26 " Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the [1]command of the Lord your God ; 27 and you grumbled in your tents and said , 'Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 'Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt , saying , "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven . And besides , we saw the sons of the Anakim there ."' 29 "Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked , nor fear them. 30 'The Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, [2]just e as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes , 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son , in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place .' 32 "But [3] for all this , you did not trust the Lord your God , 33 who goes before you on your way , to seek out a place for you to encamp , in fire by night and cloud by day , to show you the way in which you should go .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 1:26-33
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.