least you can turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 10. Last week we took up chapter 9 all the way through chapter 10 verse 11. So it was a large section but it was a section that most certainly went together. Remember the specific danger, the specific warning of chapter 9 was that they were not to think in their heart, verse 4, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you saying, because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land. Verse 5, it's repeated, it is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land. And then again, verse 6, therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. And then God does set forth the truth of that reality. It is not because of their righteousness they've come into the land or they were going. to go into the land, but rather it was solely and alone the grace and the mercy of Almighty God. Moses highlights the situation in Exodus 32 where the people bowed to the golden calf. He also mentions Tabra and Massa and Kibroth Hadovah, all these places where the people of Israel showed themselves rebellious against the Lord God Almighty. So the fact that they were going into the land, the fact that they were going to possess the land was not a testimony on their righteousness, rather it was a testimony to the graciousness and the mercy of God. In fact, if you look at chapter 10, we see a bit of a summary statement there in verses 10 and 11. As at the first time I stayed in the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, the Lord also heard me at that time, and the Lord chose not to destroy you. Then the Lord said to me, arise, begin your journey before the people that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Christopher Wright said, in the light of all that has come between the beginning and the end of this section, this should be a chastened people about to move into the land. A people with every confidence in their God, but with no illusions about themselves. So that's the point, chapter 9, verse 1, all the way to chapter 10, verse 11. It's not because of Israel's righteousness that they entered into the land, any more than it was because of their great number. Remember the Lord said in Deuteronomy 7, 7 and 8, it's not because you are more numerous than the other nations, you are least of all. but rather God loved them because God loved them. So there are certain cautions and dangers that were peculiar to the people of Israel that Moses is warning them against, and self-righteousness was certainly a big one. So let's just pick up reading in chapter 10 at verse 12, read to the end of the chapter, and then we'll look at this section tonight. And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you today, for your good. Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bride. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore, love the stranger, for you are strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him, and to him you shall hold fast and take oaths in his name. He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt with 70 persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude. Well, when we look at verse 12, specifically the question, what does the Lord your God require of you? It more than likely reminds you of a very familiar passage of scripture in the Old Testament. If we weren't having a recording session here and I could bear with a bit of pause, I would ask, what text does that remind you of? Anybody real quick? Micah chapter 6, verse 8. Micah chapter 6, verse 8. Most of us are familiar with it, whether we knew that it was Micah 6, 8, or whether we simply knew the idea behind the passage. Micah 6, 8, we read, He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Proverbs 21.3 also says, To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Hosea 12.6 So you, by the help of your God, return, observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually. Zechariah chapter 7 and verse 9, thus says the Lord of hosts, execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. And then Matthew 23, 23, the Lord Jesus says, you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. So if you've ever wondered where or why Micah says, he has shown you, O man, and where these other passages get these concepts, it's right here in Deuteronomy chapter 10, verses 12 to 22. Remember, the prophet's role in Israel was to go and to call the people of God back to repentance and faith in the Lord God Almighty. They served as a prosecuting attorney. They would go to the nation, and they would set the law before the people, show them their unfaithfulness, and show them their need for repentance, and show them their need for the graciousness of God Almighty. Well, they didn't come with some manufactured ideas. They came with this particular word. They came with the law of God, most comprehensively summarized here in the book of Deuteronomy. So Micah 6.8 certainly reflects Deuteronomy 10.12, as I believe these other passages in the Proverbs, Hosea, Zechariah, and Matthew do also. This is God's way. Love to Him and love to our fellow man. We have duties toward God. We have duties toward man. And again, you see those twin concepts set forth here in Deuteronomy chapter 10. I want to look at three things this evening. First, the Lord's design, verses 12 to 16. And again, much of this is repetitious. You need to remember the particular context in the setting. There's a lot of repetition, a lot of emphasis, a lot of call to obedience and faithfulness here on the plains of Moab, so that when they get into the promised land, they'll function in the manner that God the