God in the Dock

One of the themes in Exodus 17:1-7 is that God is  on trial.

C. S. Lewis observed: “The ancient man
approached God as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern
man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite
a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god
who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may
even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the
Bench and God in the Dock.”

Phil Ryken says: “Instead of starting with God and evaluating our experience from
his point of view, we start with our own circumstances and judge him on
that basis. When things go wrong, when life does not meet our expectations,
we are quick to fix the blame squarely on his shoulders and to demand
some kind of explanation.”