mh_parser/vol_split/5 - Deuteronomy/Chapter 10.xml

<div2 id="Deu.xi" n="xi" next="Deu.xii" prev="Deu.x" progress="86.18%" title="Chapter X">
<h2 id="Deu.xi-p0.1">D E U T E R O N O M Y</h2>
<h3 id="Deu.xi-p0.2">CHAP. X.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Deu.xi-p1">Moses having, in the foregoing chapter, reminded
them of their own sin, as a reason why they should not depend upon
their own righteousness, in this chapter he sets before them God's
great mercy to them, notwithstanding their provocations, as a
reason why they should be more obedient for the future. I. He
mentions divers tokens of God's favour and reconciliation to them,
never to be forgotten. (1.) The renewing of the tables of the
covenant, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.1-Deut.10.5" parsed="|Deut|10|1|10|5" passage="De 10:1-5">ver. 1-5</scripRef>. (2.)
Giving orders for their progress towards Canaan, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.6-Deut.10.7" parsed="|Deut|10|6|10|7" passage="De 10:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>. (3.) Choosing the tribe of Levi
for his own, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.8-Deut.10.9" parsed="|Deut|10|8|10|9" passage="De 10:8,9">ver. 8, 9</scripRef>.
(4.) And continuing the priesthood after the death of Aaron,
<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.6" parsed="|Deut|10|6|0|0" passage="De 10:6">ver. 6</scripRef>. (5.) Owning and
accepting the intercession of Moses for them, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.10-Deut.10.11" parsed="|Deut|10|10|10|11" passage="De 10:10,11">ver. 10, 11</scripRef>. II. Hence he infers what
obligations they lay under to fear, and love, and serve God, which
he presses upon them with many motives, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.12-Deut.10.22" parsed="|Deut|10|12|10|22" passage="De 10:12-22">ver. 12</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Deu.xi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10" parsed="|Deut|10|0|0|0" passage="De 10" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.1-Deut.10.11" parsed="|Deut|10|1|10|11" passage="De 10:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.10.1-Deut.10.11">
<h4 id="Deu.xi-p1.9">God's Great Kindness to
Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xi-p2">1 At that time the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.1">Lord</span> said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone
like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make
thee an ark of wood.   2 And I will write on the tables the
words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou
shalt put them in the ark.   3 And I made an ark <i>of</i>
shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first,
and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.
  4 And he wrote on the tables, according to the first
writing, the ten commandments, which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.2">Lord</span> spake unto you in the mount out of the
midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.3">Lord</span> gave them unto me.   5 And I turned
myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark
which I had made; and there they be, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.4">Lord</span> commanded me.   6 And the children of
Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to
Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his
son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.   7 From
thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath,
a land of rivers of waters.   8 At that time the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.5">Lord</span> separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the
ark of the covenant of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.6">Lord</span>, to
stand before the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.7">Lord</span> to minister
unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.   9
Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.8">Lord</span> <i>is</i> his inheritance,
according as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.9">Lord</span> thy God
promised him.   10 And I stayed in the mount, according to the
first time, forty days and forty nights; and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.10">Lord</span> hearkened unto me at that time also,
<i>and</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.11">Lord</span> would not
destroy thee.   11 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p2.12">Lord</span>
said unto me, Arise, take <i>thy</i> journey before the people,
that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their
fathers to give unto them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p3">There were four things in and by which God
showed himself reconciled to Israel and made them truly great and
happy, and in which God's goodness took occasion from their badness
to make him the more illustrious:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p4">I. He gave them his law, gave it to them in
writing, as a standing pledge of his favour. Though the tables that
were first written were broken, because Israel had broken the
commandments, and God might justly break the covenant, yet when his
anger was turned away the tables were renewed, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.1-Deut.10.2" parsed="|Deut|10|1|10|2" passage="De 10:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>. Note, God's putting his law
in our hearts, and writing it in our inward parts, furnish the surest evidence of our reconciliation to God and the best earnest of our happiness
in him. Moses is told to hew the tables; for the law prepares the
heart by conviction and humiliation for the grace of God, but it is
only that grace that then writes the law in it. Moses made <i>an
ark of shittim-wood</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.3" parsed="|Deut|10|3|0|0" passage="De 10:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), a plain chest, the same, I suppose, in which the
tables were afterwards preserved: but Bezaleel is said to make it
(<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.37.1" parsed="|Exod|37|1|0|0" passage="Ex 37:1">Exod. xxxvii. 1</scripRef>), because
he afterwards finished it up and overlaid it with gold. Or Moses is
said to make it because, when he went up the second time into the
mount, he ordered it to be made by Bezaleel against he came down.
