Deuteronomy 8

v1-9: Earlier in Deuteronomy, "Moses had commanded parents to teach their children... by frequently repeating the same things over and over again." Here Moses "uses the same method himself to instruct the Israelites as his children, frequently impressing on them the same commands and warnings with the same motives and arguments to support them, so that what they heard so often might remain with them." He commands them "to keep and do all God's commandments" and do this carefully and completely, with consideration for who God is and what He had done for them. "The events of the previous forty years had been significant," and if remembered, "would be very useful" for giving "sound reasons why they should obey God." One way we can be persuaded and encouraged to serve the Lord cheerfully and trust him fully is by remembering "all the ways of both God's providence and his grace, by which he has led us up to this time through the wilderness of the world.”

v10-20: During times of prosperity there are some particular temptations that we need to guard against. "When your possessions mount up, the mind is inclined to raise along with it in self-conceit, self-complacency, and self-confidence. Let us therefore aim to keep our spirits humble," so that we do not forget God, or our duty to Him, or what He has done in rescuing us and providing for us.

Deuteronomy 9

v1-6: When the spies told "the people about the formidable strength of the enemies" in the land, it drove them away from God. This time Moses tells them about it "to drive them to God and to stimulate their hope in him," because it was only the power of almighty God that "could keep them safe and give them victory." Our "gaining possession of the heavenly Canaan" is not something we can do based on our own abilities, "so it must be ascribed solely to God's grace and not to anything good in ourselves." Our boast must be in Christ who "is both our righteousness and our strength.”

v7-29: Moses shows "what a miracle of mercy it was that [the people] had not been destroyed in the desert," that they might not fool themselves into thinking "that God had brought them to Canaan" because of their own righteousness. We often need to be reminded "of our former sins, to our sorrow and shame, and to review the record that our conscience keeps of them, that we may see how much we are indebted to God's free grace" in Christ which has saved us from His wrath and punishment.