(23-28) And I besought the Lord at that time. — Two things Moses is recorded to have asked for himself in the story of the exodus. The first is written in Exodus 33:18, “I beseech thee shew me thy glory;” the second is before us here. “O Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah), thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand... I pray thee let me go over and see the good land beyond Jordan.” It would seem that Moses desired not so much to view the land (which, indeed, was granted him), but to see the greatness of Jehovah manifested in the conquest, as he had seen it in the victories over Og and Sihon. While we cannot allow for a moment that “the old fathers looked only for transitory promises” (see Notes on Deuteronomy 5:16; Deuteronomy 22:7), yet it is impossible not to feel in this prayer of Moses the pressure of the veil which hung over the unseen world before the coming of our Saviour, who “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” Moses evidently did not realise that he might see the works of Jehovah and His glory still more clearly in the other world.
Deuteronomy 3:23-28
23 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
24 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.
27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah,c and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.