And it is observable that for this reason the ark was the first
thing that God gave orders about, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.25.10" parsed="|Exod|25|10|0|0" passage="Ex 25:10">Exod. xxv. 10</scripRef>. And this left an earnest to
the congregation that the tables should not miscarry this second
time, as they had done the first. God will send his law and gospel
to those whose hearts are prepared as arks to receive them. Christ
is the ark in which now our salvation is kept safely, that it may
not be lost as it was in the first Adam, when he had it in his own
hand. Observe, 1. What it was that God wrote on the two tables, the
ten commandments (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.4" parsed="|Deut|10|4|0|0" passage="De 10:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), or <i>ten words,</i> intimating in how little a
compass they were contained: they were not ten volumes, but ten
words: it was the same with the first writing, and both the same
that he spoke in the mount. The second edition needed no correction
nor amendment, nor did what he wrote differ form what he spoke. The
written word is as truly the word of God as that which he spoke to
his servants the prophets. 2. What care was taken of it. These two
tables, thus engraven, were faithfully laid up in the ark. <i>And
there they be,</i> said Moses, pointing it is probable towards the
sanctuary, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.5" parsed="|Deut|10|5|0|0" passage="De 10:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. That
good thing which was committed to him he transmitted to them, and
left it pure and entire in their hands; now let them look to it at
their peril. Thus we may say to the rising generation, "God has
entrusted us with Bibles, sabbaths, sacraments, &amp;c., as tokens
of his presence and favour, and there they be; we lodge them with
you," <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.1.13-2Tim.1.14" parsed="|2Tim|1|13|1|14" passage="2Ti 1:13,14">2 Tim. i. 13,
14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p5">II. He led them forward towards Canaan,
though they in their hearts turned back towards Egypt, and he might
justly have chosen their delusions, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.6-Deut.10.7" parsed="|Deut|10|6|10|7" passage="De 10:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>. He brought them to a land of
<i>rivers of waters,</i> out of a dry and barren wilderness.
Sometimes God supplied their wants by the ordinary course of
nature: when that failed, then by miracles; and yet after this,
when they were brought into a little distress, we find them
distrusting God and murmuring, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.20.3-Num.20.4" parsed="|Num|20|3|20|4" passage="Nu 20:3,4">Num.
xx. 3, 4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p6">III. He appointed a standing ministry among
them, to deal for them in holy things. At that time when Moses went
up a second time to the mount, or soon after, he had orders to
separate the tribe of Levi to God, and to his immediate service,
they having distinguished themselves by their zeal against the
worshippers of the golden calf, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.8-Deut.10.9" parsed="|Deut|10|8|10|9" passage="De 10:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8, 9</scripRef>. The Kohathites carried the
ark; they and the other Levites stood <i>before the Lord,</i> to
minister to him in all the offices of the tabernacle; and the
priests, who were of that tribe, were to bless the people. This was
a standing ordinance, which had now continued almost forty years,
even unto this day; and provision was made for the perpetuating of
it by the settled maintenance of that tribe, which was such as gave
them great encouragement in their work, and no diversion from it.
<i>The Lord is his inheritance.</i> Note, A settled ministry is a
great blessing to a people, and a special token of God's favour.
And, since the particular priests could not continue by reason of
death, God showed his care of the people in securing a succession,
which Moses takes notice of here, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.6" parsed="|Deut|10|6|0|0" passage="De 10:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. When <i>Aaron died,</i> the
priesthood did not die with him, but <i>Eleazar his son ministered
in his stead,</i> and took care of the ark, in which the tables of
stone, those precious stones, were deposited, that they should
suffer no damage; there they be, and he has the custody of them.
