Deuteronomy 5:28-29 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and the LORD said to me… Consider — 1. "Fear Me, and keep My commandments always." The Ten Commandments are not worn out and antiquated; they contain a moral clement, a root of right action and right principle, which not only cannot be dispensed with, but must be enlarged upon. All contain a moral principle — love to God, love to man. But, as our Lord says, Christians must not content themselves with the observance of these Ten Commandments. Perfection must be our aim. Our love for man must be modelled after God's love, deep, catholic, unbounded; and our love for God must be reciprocal to His for us, an unrestrained overflowing gratitude, an unreserved devotion, an exhaustless loyalty. To keep His commandments we must go to the root of them. 2. "O that there were such an heart in them,...that it might be well with them." Plainly, then, the keeping of God's commandments ensures welfare. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. People talk of the burden of obeying God; it is tiresome, say they, and a thankless thing to be strict and religious. Those who do not try the pleasure of piety, of course will not understand that there can be any comfort in it. But there is more pleasure in serving God than in any other course. Ah! men may love the world, but the world will not satisfy the needs of their inner souls. But the fear of God does bring peace. There is an inward satisfaction, a consciousness of having done the right thing, which makes the heart glow with pleasure; not unfrequently, but not always, an outward blessing in earthly advantages — quite as often as in the case of the unprincipled — but, what is more than all, there is the peace of looking onwards. A step further. When the great plunge is made, and the soul finds itself in the world beyond, where silver and gold will not buy comforts, and intellect and sinews are powerless; there, in "the life which knows no ending," will those who have feared God, and believed in His Word, and kept His commandments, find to their joy that it is well with them: the treasures of that kingdom will be theirs: the honours of heaven, the pleasures of spiritual enjoyment, will be their own, when nothing else can give pleasure nor relief. 3. But mark: "Keep My commandment always. Steadfast, continuous, patient, must our obedience be; not hot and cold in the service of God; not a week of church going and a week of dissipation. Piety consists in settled habits of love to God and man: and if your breath passes away at the moment when your evil spirit" "has the upper hand, what then"? 4. Again, "O that there were such an heart in them that they would keep..." Here we have a Divine assertion of man's free will. It lies with ourselves to choose — to do, or not to do, the will of God. He does not force us to be good, nor prevent us from being good. There is something in every heart, if honest enough to look at itself, which says, "It rests with thee, with thyself, whether thou wilt serve God or not." It is perfectly true, "By grace ye are saved; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God": yet St. Peter says, "Grow in grace," that is, enjoins growth; and therefore growth, somehow, is in our own power. We talk of our uncontrollable impulses; but self-control is in our own hands, and may be acquired by practice. You stand at a high window, or on the edge of a cliff, you look down, and an unaccountable impulse prompts you to jump down, to certain death, you know. Is it not at such a moment in your power to draw back? If you let the sensation linger, it takes a decided shape; you cannot say what may happen, you may jump down. But you can draw back at once. If you play with the temptation, you will soon find it stronger than your will; but not at first, for there is a promise of a way of escape from every temptation. In other words, you can resist; the aid of God, which rises above all false notions about fate, is guaranteed to you. (G. F. Prescott, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. |
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