Deuteronomy 6:1. 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:
God's commandments are to be taught, but they are also to be practiced: «which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them.» And it is this doing of them that is the hard part of the work. It is not easy always to teach them; a man needs the Spirit of God if he is to teach them aright, but practice is harder than preaching. May God grant us grace, whenever we hear his Word, to do it!
Deuteronomy 6:2. That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
The fear of God must always be a practical power in our lives: «that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments.» And that practical fear should lead us into obedience in detail; we ought so to study God's Word that we endeavor «to keep all his statutes and his commandments.» A slipshod obedience is disobedience. We must be careful and watchful to know the divine will, and in all respects to carry it out. You who are his children, dwelling in such a household, and with such a Father, it well becomes you to be obedient children. Nay, it is not only for us to obey the command of the Lord our God, but we should pray till the rest of the verse also comes true: «thou, and thy son, and thy sows son,» our children and our children's children. I am sure that, if we love God, we shall long that our children and our children's children may love him, too. If your trade has supported you, and brought you in a competence, you will naturally wish to bring your son up to it. But, on a far higher platform, if God has been a good God to you, your deepest desire will be that your son and your son's son should serve the same Divine Master through all the days of their life. «That thy days may be prolonged.» God does not give long life to all his people; yet in obedience to God is the most probable way of securing long life. There are also many of God's saints who are spared in times of pestilence, or who are delivered by an act of faith out of great dangers. That ancient declaration of God often comes true in these later times, «As the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.» At any rate, you who love the Lord shall live out your days, whereas the wicked shall not live out half their days. You shall complete the circle of life, whether it be a great circle or a little one; with long life will God satisfy you, and show you his salvation. The passage which now follows is held in very great esteem by the Jewish people even down to this day. They repeat it frequently, for it forms part of their morning and evening services.
Deuteronomy 6:3-4. 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 hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
There is but one God. This is the very basis of our faith; we know nothing of «gods many and lords many.» Yet it is the Triune God whom we worship; we are not less Unitarians in the highest meaning of that word because we are Trinitarians. We are not less believers in the one living and true God because we worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Deuteronomy 6:5. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Does not this show what is the very nature of God? God is love, for he commands us to love him. There was never an earthly prince or king whom I have heard of in whose statute book it was written, «Thou shalt love the king.» No; it is only in the statute book of him who is the Lord of life and love that we read such a command as this. To my mind it seems a very blessed privilege for us to be permitted to love One so great as God is. Here it is we find our heaven. It is a command, but we regard it rather as a loving, tender invitation to the highest bliss: «Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,» that is, intensely; «and with all thy soul,» that is, most sincerely, most lovingly, «and with all thy might» with all thy energy, with every faculty, with every possibility of thy nature.
Deuteronomy 6:6. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Oh, how blessed to have them written on the heart by the Holy Spirit. We can never get them there except he who made the heart anew shall engrave upon these fleshy tablets the divine precepts.
Deuteronomy 6:7. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
Christian parent, have you done this? «Thou shalt» not only teach them, but «teach them diligently unto thy children.»