Deuteronomy 9:28
Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 9:28 belongs to Moses' third plea, made when Israel refused to enter Canaan on the report of the spies and the Lord said He would destroy them. The plea came after Moses fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights. That second meeting with God on Sinai lasted as long as the first, forty days and forty nights, and was spent pleading with God not to destroy Israel for their sin.
In the verse Moses argued that God must not furnish the Egyptians occasion to say He was unable to bring His people into the land He had promised them. Along with this, he pleaded that God who had done so much for His people and borne so long with them should not now destroy them. Along with this, he pleaded that God should show mercy for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and not regard only the sin of the present generation.
The intercession succeeded and stands as a monument to the value of intercessory prayer. It encourages Christian patriots to pray for their country. It encourages pious souls to pray for the reviving of religion in a time of declension. It encourages every saint to pray for sinners in danger of perdition.