OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS

The central theme of the Old Testament texts can be stated as a question: Is the Lord in our midst or not? The central motif that is used to answer the question in  Exodus 17:1-7 is the miraculous gift of water in the wilderness. This motif links the Old Testament lesson and the gospel text for this Sunday. Psalm 95 provides commentary on the wilderness story from a somewhat different direction. As we will see, the account of Israel's testing God in the wilderness is not a negative story in its present narrative setting. Israel tests God, and God provides water, which answers the central question about whether or not God is in fact with the people. The hymn in Psalm 95,  however, shifts the setting from the wilderness to worship and in so doing interprets  Exodus 17:1-…