From the fact that Hashem told Moshe not to fear Og, the Torah was suggesting that Moshe had reason to fear him. What could there be about Og that would engender fear in Moshe. As Rashi says, Og had received merit for a good deed that he had performed many years earlier. Og was the one who told Avraham that Lot had been taken captive. This act of kindness gave him a zechus. The question is obvious. Og had an ulterior motive in communicating this message to Avraham. Chazal tell us that Og hoped Avraham would rush into battle to save Lot and be killed. Og would then be free to marry Sarah. Why then should malicious intent, albeit causing an inadvertent good deed, be rewarded to such an extent? Moreover, did Og really help Avraham? He only relayed some pertinent information to him. Does this warrant such enormous merit that Klal Yisrael should fear going into battle with him?
Horav Reuven Grosovsky, zl, infers from this that a good deed, regardless of the motivating factor behind it, engenders great merit and reward for he who performs it . Furthermore, if this reward is available to a pagan whose intent was harmful, how much more so is there reward set aside for an individual who performs acts of kindness with a pure heart! If we would only take this message to heart, we would pursue every opportunity to do good unto others. It is unfortunate that we do not realize how the simple things that are so easy to do have so much value.
