After these emphatic warnings against self-righteousness the principal topic is resumed from Deuteronomy 6, and this division of the discourse is drawn to a conclusion in the next two chapters by a series of direct and positive exhortations to a careful fulfillment of the duties prescribed in the first two of the Ten "Words."

Deuteronomy 10:12

What doth the Lord thy God require ... - A noteworthy demand. God has in the Mosaic law positively commanded many things. However, these relate to external observances, which if need be can be enforced. But love and veneration cannot be enforced, even by God himself. They must be spontaneous. Hence, even under the law of ordinances where so much was peremptorily laid down, and omnipotence was ready to compel obedience, those sentiments, which are the spirit and life of the whole, have to be, as they here are, invited and solicited.

Now, Israel, what doth the Lord - require of thee - An answer is immediately given. God requires,

1. That ye fear him as Jehovah your God; him who made, preserves, and governs you.

2. That ye walk in all his ways - that, having received his precepts, all of which are good and excellent, ye obey the whole; walking in God's ways, not your own, nor in the ways of the people of the land.

3. That ye love him - have confidence in him as your father and friend, have recourse to him in all your necessities, and love him in return for his love.

4. That you serve him - give him that worship which he requires, performing it with all your heart - the whole of your affections, and with all your soul - your will, understanding, and judgment. In a word, putting forth your whole strength and energy of body and soul in the sacred work.

And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee,.... For all these favours bestowed upon them, the forgiveness of their sins, and a fresh intimation of their possession of the land of Canaan, and the renewal of the promise of it made to their fathers:

but to fear the Lord thy God; to fear him with a filial fear, to fear him and his goodness, and him for his goodness sake, and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy vouchsafed to them; see Psalm 130:4,

to walk in all his ways; prescribed and directed to by him, every path of duty, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial:

and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; for that is the best service which springs from love, and love constrains unto, and which is hearty and sincere, as that is, and is performed in the best manner such are capable of.

The proof that Israel had no righteousness before God is followed on the positive side by an expansion of the main law laid down in Deuteronomy 6:4., to love God with all the heart, which is introduced by the words, "and now Israel," sc., now that thou hast everything without desert or worthiness, purely from forgiving grace. "What doth the Lord thy God require of thee?" Nothing further than that thou fearest Him, "to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Him with all the heart and all the soul." אם כּי, unless, or except that, presupposes a negative clause (cf. Genesis 39:9), which is implied here in the previous question, or else to be supplied as the answer. The demand for fear, love, and reverence towards the Lord, is no doubt very hard for the natural man to fulfil, and all the harder the deeper it goes into the heart; but after such manifestations of the love and grace of God, it only follows as a matter of course. "Fear, love, and obedience would naturally have taken root of themselves within the heart, if man had not corrupted his own heart." Love, which is the only thing demanded in Deuteronomy 6:5, is here preceded by fear, which is the only thing mentioned in Deuteronomy 5:26 and Deuteronomy 6:24.

(Note: The fear of God is to be united with the love of God; for love without fear makes men remiss, and fear without love makes them servile and desperate (J. Gerhard).)

The fear of the Lord, which springs from the knowledge of one's own unholiness in the presence of the holy God, ought to form the one leading emotion in the heart prompting to walk in all the ways of the Lord, and to maintain morality of conduct in its strictest form. This fear, which first enables us to comprehend the mercy of God, awakens love, the fruit of which is manifested in serving God with all the heart and all the soul (see Deuteronomy 6:5). "For thy good," as in Deuteronomy 5:30 and Deuteronomy 6:24.

And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God {f} require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

(f) For all our sins and transgressions God requires nothing but to turn to him and obey him.

10:12 What doth he require - By way of duty and gratitude for such amazing mercies.

Margin fear

See Scofield Note: "Ps 19:9".

10:12-22 We are here taught our duty to God in our principles and our practices. We must fear the Lord our God. We must love him, and delight in communion with him. We must walk in the ways in which he has appointed us to walk. We must serve him with all our heart and soul. What we do in his service we must do cheerfully, and with good will. We must keep his commandments. There is true honour and pleasure in obedience. We must give honour to God; and to him we must cleave, as one we love and delight in, trust in, and from whom we have great expectations. We are here taught our duty to our neighbour. God's common gifts to mankind oblige us to honour all men. And those who have themselves been in distress, and have found mercy with God, should be ready to show kindness to those who are in the like distress. We are here taught our duty to ourselves. Circumcise your hearts. Cast away all corrupt affections and inclinations, which hinder you from fearing and loving God. By nature we do not love God. This is original sin, the source whence our wickedness proceeds; and the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be; so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God, Ro 8:5-9. Let us, without delay or reserve, come and cleave to our reconciled God in Jesus Christ, that we may love, serve, and obey him acceptably, and be daily changed into his image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord. Consider the greatness and glory of God; and his goodness and grace; these persuade us to our duty. Blessed Spirit! Oh for thy purifying, persevering, and renewing influences, that being called out of the state of strangers, such as our fathers were, we may be found among the number of the children of God, and that our lot may be among the saints.