Deuteronomy 26:16

At the close of his discourse, Moses sums up the whole in the earnest admonition that Israel would give the Lord its God occasion to fulfil the promised glorification of His people, by keeping His commandments with all their heart and soul. Deu 26:16-17 On this day the Lord commanded Israel to keep these laws and rights with all the heart and all the soul (cf. Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12.). There are two important points contained in this (Deu 26:17.). The acceptance of the laws laid before them on the part of the Israelites involved a practical declaration that the nation would accept Jehovah as its God, and walk in His way (Deu 26:17); and the giving of the law on the part of the Lord was a practical confirmation of His promise that Israel should be His people of possession, which He would glorify above all nations (Deu 26:18, Deu 26:19). "Thou hast let the Lord say to-day to be thy God," i.e., hast given Him occasion to say to thee that He will be thy God, manifest Himself to thee as thy God. "And to walk in His ways, and to keep His laws," etc., for "and that thou wouldst walk in His ways, and keep His laws." The acceptance of Jehovah as its God involved eo ipso a willingness to walk in His ways. Deu 26:18-19 At the same time, Jehovah had caused the people to be told that they were His treasured people of possession, as He had said in Exo 19:5-6; and that if they kept all His commandments, He would set them highest above all nations whom He had created, "for praise, and for a name, and for glory," i.e., make them an object of praise, and renown, and glorification of God, the Lord and Creator of Israel, among all nations (vid., Jer 33:9 and Jer 13:11; Jer 3:19-20). "And that it should become a holy people unto the Lord," as He had already said in Exo 19:6. The sanctification…

Two things Moses here urges to enforce all these precepts: - 1. That they were the commands of God, Deu 26:16. They were not the dictates of his own wisdom, nor were they enacted by any authority of his own, but infinite wisdom framed them, and the power of the King of kings made them binding to them: "The Lord thy God commands thee, therefore thou art bound in duty and gratitude to obey him, and it is at thy peril if thou disobey. They are his laws, therefore thou shalt do them, for to that end were they given thee: do them and not dispute them, do them and not draw back from them; do them not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul." 2. That their covenant with God obliged them to keep these commands. He insists not only upon God's sovereignty over them, but his propriety in them, and the relation wherein they stood to him. The covenant is mutual, and it binds to obedience both ways. (1.) That we may perform our part of the covenant, and answer the intentions of that (Deu 26:17): "Thou hast avouched and solemnly owned and confessed the Lord Jehovah to be thy God, thy Prince and Ruler. As he is so by an incontestable right, so he is by thy own consent." They did this implicitly by their attendance on his word, had done it expressly (Ex. 24), and were now to do it again before they parted, Deu 29:1. Now this obliges us, in fidelity to our word, as well as in duty to our Sovereign, to keep his statutes and his commandments. We really forswear ourselves, and perfidiously violate the most sacred engagements, if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make conscience of obeying his commands. (2.) That God's part of the covenant also may be made good, and the intentions of that answered (Deu 29:18, Deu 29:1…

26:16-19 Having laid out the great covenant principles (chs 5–11) and clarified their application (chs 12–26), Moses urged the people to obey the covenant with all their hearts. The Lord had called them into a special relationship with himself, a privilege that required obedience to the covenant prescriptions. The result of this submission was holiness, a state that reflected God’s character and that would flow naturally from unbroken fellowship with him. 26:16 wholeheartedly (literally with all your heart and with all your soul): This Hebrew phrase is a clear reference to the Shema, the foundational statement of Israel’s faith and covenant commitment (see 6:4-5 and study notes). There could be no halfhearted compliance with God’s high and holy expectations; it must be all or nothing.