At this point a strong conflict occurs between their own beliefs. On the one hand they believe that they are doing a good thing. The ethic dimension of their actions derives mainly from the approval that god gives them. On the other hand everything in the new land is against them. Therefore they reach the conclusion that god is not with them and they do not have his approval. Only two possible explanations come to mind. One is that god is not completely good, but can show himself as completely lacking mercy. The other one is that god is good and wise and those who are making a mistake are themselves. The latter hypothesis is the more acceptable one.

God is omniscient and omnipotent. The famine and all the other negative things that are happening to them are nothing else but...

And if it was not suitable with god, then it meant that it was wrong. At this point these people have no alternative but to think that their actions are incorrect. They are no longer able to justify their actions to themselves and they find themselves in a double crisis. They are trapped in a process which they can no longer motivate and they are lacking god's support.
In addition they seem to have no way out of this situation. The only thing that they can do is try to convince themselves that this crisis is not real and that everything will be alright. But trying to built up their morals they still have to fight the dreadful physical pains caused by the lack of food and water, which makes it least likely for them to succeed.