Moses' Mistake

"The LORD spake unto Moses, saying… speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water… And Moses…  gathered the congregation… and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?  And Moses… smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly… And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not… ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" (Numbers 20:7-12). 

The Lord's command that Moses heard

Was simply "speak… before their eyes." 

But Moses went beyond God's Word,

Which, in the end, is never wise. 

By God's command the rock was smitten

When Moses had obeyed before,

But God's instruction herein written

Was "speak," and he should do no more. 

The water came, for mercy's sake,

But God made Moses understand 

The impact of his rash mistake,

And kept him from the promised land. 

O Lord, You were not smitten twice,

But once when all our sins were taken. 

This portrait of Your sacrifice

By Moses, therefore, was mistaken.