Deuteronomy 6

NOW these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

That thou mightest fear the LORD Which he hereby implies to be the first principle of true Obedience. thy God, to keep all his statutes; and his commandments which I command thee, thou and thy son, and thy sons son, all the days of thy life: and that thy days may be prolonged.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers has promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

Hear O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD One in Essence, and the only Object of our Worship..

And thou shalt love the LORD Now he shows another spring or principle of sincere Obedience to God, even hearty love to God, which will make his work and service ease and that the fear he mentioned before,.... 2. was such consist with love to God, and not that... vish fear and honour which produceth hatred. thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart i. e. In thy m... nd to remember them, and meditate upon them and in thy to love and pursue them..

And thou shalt teach them diligently as they may pierce deep into the manner of instructing, earnestly, frequently,. unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when in thine house, and when thou walkest by the, and when thou lyest down, and when up.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes Thou shalt give all diligence and use all means to keep them in thy remembrance, as men oft times bind something upon their hands, or put it before their eyes to prevent forgetfulness of a thing which they much desire to remember.... ompare Prov. 3. 3. and 6. 21. and 7. 3. See the notes on Exod. 13. 16..

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on thy gates.

And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land, which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildedst not;

And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive-trees, which thou plantedst not, when thou shalt have eaten, and be full,

Then beware lest thou forget the LORD which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear When thou hast a call and just cause to swear. by his name Understand only, as Deut. 5. 2. not by Idols, or any Creatures..

Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you:

(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you Heb. In the midst of you, to see and observe all your wayes and your turnings aside to other Gods.) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

Ye shall not tempt the LORD i. e. Not provoke him, as the following instance explains Sinners especially presumptuous sinners, are oft said to tempt God, i. e. to make a tryal of God whether he be what he pretends to be so wise as to see their sins, so just and true and powerful as to take vengeance on them for their sins, concerning which they are very apt to doubt because of the present impunity and prosperity of many such persons. See Numb. 14. 22. Psal. 78. 18. Mat. 4. 7. Acts 5. 9. your God as ye tempted him in Massah.

Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes which he has commanded thee.

And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD Not that which is right in thine own eyes, as many superstitious and sinful practises seem right and good to evil minded men. Let Gods will and word, and not thine own fancy or invention, be thy rule in Gods service. Good actions are oft said to be right in Gods sight, as Ier. 34. 15. Act. 4. 19. and evil actions are oft said to be right in our own eyes, as Deut. 12. 8. Iudg. 17. 6. that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in, and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers:

To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD has spoken.

And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?

Then thou shalt say unto thy son, we were Pharaohs bondmen in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon his houshold before our eyes:

And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God for our good The benefit of Obedience is ours, not Gods. Iob 35. 7. and therefore our Obedience is highly reasonable, and absolutely necessary. always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day.

And it shall be our righteousness Heb. shall be to us. We shall be owned and pronounced by God to be truly righteous and holy persons, if we sincerely obey him, otherwise we shall be declared to be unrighteous and ungodly persons, and all our profession of Religion will appear to be in Hypocrisie. Or shall be to us or wit... us. For as the Hebrew word rendred is very oft put for, as Psal. 24. 5. and 36. 10. and 51. 14. Prov. 1.... 2. and 11. 4.. 9. 16, &c. so this sense seem, best to agree both with the Scripture use of this phrase, in which righteousness seldom or never, to my remembrance, but or frequently, is said to be to us, or with us, as 2 Sam. 15. 20. Psal. 89. 24. Prov. 14. 22. Gal. 6. 16. 2 Ioh. 3. and with the foregoing verse and argument, God, says he, v. 24. commanded these things for our good, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day. And,... th he in this verse, this is not all, for as he has done us good, so he will go on to do us more and more good and Gods shall be to us, or with us in the remainder of our lives, and forever, if we observe, &c., if we observe to do all these commandments, before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.