The events of Meribah play a huge role in the Torah and the Psalms. Two events are recounted, one in Exodus 17 and the other in Numbers 20. The first occurs near Mount Sinai, right after Israel's deliverance from Egypt, and the other occurs near the border of the Promised Land. Psalm 81 seems to be referring to the events of Exodus 17. Israel has just been delivered from slavery:
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
And yet, having just experienced this deliverance, the people cry out in distrust and dismay for water in the desert. From Exodus 17:
The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.”
“Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?”
But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!”
The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Interestingly, in Exodus 17 all the descriptions of "testing" are on Israel's side, the people "testing" God:
Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?”He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
So the testing seems to be going both ways. God brings the Israelites into the desert where there faith is examined, tried, and tested. And the people, in turn, test God to see if God will bring them water. This testing of God from Israel's side is filled with unbelief and distrust. That theme is echoed in Psalm 81:
“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel did not obey me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.
If only my people would listen to me
and Israel would follow my ways,
I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.”
I don't know if this is an appropriate jump in associations, but in pondering this my mind kept going to that enigmatic petition from the Lord's Prayer: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Many scholars have pointed out that "temptation" might not be the best word here. "Trial" or "testing" is better. The NRSV renders the petition this way, along with an alternative reading:
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
And do not bring us to the time of testing,
but rescue us from the evil one.
I can't help but wonder if Jesus has Massah and Meribah in mind here, that the petition, as described in Psalm 81, is to be delivered from our "stubborn hearts," our wavering unfaithfulness. The petition "do not bring us to the time of trial/testing" is a petition to be delivered from the exposure of Meribah. Spare us such an examination! The petition is an acknowledgement of our frailty and failure and begs for mercy and deliverance. We can't pass the test, so we plead for help.
