Deuteronomy 8:11-20: a reflection

11Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today; 12lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; 13and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 15who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; 16who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; 17and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.” 18But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today. 19It shall be, if you shall forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. 20As the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish, because you wouldn’t listen to the LORD your God’s voice.

Moses warns the people of a subtle danger that comes with prosperity: that when they have grown full and rich, they might forget the LORD and credit their success to their own strength, saying, my power has gotten me this wealth. Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, Moses says, when you have eaten and are full, and built fine houses, and your herds and gold are multiplied; lest your heart be lifted up and you forget the LORD; and lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. But you shall remember the LORD, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. The danger of prosperity is that it can lead us to forget God and credit our success to ourselves; the remedy is to remember that it is God who gives us the ability to prosper. This shows the danger of crediting our success to ourselves, and the call to remember God gives the ability. Do not credit your success to your own strength; God gives the ability. Prosperity can tempt us to forget God and take the credit ourselves. Remember that God gives the power to prosper. Give God the credit for the ability that made your success possible.

Notice the subtle danger Moses names, and its remedy. The danger comes precisely with prosperity and success: when the people had grown full and rich, built fine houses, multiplied their possessions, their hearts might be lifted up in pride, and they might forget the LORD and say in their hearts, my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. The danger is a double one: forgetting God, and crediting our success to ourselves, to our own strength and ability. And Moses gives the remedy: remember the LORD, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth. This is a searching warning, for it is a very human tendency. When things go well, when we succeed and prosper, it is easy to grow proud, to forget God, and to credit our success to ourselves, to our own hard work, talent, and ability, as though we had achieved it all on our own. But even the ability by which we succeed, our strength, talent, health, and opportunity, is given by God; we did not create it ourselves. To remember this, that God gives the very ability that makes our success possible, keeps us humble and grateful in prosperity, guarding us against the pride that forgets God and takes all the credit. We do well, in our successes, to remember God and give him the credit for the ability that made them possible, rather than crediting ourselves. In success, remember God and credit him with the ability that made it possible. Prosperity tempts us to pride and self-credit; guard against it. Even our ability to succeed is God's gift, not our own creation. Do not say, my own strength got me this; remember God.

That is worth taking to heart, for prosperity can tempt us to forget God and credit our success to ourselves, and we do well to remember that God gives the very ability that makes our success possible. We can grow proud in our successes and say in our hearts, my own strength got me this, forgetting God; but Moses warned against just this, calling us to remember that it is God who gives the power to get wealth. God gives the ability. In your successes, do not credit yourself alone; remember God, who gives the ability that made them possible, and give him thanks. In your successes and prosperity, remember God and credit him with the ability that made them possible, rather than saying in your heart, my own strength and ability got me this, as Moses warned the people that when they had grown full and rich their hearts might be lifted up and they might forget the LORD and say, my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth, but that they should remember the LORD, for it is he who gives the power to get wealth; for the danger of prosperity is subtle, coming precisely with success, when we have prospered and multiplied our possessions and our hearts might be lifted up in pride so that we forget God and credit our success to our own strength and ability, as though we had achieved it all on our own, but even the ability by which we succeed, our strength, talent, health, and opportunity, is given by God and not created by ourselves, so that to remember this, that God gives the very ability that makes our success possible, keeps us humble and grateful in prosperity and guards us against the pride that forgets God and takes all the credit, and we do well in our successes to remember God and give him the credit for the ability that made them possible rather than crediting ourselves.

Lord, Moses warns the people of a subtle danger that comes with prosperity: that when they have grown full and rich, they might forget you and credit their success to their own strength, saying, my power has gotten me this wealth. Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, Moses says, when you have eaten and are full, and built fine houses, and your herds and gold are multiplied; lest your heart be lifted up and you forget the LORD; and lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. But you shall remember the LORD, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. The danger of prosperity is that it can lead me to forget you and credit my success to myself; the remedy is to remember that it is you who give me the ability to prosper. Show me the subtle danger Moses names, and its remedy. The danger comes precisely with prosperity: when I have grown full and rich, my heart might be lifted up in pride, and I might forget you and say in my heart, my power has gotten me this. The danger is double: forgetting you, and crediting my success to myself. And the remedy is: remember the LORD, for it is he who gives the power to get wealth. This is a searching warning, for it is a very human tendency. When things go well, when I succeed and prosper, it is easy to grow proud, to forget you, and to credit my success to my own hard work, talent, and ability, as though I had achieved it all on my own. But even the ability by which I succeed, my strength, talent, health, and opportunity, is given by you; I did not create it. To remember this keeps me humble and grateful, guarding me against the pride that forgets you and takes all the credit. Take that to my heart, for prosperity can tempt me to forget you and credit my success to myself. In my successes, keep me from saying, my own strength got me this; help me remember you, Lord, who give the very ability that made my success possible, and give you thanks and the credit rather than crediting myself.