts the ancient moments in the nation of Israel’s history.

Verse twelve describes the marvelous things the Lord did in the sight of their ancestors in Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

Zoan was a region in the province of Egypt. It was considered to be the ancient place of the Pharaohs, where Moses performed many wonders under God’s orchestration. Zoan is where God allowed the ten plagues to occur, along with other challenges that the Egyptians faced. The ten plagues included the river waters turning into blood, frogs infesting the land, lice becoming as dust throughout the land, swarms of flies, the livestock becoming diseased, a breakout of boils on man and beast, a downpour of hail, locusts invading the territory, darkness covering the land, and the death of every firstborn in the province of Egypt (Exodus chapters 7 to 11). This didactic psalm records these events as a reference point for Israel. Psalm 78:43-51 (NKJV) declares — “When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan; Turned their rivers into blood,

And their streams, that they could not drink. He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them. He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost. He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning. He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble,

By sending angels of destruction among them. He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague, And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham."

Psalm 105:26-38 (NKJV) mentions — "He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, And wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His word. He turned their waters into blood, And killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs, Even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, And lice in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, And splintered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came,

Young locusts without number, And ate up all the vegetation in their land, And devoured the fruit of their ground. He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, The first of all their strength. He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none feeble among His tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen upon them.” God stretched out His hand to perform these signs because of Pharaoh’s rebelliousness in imprisoning and detaining the people of God, even when He declared to let them go. Thus, the writer bears in mind that Israel’s current generation should remember the miraculous and marvelous signs that were done in Zoan.

Not only that, but during the exodus from Egypt, the Lord allowed the Red Sea to be divided when Pharaoh and his army pursued the Israelites (Ps. 78:13, Exodus 14). He divided the waters in the sea like a heap. A heap is depicted when someone piles up snow, sand, or leaves as in a mound.

The Lord, during the Red Sea crossing, split the waters by His oceanic omnipotent power to allow His people to pass through the sea walls to get to the other side.

When Israel was faced with the Red Sea dilemma, as they were surrounded by the sea in front of them, Pharaoh and his six hundred choice chariots behind them, and the wilderness around them, God provided. The Lord told Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea so His people could walk across on dry land. This same heap of water would later be closed by God to drown the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

He is the God who can.

The historical record revealed from verse fourteen that when Israel traveled through the wilderness after crossing the Red Sea, God provided shade from the heat and a light in the sky at night. In the daytime, He led them by a pillar of cloud and at night, He led them with a pillar of fire. The Lord protected Israel from the scorching heat and provided a guiding light during their nighttime journey. Exodus 13:21 (NKJV) records “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.” God’s presence was with them through the miraculous signs they received.

In verses fifteen and sixteen, God provided an abundance of water out of rocks. When the people were thirsty in the wilderness, according to Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:11, God cracked open a rock in Horeb and a rock in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh. Water is an essential element for human survival, and when the water supply was nonexistent, God intervened to provide. He gave them drink in abundance, like the depths, and brought streams out of the rocks, like rivers, for the congregation and the animals to drink.

Matthew Henry affirm that the Lord, “furnished their camp with fresh water in a dry and thirsty land where no water was, not by opening the bottles of heaven (that would have been a common way), but by broaching a rock (Psalm 78:15; Psalm 78:16): He clave the rocks in the wilderness, which yielded water, though they were not capable of receiving it either from the clouds above or the springs beneath. Out of the dry and hard rock he gave them drink, not distilled as out of an alembic, drop by drop, but in streams running down like rivers, and as out of the great depths." 3

God is the God of the impossible. He provided for Israel throughout their history, and we need to recall how He has provided for us.

A Rebellious, Ungrateful, and Forgetful People

Asaph recounted how their ancestors rebelled against God, lacked gratitude, showed unbelief, were uncooperative, and ignored their past victories and provisions from God's hand in verses seventeen to nineteen. After all the signs were performed, after the Lord delivered them, and after the Lord provided for the people of Israel, they rebelled against God. Asaph recalled how they sinned against God in the wilderness (v. 17). The people of Israel rebelled against God by abandoning His ways, forsaking His commands, and turning away from the true and living God to serve idols. They made a golden calf to worship, lacked faith, and chose to live life on their own terms. Psalm 95:8-10 (NKJV) provides a glimpse of this in the psalm being written to the present generation.  — “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways."

James Hamilton wrote, “What did it mean for Israel to harden their hearts on that occasion? It meant they were not contemplating the way their God had done the impossible for them in prying them loose from Pharaoh’s clutches, making the Red Sea a temporary highway for their exclusive use, and giving them manna from heaven to eat. Rather than thinking on all that God had done for them, they thought only on what they did not have: water. Rather than assuming that if God could get them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and make food appear on the ground, he could also give them water, they assumed in Exodus 17:3 that they had been brought into the wilderness to be slain with thirst. They were not remembering what their lives were like before God liberated them, nor were they considering the impossible things God had done for them. And because they were neither remembering nor considering, they were not praising and thanking God for his saving power and love. Distracted by a real need, water, they neglected to praise and thank the real solution to their need, God.” 4

Their rebellious and defiant spirit led them to become ungrateful.