Under the law, a succession in the ministry was kept up, by an
entail of the office on a certain tribe and family. But now, under
the gospel, when the effusion of the Spirit is more plentiful and
powerful, the succession is kept up by the Spirit's operation on
men's hearts, qualifying men for, and inclining men to, that work,
some in every age, that the name of Israel may not be blotted
out.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p7">IV. He accepted Moses as an advocate or
intercessor for them, and therefore constituted him their prince
and leader (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.10-Deut.10.11" parsed="|Deut|10|10|10|11" passage="De 10:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10,
11</scripRef>): <i>The Lord hearkened to me and said, Arise, go
before the people.</i> It was a mercy to them that they had such a
friend, so faithful both to him that appointed him and to those for
whom he was appointed. It was fit that he who had saved them from
ruin, by his intercession with heaven, should have the conduct and
command of them. And herein he was a type of Christ, who, as he
ever lives making intercession for us, so he has <i>all power both
in heaven and in earth.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Deu.xi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10" parsed="|Deut|10|0|0|0" passage="De 10" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Deu.xi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.12-Deut.10.22" parsed="|Deut|10|12|10|22" passage="De 10:12-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Deut.10.12-Deut.10.22">
<h4 id="Deu.xi-p7.4">Exhortation to Obedience. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p7.5">b. c.</span> 1451.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Deu.xi-p8">12 And now, Israel, what doth the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.1">Lord</span> thy God require of thee, but to fear the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.2">Lord</span> thy God, to walk in all his
ways, and to love him, and to serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.3">Lord</span> thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul,   13 To keep the commandments of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.4">Lord</span>, and his statutes, which I command thee
this day for thy good?   14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven
of heavens <i>is</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.5">Lord</span>'s thy
God, the earth <i>also,</i> with all that therein <i>is.</i>  
15 Only the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.6">Lord</span> had a delight in
thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them,
<i>even</i> you above all people, as <i>it is</i> this day.  
16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more
stiffnecked.   17 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.7">Lord</span>
your God <i>is</i> God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a
mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh
reward:   18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless
and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
  19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in
the land of Egypt.   20 Thou shalt fear the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.8">Lord</span> thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him
shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.   21 He <i>is</i>
thy praise, and he <i>is</i> thy God, that hath done for thee these
great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.   22
Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons;
and now the <span class="smallcaps" id="Deu.xi-p8.9">Lord</span> thy God hath made
thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p9">Here is a most pathetic exhortation to
obedience, inferred from the premises, and urged with very powerful
arguments and a great deal of persuasive rhetoric. Moses brings it
in like an orator, with an appeal to his auditors <i>And now,
Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee?</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.12" parsed="|Deut|10|12|0|0" passage="De 10:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. Ask what he requires;
as David (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.116.12" parsed="|Ps|116|12|0|0" passage="Ps 116:12">Ps. cxvi. 12</scripRef>),
<i>What shall I render?</i> When we have received mercy from God it
becomes us to enquire what returns we shall make to him. Consider
what he requires, and you will find it is nothing but what is
highly just and reasonable in itself and of unspeakable benefit and
advantage to you. Let us see here what he does require, and what
abundant reason there is why we should do what he requires.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p10">I. We are here most plainly directed in our
duty to God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p11">1. We are here taught our duty to God, both
in the dispositions and affections of our souls and in the actions
of our lives, our principles and our practices. (1.) We must
<i>fear the Lord our God,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.12" parsed="|Deut|10|12|0|0" passage="De 10:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>, and again <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.20" parsed="|Deut|10|20|0|0" passage="De 10:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. We must adore his majesty,
acknowledge his authority, stand in awe of his power, and dread his
wrath. This is gospel duty, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.6-Rev.14.7" parsed="|Rev|14|6|14|7" passage="Re 14:6,7">Rev. xiv.
6, 7</scripRef>. (2.) We must love him, be well pleased that he is,
desire that he may be ours, and delight in the contemplation of him
and in communion with him. Fear him as a great God, and our Lord,
love him as a good God, and our Father and benefactor. (3.) We must
walk in his ways, that is, the ways which he has appointed us to
walk in. The whole course of our conversation must be conformable
to his holy will. (4.) We must <i>serve him</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.20" parsed="|Deut|10|20|0|0" passage="De 10:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), <i>serve him with all our
heart and soul</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.12" parsed="|Deut|10|12|0|0" passage="De 10:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>), devote ourselves to his honour, put ourselves under
his government, and lay out ourselves to advance all the interests
of his kingdom among men. And we must be hearty and zealous in his
service, engage and employ our inward man in his work, and what we
do for him we must do cheerfully and with a good will. (5.) We must
<i>keep his commandments and his statutes,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.13" parsed="|Deut|10|13|0|0" passage="De 10:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. Having given up ourselves to
his service, we must make his revealed will our rule in every
thing, perform all he prescribes, forbear all the forbids, firmly
believing that all the statutes he commands us are for our good.
