"Do not forget the Lord": what are the implications of this command (Deuteronomy 8:11)?

But wherefore should we marvel? In the first place, do we not deeply feel and fully admit our own urgent need of warning, admonition and exhortation? Do we not need line upon line, precept upon precept, and that continually? Are we not prone to forget the Lord our God, to rest in His gifts instead of Himself? Alas! alas! we cannot deny it. We rest in the stream, instead of getting up to the Fountain. We turn the very mercies, blessings and benefits which strew our path, in rich profusion, into an occasion of self-complacency and gratulation, instead of finding in them the blessed ground of continual praise and thanksgiving.

Verse. 11. "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments." When in the presence of God, the conscience keeps His commandments, for in His presence they are neither hard nor forgotten. How can we forget the desires of one who is dear to us, when with that person? Let us remember, that apart from communion with God, even His blessings become a snare to pride. We are in the desert, but we are there under the care of a tender Father.

That which strikes me as most precious in this chapter, is God's desire that Israel should not forget their wilderness position, which was a state of entire dependence, for Israel had no resources in itself, and received the supply of every need by means of a miracle We are saved, and led into the wilderness; and there we are surrounded with blessings, as, for instance, the enjoyment of brotherly communion, instead of being in a position of isolation. But, as with Israel, God's blessings might lead to two-fold evil, in separating them from Him, and making them forget their dependence upon Him (v. 17); so we have to take care lest the blessing we enjoy should produce the same effects on us. This world must needs be to the Christian a land of drought —a thirsty land, where no water is — and he should seek all his enjoyment in heavenly places; if he find any here below, it is because his flesh is not mortified; he is in a bad state, and ought not to remain in it. Surely God has given us enough spiritual blessings to satisfy our hearts! We may rejoice in that word of God which opens out to the spiritual man the thoughts and counsels of God towards us. If only we draw from this treasure, our souls will have enjoyment enough, and will be able to do without that which the world offers. Let Christ become our all, and let us strip ourselves of all that is not Christ, that He may reign alone in our hearts. This is real progress, and here is true enjoyment for the Christian.

Verses 11-15. Israel was not to stop short in the enjoyment of the gifts of God, nor to take occasion from them to forget God himself. The Christian, too, must watch, lest, in the enjoyment of the blessing, he should forget Him who has given it, and lose sight of his own dependence upon God. The heart may depart from God, long before God's blessings are withdrawn; and we may still enjoy them when far from Him. But if we ask ourselves, "Have I the enjoyment of such and such blessings? But is my heart really in communion with Jesus? Is it in Him, I find my joy? Do I realize my own weakness? etc., etc." How often would the the upright soul answer, "No!" Let my outward circumstances be as favourable as they may, if my heart is not in communion with God, I shall be unable to meet temptation. This is an important truth, for the consequences are immense.

In the rest of the chapter it is not remembrance but anticipation, and with this warnings are added. Israel was not yet in the land, and they are exhorted not to forget the source of all their blessing when they should be there, and that their only preservative would lie in obedience to God's commandments, judgments, and statutes. Otherwise the very wealth of their blessings would lead them to pride of heart, forgetfulness of the Lord God their Redeemer, and, together with this, to ascribe their prosperity to their own power and to the might of their own hand, and thus bring themselves under the sure judgment of God. Nothing so proves the perversity of our hearts as the tendency to use the blessings which God so graciously bestows upon us as a means of self-exaltation. May we heed the warning, knowing that in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing, and may we ever seek to be kept in the place of nothingness, as we shall be in proportion as Christ is everything to our souls.

In spite of this they might (and did) say in their heart, "My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth" (v.17). How harmful to himself is this self-centered pride of man! As Israel later succumbed to it, so in the Church of God today, many have been deceived in this way, and God's Word is in large measure forgotten. Again therefore Moses urges Israel to remember the Lord their God, for it is He only who gives power to anyone to prosper, and He did this to Israel to prove His faithfulness expressed in the covenant He had made with their fathers (v.18).