They were not satisfied with the food and other provisions that God graciously gave them in the wilderness (v. 18). So, they tested God in their hearts by asking for food of their fancy. They tested God in their hearts, but they failed to realize He had already proven Himself through what He had already provided. The Israelites wanted God to demonstrate His power according to their own specifications. The people tested God by having an acquired taste for other food than what was supplied. In Exodus 16:2-4 (NKJV) documents “the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”

But as soon as God supplied manna for them, they quickly got tired of feasting on the bread. Then they got irritated with Moses and Aaron, and thus they provoked the Lord by demanding what they wanted. Psalm 106:13-14 (NKJV) states, “They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert.” Their testing of God was based on what used to be as in the good ole days. When they were in Egyptian bondage, the people of Israel remembered the choice food that they had to select from. Numbers 11:4-6 (NKJV) records “Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the  leeks, the onions, and the garlic; “but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

They challenged God to give them their heart's desire. They made requests as if God was a genie in a bottle. They only approached Him so that their wishes could be fulfilled.

The Life Application Study Bible provided insight that “Every morning the Israelites drew back their tent doors and witnessed a miracle. Covering the ground was pale yellow, fluffy manna—food from heaven. But soon that wasn’t enough. Feeling that it was their right to have more, they forgot what they already had. They didn’t ask God to meet their need; instead, they demanded meat, and they stopped trusting God to care for them. “Give us meat to eat!” they demanded of Moses as they reminisced about the good food they had in Egypt.” 5

Israel failed to realize that they tasted of heavenly food prepared by the divine chef.

Numbers mentions that the bread was like coriander seed, whereby the people made cakes of it, and the taste of it was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil (11:7-8). The bread had an acquired taste, yet instead of desiring what God prepared, Israel desired what came from the hand of the enemy. This caused the camp to speak against the Lord and to show irreverence toward Him. They had a negative disposition and attitude toward the Lord that caused them to treat God as something ordinary and common. They doubted God’s ability to provide; thus, it was evident in their grumbling and opposition toward the Lord of glory. The forefathers of Israel had the audacity not only to grumble, complain, and speak against God, but they also questioned Him.

In verses nineteen and twenty, they posed the questions like “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?” “Can He give bread also?” “Can He provide meat for His people?” All along, God was Jehovah-Jireh, their provider.

Their unbelief caused blindness to the fact that He fed them from His hand all along. Unbelief caused blindness, which led to fleshly demands done out of arrogance. Arrogance gave way for them to position themselves in a manner that did not consider all that God’s hand had provided. Thus, they asked, can God provide a table in the wilderness? They asked the other probing questions as an attempt to persuade God to suit their wants.

The Lord does not cater to our wants but supplies us with what we need.

Let’s not become like Israel in being rebellious, ungrateful, unthankful, and bitter which will cause us to operate in the realm of unbelief. Warren Wiersbe claimed, “One thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history. If you study the Bible and church history, you discover that Israel made that same mistake. As Asaph reviewed the history of his people, he saw a sad record of forgetfulness, faithlessness, foolishness, and failure, and he sought to understand what it all meant” so that he would not fall subject to making those same mistakes." 6 As God’s people, we need to count our many blessings and name them one by one, then we will surely see what God has done over the course of our life. This will prevent insubordination, misplaced trust, defiant attitudes, thanklessness, and unbelief.

Reflecting on God’s goodness will enable us to have grateful hearts that will declare that He is the God who can.

• You may be wondering, can God sustain my marriage? God can.

• Can God untangle my troubled mind? God can.

• Can God meet my financial needs? God can.

• Can God restore my wayward children? God can.

• Can God fix my broken relationships? God can.

• Can God heal my health-stricken body? God can.

• Can God protect me from my enemies? God can.

Genesis 18:14 (NKJV) states, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” God can do whatever He wants to do, whenever He wants to do it. His power is not confined to any situation, power, or force. The Bible gives examples of God’s dynamic power.

• Daniel was preserved in the den of lions.

• The three Hebrew Boys were sustained in the fiery furnace.

• David overpower Goliath through the might of God.

• The restoration of Job after he lost his wife, children, possessions, and was stricken with affliction reveals that He is the God who can.

• Abraham and Sarah conceiving a child in her old age as she was barren speaks of His power.

• The feed of the five thousand, the raising of Lazarus from the death, the healing of those who had leprosy, giving sight to the blind, and making the mute talk and the lame walk, projects forth that He is the God who can.

God can do what is humanly impossible because He is the God who can.

We should never waiver in our understanding of God and His power. He is the God who can.

Notes

1. Morgan, Robert J. 2000. Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. Electronic ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

2. The MacArthur Study Bible

3. Henry, Matthew. "Complete Commentary on Psalms 78:15". "Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​mhm/​psalms-78.html. 1706.

4. Hamilton, James M., Jr. 2021. Psalms. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger. Vol. 2. Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic.

5. The Life Application Study Bible

6. The Wiersbe Study Bible