Besides the reward of obedience, which will be our unspeakable
gain, there are true honour and pleasure in obedience. It is really
for our present good to be meek and humble, chaste and sober, just
and charitable, patient and contented; these make us easy, and
safe, and pleasant, and truly great. (6.) We must give honour to
God, in swearing by <i>his name</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.20" parsed="|Deut|10|20|0|0" passage="De 10:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>); so give him the honour of his
omniscience, his sovereignty, his justice, as well as of his
necessary existence. <i>Swear by his name,</i> and not by the name
of any creature, or false god, whenever an oath for confirmation is
called for. (7.) To him we must cleave, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p11.8" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.20" parsed="|Deut|10|20|0|0" passage="De 10:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. Having chosen him for our God,
we must faithfully and constantly abide with him and never forsake
him. Cleave to him as one we love and delight in, trust and confide
in, and from whom we have great expectations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p12">2. We are here taught our duty to our
neighbour (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.19" parsed="|Deut|10|19|0|0" passage="De 10:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>):
<i>Love the stranger;</i> and, if the stranger, much more our
brethren, as ourselves. If the Israelites that were such a peculiar
people, so particularly distinguished from all people, must be kind
to strangers, much more must we, that are not enclosed in such a
pale; we must have a tender concern for all that share with us in
the human nature, and <i>as we have opportunity;</i> (that is,
according to their necessities and our abilities) we must <i>do
good to all men.</i> Two arguments are here urged to enforce this
duty:—(1.) God's common providence, which extends itself to all
nations of men, they being all <i>made of one blood.</i> God
<i>loveth the stranger</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.18" parsed="|Deut|10|18|0|0" passage="De 10:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>), that is, he gives to all life, and breath, and all
things, even to those that are Gentiles, and <i>strangers to the
commonwealth of Israel</i> and to Israel's God. He knows those
perfectly whom we know nothing of. He gives <i>food and raiment</i>
even to those to whom he has not shown his word and statutes. God's
common gifts to mankind oblige us to honour all men. Or the
expression denotes the particular care which Providence takes of
strangers in distress, which we ought to praise him for (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.146.9" parsed="|Ps|146|9|0|0" passage="Ps 146:9">Ps. cxlvi. 9</scripRef>, The <i>Lord preserveth
the strangers</i>), and to imitate him, to serve him, and concur
with him therein, being forward to make ourselves instruments in
his hand of kindness to strangers. (2.) The afflicted condition
which the Israelites themselves had been in, when they were
strangers in Egypt. Those that have themselves been in distress,
and have found mercy with God, should sympathize most feelingly
with those that are in the like distress and be ready to show
kindness to them. The people of the Jews, notwithstanding these
repeated commands given them to be kind to strangers, conceived a
rooted antipathy to the Gentiles, whom they looked upon with the
utmost disdain, which made them envy the grace of God and the
gospel of Christ, and this brought a final ruin upon
themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p13">3. We are here taught our duty to ourselves
(<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.16" parsed="|Deut|10|16|0|0" passage="De 10:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>):
<i>Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.</i> that is, "Cast away
from you all corrupt affections and inclinations, which hinder you
from fearing and loving God. <i>Mortify the flesh</i> with the
lusts of it. Away with all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, which obstruct the free course of the word of God to
your hearts. Rest not in the circumcision of the body, which was
only the sign, but be circumcised in heart, which is the thing
signified." See <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.29" parsed="|Rom|2|29|0|0" passage="Ro 2:29">Rom. ii. 29</scripRef>.
The command of Christ goes further than this, and obliges us not
only to cut off the foreskin of the heart, which may easily be
spared, but to cut off the right hand and to pluck out the right
eye that is an offence to us; the more spiritual the dispensation
is the more spiritual we are obliged to be, and to go the closer in
mortifying sin. And <i>be no more stiff-necked,</i> as they had
been hitherto, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.9.24" parsed="|Deut|9|24|0|0" passage="De 9:24"><i>ch.</i> ix.
24</scripRef>. "Be not any longer obstinate against divine commands
and corrections, but ready to comply with the will of God in both."
