9 "When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone , the tablets of the covenant which the Lord had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights ; I neither ate bread nor drank water . 10 "The Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God ; and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly . 11 "It came about at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone , the tablets of the covenant . 12 " Then the Lord said to me, 'Arise , go down from here quickly , for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly . They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made a molten image for themselves.' 13 "The Lord spoke further to me, saying , 'I have seen this people , and indeed , it is a stubborn e people . 14 ' Let Me alone e , that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven ; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' 15 " So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire , and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands . 16 "And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God . You had made for yourselves a molten calf ; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. 17 "I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and smashed them before your eyes . 18 " I fell down before the Lord , as at the first , forty days and nights ; I neither ate bread nor drank water , because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 9:9-18
Commentary on Deuteronomy 9:7-29
(Read Deuteronomy 9:7-29)
That the Israelites might have no pretence to think that God brought them to Canaan for their righteousness, Moses shows what a miracle of mercy it was, that they had not been destroyed in the wilderness. It is good for us often to remember against ourselves, with sorrow and shame, our former sins; that we may see how much we are indebted to free grace, and may humbly own that we never merited any thing but wrath and the curse at God's hand. For so strong is our propensity to pride, that it will creep in under one pretence or another. We are ready to fancy that our righteousness has got for us the special favour of the Lord, though in reality our wickedness is more plain than our weakness. But when the secret history of every man's life shall be brought forth at the day of judgment, all the world will be proved guilty before God. At present, One pleads for us before the mercy-seat, who not only fasted, but died upon the cross for our sins; through whom we may approach, though self-condemned sinners, and beseech for undeserved mercy and for eternal life, as the gift of God in Him. Let us refer all the victory, all the glory, and all the praise, to Him who alone bringeth salvation.