Deuteronomy 4:40 You shall keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you… Another peculiar excellency of our religion is, that it prescribes an accurate rule of life, — most agreeable to reason and to our nature; most conducive to our welfare and content, tending to procure each man's private good, and to promote the public benefit of all, by the strict observance whereof we bring our human nature to a resemblance of the Divine; and we shall also thereby obtain God's favour, oblige and benefit men, and procure to ourselves the conveniences of a sober life and the pleasure of a good conscience. For if we examine the precepts which respect our duty to God, what can be more just, pleasant, or beneficial to us than are those duties of piety which our religion enjoins? What is more fit and reasonable than that we should most highly esteem and honour Him who is most excellent; that we should bear the sincerest affection for Him who is perfect goodness Himself, and most beneficial to us; that we should have the most awful dread of Him that is infinitely powerful, holy, and just; that we should be very grateful to Him from whom we received our being, with all the comforts and conveniences of it; that we should entirely trust and hope in Him who can and will do whatever we may in reason expect from His goodness — nor can He ever fail to perform His promises; that we should render all due obedience to Him whose children, servants, and subjects we are? The practice of such a piety, of a service so reasonable, cannot but be of vast advantage to us, as it procures peace of conscience, a comfortable hope, a freedom from all terrors and scruples of mind, from all tormenting cares and anxieties. (I. Barrow.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever. |
    |