The circumcision of the heart makes it ready to yield to God, and
draw in his yoke.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p14">II. We are here most pathetically persuaded
to our duty. Let but reason rule us, and religion will.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p15">1. Consider the greatness and glory of God,
and therefore fear him, and from that principle serve and obey him.
What is it that is thought to make a man great, but great honour,
power, and possessions? Think then how great the Lord our God is,
and greatly to be feared. (1.) He has great honour, a name above
every name. He is <i>God of gods,</i> and <i>Lord of lords,</i>
<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.17" parsed="|Deut|10|17|0|0" passage="De 10:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. Angels are
called <i>gods,</i> so are magistrates, and the Gentiles had
<i>gods many, and lords many,</i> the creatures of their own fancy;
but God is infinitely above all these nominal deities. What an
absurdity would it be for them to worship other gods when the God
to whom they had sworn allegiance was the God of gods! (2.) He has
great power. He is a <i>mighty God and terrible</i> (<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.17" parsed="|Deut|10|17|0|0" passage="De 10:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), <i>who regardeth not
persons.</i> He has the power of a conqueror, and so he is terrible
to those that resist him and rebel against him. He has the power of
a judge, and so he is just to all those that appeal to him or
appear before him. And it is as much the greatness and honour of a
judge to be impartial in his justice, without respect to persons or
bribes, as it is to a general to be terrible to the enemy. Our God
is both. (3.) He has great possessions. Heaven and earth are his
(<scripRef id="Deu.xi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.14" parsed="|Deut|10|14|0|0" passage="De 10:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), and all the
hosts and stars of both. Therefore he is able to bear us out in his
service, and to make up the losses we sustain in discharging our
duty to him. And yet therefore he has no need of us, nor any thing
we have or can do; we are undone without him, but he is happy
without us, which makes the condescensions of his grace, in
accepting us and our services, truly admirable. Heaven and earth
are his possession, and yet <i>the Lord's portion is his
people.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Deu.xi-p16">2. Consider the goodness and grace of God,
and therefore love him, and from that principle serve and obey him.
His goodness is his glory as much as his greatness. (1.) He is good
to all. Whomsoever he finds miserable, to them he will be found
merciful: He <i>executes the judgment of the fatherless and
widow,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.18" parsed="|Deut|10|18|0|0" passage="De 10:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. It
is his honour to help the helpless, and to succour those that most
need relief and that men are apt to do injury to, or at least to
put a light upon. See <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.4-Ps.68.5 Bible:Ps.146.7 Bible:Ps.146.9" parsed="|Ps|68|4|68|5;|Ps|146|7|0|0;|Ps|146|9|0|0" passage="Ps 68:4,5,146:7,9">Ps.
lxviii. 4, 5; cxlvi. 7, 9</scripRef>. (2.) But <i>truly God is good
to Israel</i> in a special obligations to him: "<i>He is thy
praise, and he is thy God,</i> <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.21" parsed="|Deut|10|21|0|0" passage="De 10:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. <i>Therefore</i> love him and
serve him, because of the relation wherein he stands to thee. He is
thy God, a God in covenant with thee, and as such he is thy
praise," that is [1.] "He puts honour upon thee; he is the God in
whom, all the day long, thou mayest boast that thou knowest him,
and art known of him. If he is thy God, he is thy glory." [2.] "He
expects honour from thee. <i>He is thy praise,</i>" that is "he is
the God whom thou art bound to praise; if he has not praise from
thee, whence may he expect it?" He <i>inhabits the praises of
Israel.</i> Consider, <i>First,</i> The gracious choice he made of
Israel, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.15" parsed="|Deut|10|15|0|0" passage="De 10:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. "He
had a delight in thy fathers, and therefore chose their seed." Not
that there was any thing in them to merit his favour, or to
recommend them to it, but so it seemed good in his eyes. He would
be kind to them, though he had no need of them. <i>Secondly,</i>
The great things he had done for Israel, <scripRef id="Deu.xi-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.10.21-Deut.10.22" parsed="|Deut|10|21|10|22" passage="De 10:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>. He reminds them not only
of what they had heard with their ears, and which their fathers had
told them of, but of what they had seen with their eyes, and which
they must tell their children of, particularly that within a few
generations seventy souls (for they were no more when Jacob went
down into Egypt) increased to a great nation, <i>as the stars of
heaven for multitude.</i> And the more they were in number the more
praise and service God expected from them; yet it proved, as in the
old world, that when they began to multiply they corrupted
themselves.</p>
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