And I besought the Lord at that time ,.... When he was told he should die, and Joshua should succeed him; or when the two kings were slain, and their kingdoms conquered; this being the beginning, pledge, and earnest of what God had promised to do for the people of Israel; Moses was very desirous of living to see the work completed, and therefore sought the Lord by prayer and supplication: saying ; as follows. read more
O Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand ,.... To give a specimen of the greatness of his power in subduing the two kings and their kingdoms, and delivering them up into the hands of the Israelites. Moses had seen instances of the mighty power of God in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; but this was the beginning of his power, in vanquishing the Canaanites, and putting their land into the possession of the Israelites, as he had promised;... read more
I pray thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan ,.... The land of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey; a land which he describes as a most excellent one, Deuteronomy 8:7 . To see this land, he was very desirous of going over the river Jordan, beyond which it lay with respect to the place where he now was: that goodly mountain, and Lebanon ; or, "that goodly mountain, even Lebanon"; which lay to the north of the land of Canaan, and was famous for cedar... read more
The prayer of Moses recorded in these two verses, and his own reflections on it, Deuteronomy 3:26 , are very affecting. He had suffered much both in body and mind in bringing the people to the borders of the promised land; and it was natural enough for him to wish to see them established in it, and to enjoy a portion of that inheritance himself, which he knew was a type of the heavenly country. But notwithstanding his very earnest prayer, and God's especial favor towards him, he was not... read more
Verse 23 23And I besought the Lord. (239) Others have, “I besought;” but I have preferred using the pluperfect tense, because, in my opinion, Moses interrupts himself to show why he had resigned his office to another, and did not rather declare that he would be their leader, as heretofore, and at the same time an example to the people of courage. He says, therefore, that when he had prayed that he might be permitted to enter the land, he received a refusal. For it is not probable that, after he... read more
CONCLUSION OF HISTORICAL RECAPITULATION . Deuteronomy 3:18-29 . read more
Prospect of death. In the full career of triumph, Moses has inward presentiment, and external announcement, that his end was near. Nature has a greater repugnance to death when we are enveloped in the bright sunshine of prosperity. The contrast is more marked. Decay and disease are natural forerunners of dissolution; but in Moses these were wanting. With him, the grave men of the trial was that his life-work was incomplete. The closer we approach to the final stroke of an undertaking, the... read more
Moses' longing to enter the Promised Land refused. The two conquests over Sihon and over Og had filled Moses with a sense of God's matchless power. With a warrior's instinct—for he had had a warrior's training, it is believed, in Egypt, in his youth—he saw in this first portion of the fight the assurance of a glorious invasion. He longed to be at its head, and to see the land which God had promised actually won. Will he not get complete the work he has been instrumental in beginning? He... read more
(See Homiletics, Deuteronomy 32:41-52 , and Deuteronomy 34:1-12 .) HOMILIES BY D. DAVIES read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 3:21-29
Here is I. The encouragement which Moses gave to Joshua, who was to succeed him in the government, Deut. 3:21, 22. He commanded him not to fear. This those that are aged and experienced in the service of God should do all they can to strengthen the hands of those that are young, and setting out in religion. Two things he would have him consider for his encouragement:?1. What God has done. Joshua had seen what a total defeat God had given by the forces of Israel to these two kings, and thence... read more