אַל תַּקְשׁוּ לְבַבְכֶם כִּמְרִיבָה כְּיוֹם מַסָּה בַּמִּדְבָּר:
Do not harden your heart as [in] Merivah, as [on] the day of Massah in the desert.
The Malbim interprets this pasuk as a continuation of the theme that he has been discussing, namely the unique nature of the Jewish people’s relationship with Hashem.
The nations of the world have not been the beneficiaries of Hashem’s providence and open miracles. As such, when they turn away from Hashem they are not considered to be hardening their hearts. The Malbim defines hardening ones heart as being the emotion that one feels when, in a manner similar to Pharaoh they see Hashem’s miracles and choose to ignore them.
However when we, the Jewish people turn away from Hashem after all He has done for us, and after all the miracles that He has performed, we are considered to have hardened our hearts. This is similar to the way that the Jewish people behaved in Massah and Merivah after all that they had seen during the process of the Exodus, they nonetheless disregarded Hashem by ignoring His voice.
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