The Meaning of God’s Law: Deuteronomy 6 (2)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 19.7, 8
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes…

Psalm 19.7, 8
(St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus)
The Law of God is perfect, His testimony sure.
The simple man God’s wisdom learns, the soul receives its cure.
God’s Word is right, and His command is pure, and truth imparts;
He makes our eyes to understand; with joy He fills our hearts.

Today’s Text: Deuteronomy 6.4-9

Preparation
1. How many different aspects of life are mentioned here?

2. How should we think about the Law of God in relation to these?

Mediation
Our text today includes the well-known shema (“Hear!”) passage. Notice yet again Moses’ emphasis on knowing God truly (v. 4). He is the LORD (“I AM Who I AM”). He is God. And He is One. There is no other God, as Moses has emphasized already over and over. God has made and saved us, and He has given us His Law and all His Word. We must look to God, seek to increase in the knowledge of the Lord, and keep Him always before our minds and in our hearts (Ps. 16.8).

Our highest duty and greatest privilege in life is to know and love the Lord God (Jn. 17.3). Daily we expect to increase in love for Him in all our soul and body (v. 5). Loving God involves all aspects of our being, all the components of our soul (heart, mind, conscience), and every manifestation of our bodily life (words and deeds). Love is not just a feeling; it’s a whole-life commitment to knowing, loving, and serving God.

Love for God begins with letting His Word dwell richly in us (v. 6; cf. Ps. 119.9-11; Col. 3.16). This doesn’t just happen, of course. We must give ourselves to reading, study, contemplation, conversation, and application of the Law of God and all His Word. We must fill our minds with it, so that every thought becomes subject to it (2 Cor. 10.3-5). We must devote our hearts to it, so that the Word becomes to us the joy and rejoicing of our heart (Jer. 15.16). And we must set the Word as the priority for all of life in our conscience (Rom. 2.14, 15).

But the Word is not just for us. We must teach it to the generation that will succeed us (v. 7). We do this both in formal and informal settings, at every opportunity. Our aim is to have the Law of God guide our thinking and direct the work of our hands (v. 8).

We must also let the Law of God define the character and ambience of our homes and communities. As the Spirit of God writes the Law on our hearts (Ezek. 36.26, 27), we “write” it on the doorposts of our homes and the gates of our communities. That is, we look to the Law for all our going-out and coming-in, for all aspects of our social and cultural lives, so that the glory of God which is in the Law comes to expression in all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities.

The Law of God is inexhaustibly rich, beautiful, holy, righteous, and good (Rom. 7.12). Why would we want anything other than this to guide our lives?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162.
If I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and strength, then it only makes sense that everything I do will be about Him. He will overflow out of me into the lives and spaces of others. We are told to teach these things diligently to our children, and by extension to others, and to talk about God when we sit and when we walk, thinking about Him when we go to sleep and then when we get up again. It is a glorious cycle of life in Him. What is true inside us will benefit those outside us. This concept is the law for all of life: “…always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5.15-18).

Reflection
1. What do we mean by referring to the Christian life as a “glorious cycle of life in Him”?

2. What can you do to have God more deeply entrenched in your heart, more firmly fixed in your mind, and more readily evident in your words and deeds?

3. How can Christians help one another improve in this kind of lifestyle?

That Trinity is one God. Not that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are identically the same. But the Father is Father, the Son is Son, and the Holy Spirit is Holy Spirit, and this Trinity is one God, as it is written: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God.” Augustine (354-430), On Faith and the Creed, 9.16

Be always before me today, O Lord – on my mind, in my heart, and upon my conscience, so that I…

Closing Prayer: Psalm 19.9-14
How will you bring the Word of God into your life today? In prayer, as you wait on the Lord, reflect on the day ahead, and consider specific ways the holy and righteous and good Law of God can enrich your life. Commit your day to the Lord.

Psalm 19.9-14
(St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus)
The fear of God is cleansing, forever shall it last.
His judgments all are true and just, by righteousness held fast.
O seek them more than gold most fine, than honey find them sweet.
Be warned by every word and line; be blessed with joy complete.

Who, Lord, can know his errors? O keep sin far from me!
Let evil rule not in my soul that I may blameless be.
O let my thoughts, let all my words, before Your glorious sight
Be pleasing to You, gracious Lord, acceptable and right!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Ancient Christian Commentary Series III, Joseph T. Lienhard, S. J. ed. in collaboration with Ronnie J. Rombs, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001). All quotations from John Calvin from John Calvin, Commentaries on The Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Order of A Harmony, Rev. Charles William Bingham M. A., tr. and ed. (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1863. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).