Why We Must Remember God in Times of Plenty

Deuteronomy 8 commands us to remember God in times of abundance rather than focusing only on our own strength. The reason for this command is that everything—from the manna provided in the wilderness to the wealth Israel would gain in the Promised Land—came from God. The passage explains this truth by looking back first on forty years in the wilderness and then ahead to life in a prosperous land.

In the Wilderness, God Taught Them to Live by His Word

The Israelites traveled through the wilderness for forty years. God humbled and tested them to reveal whether they would keep His commands. Hunger was part of that experience.

Yet God fed them manna, something neither they nor their ancestors had known. Their hunger and the provision of manna were not unrelated events. Through both, God taught them that people do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Their years in the wilderness were not marked by hardship alone. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell during those forty years. In the dry and waterless land, God brought water out of solid rock. The passage also mentions the manna again. It explains that God humbled and tested His people so that, in the end, He might bless them.

Remembering the wilderness, therefore, means more than recalling a difficult season. It means remembering the whole story: they ate manna when they were hungry, drank water in a waterless land, and saw their clothes and feet preserved throughout the long journey. They did not cross the wilderness on the strength of provisions they had accumulated for themselves.

In a Prosperous Land, the Danger of Forgetting Grows

The land to which God was bringing them had streams and springs. It produced wheat and barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey. Food would not be scarce there, and the people would also find iron and copper. They would eat and be satisfied in that land.

The passage does not say that being satisfied is wrong in itself. The people were to praise God for giving them such a good land. The danger was that after becoming satisfied, they might forget Him.

The passage goes on to describe the people living in fine houses, their herds and flocks growing, and their silver, gold, and possessions multiplying. As their wealth increased, their hearts could become proud. Eventually, they might say, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

Such a claim credits abundance to the self. Moses therefore reminds the people that God brought them out of slavery in Egypt and led them through the dangerous wilderness. He again mentions the water from the rock and the manna. The passage counters the self-glorification that prosperity can produce with specific memories of God's provision in the wilderness.

Remembering God Leads to Obedience

The command to remember God means more than mentally recalling the past. The passage warns that people can forget God by failing to keep His commands, laws, and decrees. Its closing words also connect refusing to listen to God with destruction.

By contrast, those who remember God acknowledge that even the ability to produce wealth comes from Him. The time when Israel received food in the wilderness and the time when they gained wealth in the land are joined together in this confession. Their circumstances would change from hunger to abundance, but one truth would remain: their life and strength did not originate in their own hands.

One practical step for today is to write down one thing you have accomplished and acknowledge that God gave you the ability to make it possible. This does not deny your achievement. It directly follows the warning in verse 17 against thinking, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me,” and the command in verse 18 to remember God. As you read Deuteronomy 8 again and consider both what Israel received in the wilderness and what they enjoyed in prosperity, you will see that remembering God goes beyond words of gratitude—it leads to a life of obedience to His commands.