If Israel would forget the Lord God and follow and serve the idols of the nations, then God's Word would be carried out also in causing Israel to perish. Just as the nations of Canaan would be destroyed before the Lord, so Israel would suffer the same because of their disobedience (vs.19-20).

However, when blessed with all this abundance, then Israel ought to be deeply thankful to the Lord, remembering that they were dependent utterly on His great goodness (v.10). The danger would be present of their forgetting the Lord because they were prospering. The possession of material things might become such an object that God's goodness and God's commandments would be forgotten (v.11).

When they found food plentiful in the land, when they built beautiful houses, when their herds and flocks multiplied, their silver and gold and other possessions increased, then their hearts might be lifted up in such self-complacency that they should forget the Lord who had brought them from the hard bondage of Egypt (vs.12-14). Could they forget that God had led them in mercy through the great and terrible wilderness, with its serpents and scorpions, bringing water from the rock for their thirst, feeding them with manna (vs.15-16)?

(3) But, alas! then as now, and now as then, the very fullness of the blessing enjoyed might cause forgetfulness of the gracious hand from which it came. "Fullness of bread" had of old been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and necessity awake the consciousness of man's need of God, while without want he may lose easily the sense of his still existing dependence. Egypt, the type of the world away from Him, we have seen to be fed by her unfailing river. Mercies thus may through our pride and willfulness become that plagues shall have to become our mercies. In this condition the gods which man's own heart has devised are more attractive than the glorious God who is our Creator, not our creature; and Israel can go after the idols of Canaan — of the nations they have seen driven out before Jehovah — away from Him who had given them these for a possession.

In the latter part of this chapter they are warned of the dangers that lie hidden in prosperity. Then would come the temptation to rest in the luxury, forget God's goodness to them, and be seduced to seek after false gods. So it came to pass in their history, as we know. Again we as Christians have to remind ourselves that for us also, days of outward and earthly prosperity are times of spiritual danger and defeat.

God was graciously bringing Israel to a land of beauty and prosperity and Israel is told to keep in mind that they did not develop this land: it was already prepared for them by the previous inhabitants whom God was dispossessing. Houses, wells, vineyards and olive orchards were there for them to possess and benefit by (vs.10-11).

But prosperity has its very real dangers and Israel was told to beware lest they forget the Lord (v.12). We can easily begin to depend on our Lord. Let Israel cultivate the true fear of the Lord and serve Him, not influenced by other gods such as the nations served (vs.13-14). How great a temptation it is to believers today also, to want to be in some measure like the nations! We see what they do and what they have and in seeing this we allow our eyes to wander from the Lord and are tempted to imitate those who are ungodly. But the Lord is a jealous God, jealous of our affections, and cool disobedience may incur His present judgment (v.15). By such disobedience Israel could be destroyed. Therefore let them not tempt the Lord as they did at Massah when complaining against His dealings with them (v.16).

"And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten, and be full; then beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." (Vers. 10-12.)

Amid all the blessing, the mercies and the privileges of the land of Canaan, they were to remember that gracious and faithful One who had redeemed them out of the land of bondage. They were to remember, too, that all these things were His free gift. The land, with all that it contained, was bestowed upon them in virtue of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Cities built and houses furnished, flowing wells, fruitful vineyards and olive yards, all ready to their hand, the free gift of sovereign grace and covenant mercy. All they had to do was to take possession, in simple faith; and to keep ever in the remembrance of the thoughts of their hearts the bounteous Giver of it all. They were to think of Him, and find in His redeeming love the true motive spring of a life of loving obedience. Wherever they turned their eyes they beheld the tokens of His great goodness, the rich fruit of His marvellous love. Every city, every house, every well, every vine, olive and fig tree spoke to their hearts of Jehovah's abounding grace, and furnished a substantial proof of His infallible faithfulness to His promise.