91 "Hear , O Israel ! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven , 2 a people great and tall , the sons of the Anakim , whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ' Who can stand before the sons of Anak ?' 3 "Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire . He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly , just as the Lord has spoken to you. 4 " Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before e you, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land ,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before e you. 5 "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land , but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before e you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers , to Abraham , Isaac and Jacob .
6 "Know , then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess , for you are a stubborn e people .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 9:1-6
Commentary on Deuteronomy 9:1-6
(Read Deuteronomy 9:1-6)
Moses represents the strength of the enemies they were now to encounter. This was to drive them to God, and engage their hope in him. He assures them of victory, by the presence of God with them. He cautions them not to have the least thought of their own righteousness, as if that procured this favour at God's hand. In Christ we have both righteousness and strength; in Him we must glory, not in ourselves, nor in any sufficiency of our own. It is for the wickedness of these nations that God drives them out. All whom God rejects, are rejected for their own wickedness; but none whom he accepts are accepted for their own righteousness. Thus boasting is for ever done away: see Ephesians 2:9,11,12.