Deuteronomy 8:18
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
God himself gives people the power and ability to gain wealth, and prosperity never comes from their own strength, skill, or wisdom. To remember him means to acknowledge him as the source of every blessing, to recognize dependence on him, and to thank him for his undeserved mercy rather than trusting in human piety or effort. He gives this ability so that he may establish the covenant he swore to their fathers, after delivering, humbling, testing, and providing for them, and he warns that forgetting him in prosperity leads to pride, self-exaltation, turning to other gods, and destruction. All possessions, abilities, and influence belong to him and are entrusted for unselfish service, to help those in need and spread the gospel, sustained by his continual gifts of life, health, fruitful seasons, and power to plan and work diligently. Gratitude is shown by returning tithes, gifts, and offerings to sustain his worship and ministers and advance his work, and faithful stewards who seek first his kingdom receive true riches, while trusting in riches and selfishly hoarding them turns blessing into a curse.
Remembrance, Covenant, and Warning
The power and ability to get wealth is given by God, and prosperity does not come from human strength, power, skill, or wisdom. To remember the Lord is to credit and acknowledge Him as the source of that ability rather than claiming one's own power produced it. Such remembrance means recognizing dependence on Him and thanking Him, since blessings come from His undeserved mercy and lovingkindness rather than from human piety, righteousness, power, or effort. He gives this ability so that He may establish and uphold the covenant He swore to the fathers and ancestors. Those carrying responsibilities in sacred work are urged to observe these directions carefully.
The command stands after God's deliverance from Egypt and His protection and provision in the wilderness. There He humbled and tested Israel while caring for them and sustaining them. The verse therefore warns against forgetting Him when prosperous. Its lessons apply to people today as truly as to Israel. The chapter was written as the Lord's admonition to those living at the end of the world, requiring full following of His guidance.
Prosperity and abundance can lead to pride, self-reliance, self-exaltation, and forgetfulness. That forgetfulness turns hearts to other gods. Forgetting God and disobeying Him brings destruction, judgment, and the declared consequences. Israel's unthankfulness, selfishness, and transgression of His law made it impossible for Him to fulfill His agreement with them.
Israel's prosperity was tied to God's covenant with their ancestors and promised on condition of obedience to His commandments. Remembrance is thus tied to keeping His commandments and recognizing His past care. Keeping those commandments depends on Christ taking away sin and giving His righteousness to the believing, repentant soul.
Wealth as Entrusted Gift
The power to get wealth is itself God's gift, and everything gained by it — possessions, abilities, influence — belongs to Him and is entrusted for service to Him and the salvation of others, not for self-reliance, independent ownership, boasting, or selfish use. Wealth comes from Him and remains His, so success gives no ground for human self-praise but calls for giving Him the praise for wisdom, skill, and gifts entrusted. Because He is the source of every blessing to His creatures, gratitude is due to Him for the good gifts of His providence.
He bestows this power through continual blessings and mercies without which people would perish, giving to all life and breath and all things and owning every beast, cattle, silver and gold. He provides the conditions that sustain life and make the earth fruitful, sending rain, dew, and sunlight that awaken nature to flourish and bear fruit. He grants health and ability to acquire means, quick thought, ability to plan and execute, mental discipline and accomplishments, and open ways to obtain means by diligent use of powers. Mental endowments no less than money are therefore not independent of Him or solely for personal advantage, but remain subject to His claims.
This ability is given not for pleasing self or self-gratification but to help those in need and to be used unselfishly as God's stewards and helping hand. Gifts including influence are to be used faithfully to advance His cause and truth in new fields, including spreading the gospel and reaching people of wealth and influence, and when wisely employed in His service they increase. Means are to be devoted to His service rather than gratifying self.
Gaining means by honest work and industry is no sin, and no one is condemned for being rich when riches are gained honestly. Money is to be earned by labor, and youth are to be trained in habits of industry. Wealth becomes a blessing when it is regarded as the Lord's, received with thankfulness and returned with thankfulness to the Giver, blessing both its possessor and the world.
Hoarding wealth in costly houses or bank stock is worthless beside the salvation of even one soul for whom Christ died. Riches must not lead to idleness, self-indulgence, and eating, drinking, and being merry, but must be invested in the Lord's cause to help perishing souls. It is the selfish love of money wrongly used, not honest riches, that is the root of all evil.
Possessing means tests character, and each person is responsible in proportion to what God has given, with those who have greater means expected to give generously. God tests those who possess wealth and can bring their pride low and remove their strength and possessions, permitting misfortune and adversity to try those placed in favorable circumstances. Wealth does not raise anyone in His favor, excuse wrongdoing, or pay for sin.
Returning and Using Wealth
Since all things come from him, gratitude is due to him, and that gratitude is acknowledged by returning what belongs to him in a specified portion of what is acquired through tithes, gifts, and offerings to sustain his worship, so that there may be meat in his house. He is the source of every blessing, giving to all life and breath and all things, owning every beast and cattle and all silver and gold, providing rain and dew and sunlight that make the earth fruitful and sustain life, and granting health and ability to acquire means, quick sharp thought and ability to plan and execute, mental discipline, wisdom and skill, and open ways to prosper by diligent use of powers, without whose continual blessings and mercies people would perish. The ability to gain wealth and the means entrusted are therefore gifts from him, not grounds for selfish use, but entrusted to help those in need and to be returned to him as his own.
What is returned is put into the treasury to sustain those who carry the gospel of his grace to the world and to support its ministers. It provides money to advance the different branches of his work, to build up his kingdom, and to help open the way for the gospel to reach all classes, including people of wealth and influence, so that souls may be saved and helped to find salvation. Gifts entrusted, including influence, are to be used faithfully to advance his cause and truth in new fields, and when wisely employed in his service they increase.
Talents, influence, and means lent as a talent are to be converted to his use and invested in his cause to help perishing souls rather than to gratify self. Earning money by labor and using ability to acquire means for this purpose is no sin, and failure to do all that can be done brings guilt for indolence. Each person is responsible in proportion to what has been given, those with greater means are expected to give generously, and possessing means tests character.
Faithful stewards subordinate every earthly interest to his service by seeking first his kingdom and righteousness and laying up treasure in heaven where it does not decay rather than on earth. He permits misfortune and adversity to test those placed in favorable circumstances, and if his stewards are faithful they are declared worthy to walk with him in white and receive true riches. Trusting in riches, claiming money as one's own and using it as one pleases, refusing obedience, and hardening the heart in love of the world, as did the people before the Flood, turn blessing into a curse, foster pride toward ruin, make entering the kingdom of God hard, and risk gaining the whole world at the loss of the soul.