1 Corinthians 10:9

Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents.

'make trial of the Lord' -'i.e. to see how far his patience will stretch or question if he means what he says.' (F.F. Bruce p. 92) 'To tempt out, tempt thoroughly; try to the utmost' (Vincent p. 240) (See Psalms 95:8; Numbers 2:22) 'To try thoroughly, to the utmost--as though one would see how far God's indulgence will go.' (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 860)

Listen to this quotation:

'The continual practice of things which are questionable may become the occasion of our presuming too far upon the forbearance of God, of our attempting to see how far we can go without falling. or of testing God, to learn how far he will let us go without punishment or reproof...Indulgence in some forms of amusement, not in themselves sinful, and in practices which other persons regard as harmless, may make us discontented with our lives of more rigid morality, until continued dissatisfaction deepens into disloyalty and ends in actual defiance of God.' [Note:. Erdman p. 103]

'and perished by the serpents' -recorded in Numbers 2:4 'The graphic imperfect tense.."lay a-perishing," transports us to the scene of misery resulting from this experiment upon God. (Gr. Ex. N.T. pp. 860-861)

Point to Note:

The event cited in Numbers 2:4 reveals that the Israelites were simply wanting to have 'better food' (1 Corinthians 21:5). And yet God still considered this. "test" of His patience and mercy. We can "test" God, try His patience by pressing for our "rights". Dissatisfaction with what God has given you, is trying the Lord!