Deuteronomy 10

Chap. XI. ver. 1. Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, &c.] There could not be a better way found out, though that was not sufficient to keep the children of Israel in their integrity towards God, than by frequently putting them in mind, and fixing in their memory the history of all the miracles which He had wrought for them, from the time of their being in Egypt, to their being in a triumphant condition in the land of Canaan: in which they had been eyewitnesses of more and greater miracles, than all the world besides had been acquainted with from the time of the deluge. All that He expected from them for all His mercies, was, that they would acknowledge Him their God, depend upon Him, and not have recourse to other gods, from whom they had received no benefit, and who never had done, nor ever could do, good for those who depended on them. And if the memory of all the wonders He had done in Egypt, their walking through the sea as upon dry land, and seeing all those, who pursued them, covered and drowned in that very sea: if their having found bread in the wilderness, and a dry rock having given them drink, when they were on the point of fainting: if the subduing many nations, and more warlike than themselves, and putting them into the quiet possession of their habitations and dominions: if all this would not imprint a notion of His omnipotence and paternal affection in their hearts in such indelible characters, that they should never be in doubt to whom they ought to pay their vows, or whither to repair in their distress; they must be more brutish creatures, and more unworthy of His future protection and preservation, than the fowls of the air or the beasts of the field.

We are much more inexcusable than these Israelites, if, after the clear and full information, which we have received and which is every day inculcated, of the history of the whole life and death of our Saviour, the infinite benefits, which we have received from Him, and the infinite torments which He endured for us, we do

An exhortation to obedience. Before CHRIST 1461.

Deuteronomy 10:12

12. — what doth the Lord thy God require of thee.] What now ought to be your behaviour, in return for such a degree of pardoning mercy, that has restored you to such blessed privileges of the Divine covenant? What can it be less, than a careful and conscientious regard to all His Divine commands; but especially to those moral precepts, that are in their own nature so good and beneficial to be put in practice? In this you are to show the fear, love, honour, and reverence you bear towards the great and good God. Pyle.

Moses in this place exhorts them to obedience from very powerful arguments: namely, 1st, from the consideration of God’s former mercies, ver. 10, 11, 22: 2dly, from His sovereign authority, ver. 14: 3dly, from His

peculiar kindness to them, ver. 15: 4thly, from His infinite power, ver. 17: and 5thly, from His inflexible justice, ver. 17, 18. Bp. Kidder.

— to fear the Lord thy God, — and to love him, &c.] The genuine love of God includes all those mingled sentiments of fear, awe, admiration, esoteration, gratitude, and love, which the contemplation of such a perfect character, as that of the Deity, naturally and necessarily suggests. Bp. Butler.

The true principles of Christian obedience, as they are every where set forth in Scripture, are the love and fear of God: which are so far from being inconsistent with each other, that they are really inseparable; the one deterring us from sin, the other exciting us to virtue and righteousness. They are both put together in these expressive words, in which Moses sums up his exhortations to the Israelites: “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, &c.” The royal preacher concludes his discourse to the same effect, but more shortly, thus: “Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty,” or the whole business, “of man,” Eccles. xii. 13. And St. John tells us, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments,” 1 John v. 3. In the former passage, the fear of God evidently includes the love of Him; as in the latter the love does by no means exclude the fear: the following words being the same in each, that we “keep His commandments.” With the strictest propriety therefore we are taught to pray in our Liturgy, for “an heart” disposed “to love and dread,” or fear God, and “diligently to live after,” or according to, “His commandments.” Waldo. See the notes on chap. vi. 5, and 13.

Deuteronomy 10:15

15. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers &c.] He would have them sensible, that the Possessor of heaven and earth could have no need of them or of their services, so inconsiderable a part as they were of His creatures. But it was His own mere good will and

An exhortation to obedience. Before CHRIST 1451. f 3 Chron. 19. 7. Job 34. 19. Acts 10. 34. Rom. 2. 11. Gal. 2. 6. Ephes. 6. 9. Col. 3. 23.

Deuteronomy 10:16

16. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,] Satisfy not yourselves in the mere outward badge and character of God’s church and people. Let not your religion rest in external rites, and the observances of ceremonial worship: but let your chief aim be, to attain those inward dispositions of mind, and to reform those sinful passions and affections, that are intended and represented by such external ordinances; in order to prevent the miscarriages to which you have hitherto been subject. Pyle.

As circumcision was a rite, which united the family of Abraham, as having the same faith, worship, and privileges, and kept them separate from other nations, who had corrupted the faith and worship of the true God, and had lost the privileges of a true Church: so also it was most proper to teach the obligations of an holy nation, in purity of heart and holiness of life, of which circumcision was so proper a figurative instruction. Moses expresses these obligations in this precept; “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart:” and to the like effect, “The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart &c.” chap. xxx. 6. This shows that circumcision was designed to teach the inward circumcision of the heart, as being preferable to outward circumcision in the acceptance and approbation of God. And this great use of it gave St. Paul just reason to argue, “He is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God,” Rom. ii. 29. Loseman.

Deuteronomy 10:17

17. For the Lord your God is God of gods, &c.] The sovereignty, the power, the justice, the impartiality, the lovingkindness, and the bounty of God, are here brought forward as a ground of admonition to the Israelites to be kind and hospitable to the distressed; especially to “the stranger,” who might be driven unjustly from his own country, or, as he was travelling on his honest occasions, might fall into want. This is a virtue which flows from the love of God; for it is in vain to pretend that we love Him, if we love not all mankind. This love is shown by our imitating God’s care of “the stranger,” and the distressed, and acting, as He is described to act towards them; namely, by doing them justice equally with others, and giving them food and raiment.