Limiting God

Psalms 78:41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 

It’s a blink-and-miss-it moment, but as you read through the 78th Psalm, there is the curious statement made of the children of Israel as they were wandering in the wilderness: ‘They limited the Holy One of Israel.’

If we are to stop and ponder on that for a moment, is the text indicating that the people were able to limit God? They stopped God? Was it the case that the created actually limited the Creator?

The short answer is yes. In a one of the great profundities of the universe, the Almighty God who spoke the worlds into existence according to His own Word, was ‘limited’ by His people. However could such a thing take place?

One of the hallmarks of the God presented and revealed in the Bible is that He is absolutely just and righteous whilst also being the Author of the Law and rules. That is to say, He makes the rules and follows the rules. As the rule-maker, He is the One true God. As the rule-keeper, He is absolutely just and righteous.

Let’s consider one of the rules that God has put into place: without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Heb 11:6) The author of Hebrews has earlier actually referenced the children of Israel whilst in the wilderness saying, “We see that they could not enter (the promised land) because of unbelief.” (Heb 3:19) That is to say, they did not have faith in God. Because of their lack of faith, they never made into the Promised Land.

Every human who has ever lived will only ever please God by faith, that is, believing God’s Word. Adam and Eve fell because they didn’t take God at His Word. Even when we’re in perfect relationship with God, faith is required.

Now we come back to Psalms 78: they LIMITED the Holy One of Israel. How can finite humans limit an infinite God? When they have unbelief. Not doubt. Unbelief. When they reject God’s authority, it stops God from acting in certain capacities. Their unbelief stopped God! What did it stop God from doing? It stopped God from being King in their life. They were left to their own devices. They were left to a future without God present as King. Where God is not king, someone/something else will take that place and impose its own will instead.

Consider the application of that for us today. You could be stopping God from leading you out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. You could be the reason for all the suffering still present. You could be limiting God. You could be stopping God – because you don’t believe.

The idea that Almighty God cannot act due to the human unbelief is not only found in Psalms 78. In Mark 6:5 we are told that Jesus could not do any mighty works in his local area. In the verse 6 we are told that the reason was the unbelief of the people. Oh what was in store, that the people missed out on because they didn’t believe!

What is very interesting is not that the people didn’t believe at all – for it tells us that he was able to heal some sick people – but that the miracles Jesus did were NOT all that was available. They limited Him.

From these two passages, there is the incredible idea that we are able to limit God. It is possible to believe in Him, even receive from Him, yet not receive everything. Not receive close to what He wants to give us because we also have unbelief. Because there’s a line we have drawn that somehow, we think Almighty God cannot do that. And so He doesn’t.

Oh that we could grasp the things God has in store for those who believe! If we could learn to pray, Lord, help my unbelief! Perhaps we would see God move in ways that we could not have imagined.

Note: When we speak of limiting God, we are dealing with the permissible will of God as opposed to the absolute will of God. The unbelief of the children of Israel didn’t stop God from acting in many capacities, it did stop Him from doing more for those individuals who didn’t believe in their own lives. That is another study in itself or perhaps, multiple studies. Suffice to say, when the Scripture speaks of people limiting God, it’s not because God cannot act but rather, He has chosen not to act in respect of the free will He gave to humans and His keeping His own law. The disbelief of people will not stop God from carrying out His own plans. The Messiah was coming, whether or not people believed. The redemption of Jesus is valid regardless people’s faith/lack of faith. What people’s faith/lack thereof will affect is whether that redemption saves them or not. That’s where the limiting happens.