32 Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, 33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, 35 “Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.” 37 Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there: 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there: encourage you him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea [1].”
41 Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us.” You girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill country. 42 Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.’” 43 So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. 45 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor gave ear to you. 46 So you abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you abode there.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:32-52
Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:19-46
(Read Deuteronomy 1:19-46)
Moses reminds the Israelites of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, through that great and terrible wilderness. He shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites, that they were not far from the kingdom of God. As if it were not enough that they were sure of their God before them, they would send men before them. Never any looked into the Holy Land, but they must own it to be a good land. And was there any cause to distrust this God? An unbelieving heart was at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God's laws, and distrust of his power and goodness, flow from disbelief of his word, as all true obedience springs from faith. It is profitable for us to divide our past lives into distinct periods; to give thanks to God for the mercies we have received in each, to confess and seek the forgiveness of all the sins we can remember; and thus to renew our acceptance of God's salvation, and our surrender of ourselves to his service. Our own plans seldom avail to good purpose; while courage in the exercise of faith, and in the path of duty, enables the believer to follow the Lord fully, to disregard all that opposes, to triumph over all opposition, and to take firm hold upon the promised blessings.