The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 122

was not nfraid to draw near. Imperfect though he was, he displayed a rare spirit or self-sacrifice. "Pardon, I prny thee, this people! or else, blot out my name from thy book l" Hero was a vivid typo of Jesus. Ill. IluMAN 0DI,JOATION INCREAs1m. In the very nature of things, kindness on ths one side bcgets obligation on the other. 1. This obligation is personal. "The Lord hath not made this covenant with our fathers, but with us." God's covenant with men is renewed age nfter age. It is a covenant with us, if we will accept the terms. Are we willing to be his--wholly his 1 Then the covenant is settled, "ordered in all things and sure." 2. This obligution is all-embracing and complete. It includes every part of our nature, every moment in our history, every interest we have in life. A tten- tioo is demanded. '!'he ear must be reserved for God. Intellect is pledged. We must "learn the statutes and judgments." Active and dutiful service is due. Like the true Son, our intention must be, "I do always the thiags that please" the Father !-D. Vers. 6-21.-The Divine pl11n for the conduct of our life on earth. Had we been left in ignorance what the Divine .intention in human life was, it had been a calamity indeed. Waste and failure must have been the dieastrous result. For every honest- minded ma □, ample direction from the Supreme Source of authority is supplied. The most cogent argument is not always the most convincing. God might here have prefaced his ten words with a proper assertion of his indisputable sovereignty. But he prefers to appeal to his recent interposition-his emancipation of the people from Egyptian bondage. As if he had said, "I, wbo released you from grinding misery-I, who created your liberty, and founded your nation, now command your loyalty. Let the lives which I have ransomed be spent as I now direct." I. How HUMAN LIFE IS TO BE DIRECTED GOD-WARD. 1. That God must be supreme in our regard and affection. "Thou shalt have none other gods before me." This claim is founded in absolute right. The Proprietor has complete dominion over the work of his hands. If his workmanship does not please him, he is at liberty to destroy it. His claim is further pressed on the ground of his transcendent excellence. Essential and unapproachable goodness is he; hence his claims on worship rest upon his intrinsic worth. And his claim to reverent regard proceeds likewise on human benefit. God's glory and man's advantage are only different aspects of the same eternal truth. To give him all is to enrich ourselves. 2. That God must be supreme in our acts of wor- ship. To picture him forth by material images is an impossibility. The plausible plea of human nature has always been that material forms serve as aids to worship the Unseen. But the facts of human experience have uniformly disproved this hypothesis. It may cost us severe exertion of mind to lift our souls up to the worship of the true God; yet this very exertion is an unspeakable advantage. God has no pleasure in imposing on us hard tasks for their own sake; yet, for the high gain to his servants, he does impose them. Throughout the Scriptures, idolatry is represented as spiritual adultery; hence, condescending to human modes of speech, the displeasure of God is described as jealoiisy. Jealousy is quick-sighted, deep-seated, swift-footed. All reve- lation of God is an accommodation to human ignorance and feebleness. The visitation of runishment upon the children, and upon the children's children, is not to be con- strued as excessively severe, much less as unrighteous. 'fhe thrice-holy God can never be unjust. The idolatrous spirit would be entailed to children by natural law; hence punishment would culminate in final disaster. The menace was gracious, because, if J•arents will not abstain from sin for their own so.kes, they sometimes will for the sake of their children. 'l'he mercy sho.11 bo far more ample than the wrath. The anger 1uay be entailed on a few, and that iu proportion always to the sin; the ruercy shall flow, like a mighty river, to "thousands." True worship fosters love, and st11uulates practical obedience. 3. God's authority is supreme over our sptech. The faculty of speech is a noble endowment, and differentiates man from the inferior races. The tououe is a micrhty iusLrument, either for evil or for gm,d. ( l) Wo take God's N a~10 in vain ,~hen wo make an insincere or superficial pro- fession of attachment. \Vo wear liis Name lightly and frivolously if our service is fon~ial and nominal. (2) \Ve take his Name in vain wh~n _we are uufairhfol iu the I crlurmance of our vows. Men plc,lgo themselves to be his, rn mom~nts ~f pen I, and !urge~ their pledges when safety comes. (3) We take Gods Name m vain when we 110 THE IlOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [cu. v. 1-33.