And now, I beseech thee, let the power of Lord be
great
That is, appear to be great; the power of God is great, not only
mighty, but almighty; it knows no bounds, nothing is impossible
with him, he can do whatever he pleases, ( Psalms 147:5
) ; his power, and the greatness of it, had been seen in bringing
the children of Israel out of Egypt, and through the Red sea, and
in providing for them, protecting and defending them in the
wilderness; and the request of Moses is, that it might appear
greater and greater in bringing them into the land of promise; or
else he means an exceeding great display of the grace and mercy
of God in the forgiveness of the sins of the people; for as the
power of God is seen in his forbearance and longsuffering with
the wicked, ( Romans 9:22 ) ; much
more in the forgiveness of the sins of men, there being more
power and virtue in grace to pardon, than there is in sin to
damn; and as it is an indication of strength in men, and of their
power over themselves, when they can rule their own spirits, keep
under their passions, and restrain their wrath, and show a
forgiving temper, ( Proverbs
16:32 ) ; so it is an instance of the power of God to
overcome his wrath and anger stirred up by the sins of men; and,
notwithstanding their provocations, freely to forgive: pardon of
sin is an act of power, as well as of grace and mercy, see (
Matthew 9:6 )
; and this sense agrees with what follows. The first letter in
the word for "great" is larger than usual, that it might be taken
notice of; and to signify the exceeding greatness of the power of
God, Moses desired might be displayed in this case: and the
letter numerically signifies ten, and has been thought to respect
the ten times that Israel tempted the Lord, ( Numbers
14:22 ) ; and to suggest, that though they had so done, yet
the grace and mercy of God should ten times exceed the
ingratitude of the people F21:
according as thou hast spoken, saying;
as in ( Exodus
34:6 Exodus 34:7 ) ; and is
as follows.