Lord has demanded of them. So the Lord's design, verses 12 to 16, the Lord's character in verses 17 and 18. So Moses not only wants them to function in a certain way, but he sets forth the character of God as a hope, as a help rather, and as a motivation. to why the people of God ought to do as he says. And then thirdly, there's just some practical application, some practical matters fleshed out in verses 19 to 22. So there's theory, concept, doctrine, and then these latter portions give us specifically how we are, or how the people of God are to function with reference to God and others. But note first The Lord's design, His requirement is set forth there in verses 12 and the beginning of verse 13. Again, nothing new thus far in the book of Deuteronomy. And now Israel, it's almost a Pauline and now. You know, after you get through the doctrinal sections and the Paulian epistles, Paul then goes on with a therefore. He goes on with practical application. He goes on with implication. Therefore, by the mercies of God, I beseech you, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. In light of the gospel, in light of the truth, this then is how you ought to live. The same idea is here. And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the statutes of the Lord and His statutes, the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today." So the requirement is fivefold. And again, things we've already seen up to this point. The first is to fear God. We need to revere Him. We need to honor Him. We need to recognize who God is and what He's about. We need to also recognize who we are in light of God. That is a great help to promote the fear of the Lord in our hearts. This has already been stated, chapter 5, verse 29, and again at chapter 6 and verse 24. The second issue, the second element in the Lord's requirement is that we walk in all His ways. Again, chapter 5, verse 33, chapter 8, verse 6. We are to walk in all His ways. In other words, the law of God is not for us to pick and choose. We don't simply say, well, I like this law that refers to, you know, property rights and not stealing from my neighbor. But I don't particularly like this aspect, so I'm going to go ahead and violate it. The law of God is not a buffet. We don't sort of pick and choose what it is that we want. It is a whole. It is comprehensive. And what God says through his man Moses is that we are to walk in all his ways. We are to adopt a godly mindset. We are to revere the Lord, we are to fear the Lord, and thus we are to follow the Lord. The fear of God is not something that does not flesh itself out. When we have the fear of God, the necessary implication is that we will then walk in all His ways. This is the purpose for which we are saved, is so that we could be godly, so that we can be Christ-like, so that we can indeed go where the Savior bids us. This is a mark, an indicator of the Lamb's army in Revelation chapter 14. It says they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. That's what a disciple does. He follows the Lord Jesus. He doesn't ask questions. He doesn't, you know, try to argue with Him. He submits. He prays for the heart of grace, or he prays for that heart disposition that he would want to serve and glorify him in all that he says. So to fear God, secondly, to walk in all his ways, thirdly, to love him. Remember, that was at the heart and soul of that confession of faith. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Love to God. This isn't a servile fear. This isn't a hiding under the table sort of a fear. It is a fear mingled and mixed with love. The love that we have for God is reverent. The reverence that we have for God is loving. It's not this hiding from Him, it's rather the love that drives us to Him. That's what's in view here with reference to love the Lord your God. And then notice, fourthly, we are to serve Him. We are to serve the Lord your God. And it's not just to be partially. We are to serve the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul. We're to give Him everything. Again, the New Testament application of this is so clear. If you turn for just a moment to Romans chapter 12, I've already alluded to it, but a couple of passages that help us to see this application in a new covenant setting. to see this application of service to God with reference to a new covenant application. Romans chapter 12. We don't just drop in to Romans chapter 12. A lot has happened in chapters 1 to 11. In chapters 1 to 11, the apostle has opened up and explained the great gospel of God himself. He's opened up the doctrine of justification by faith alone. He's talked about what we call federal theology, the first Adam and the second Adam of Romans 5. He deals with justification and how it affects our lives with reference to sanctification. He deals with all these elements involved in gospel truth And then in chapter 12 verse 1 he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Just like what we learn in the passage in Deuteronomy 10. To serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now, when we consider this, Paul says it is our reasonable service. When we give God everything, it's not like we're better than those other Christians who hold something back. When we give God everything, that's the design of God's gospel. We have been saved by grace alone. through faith alone and Christ alone. As a result, we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. It is reasonable. It is rational. It is right. It is consistent. It flows naturally from what God in Christ has done for us that we give him ourselves. That is a legitimate application of the truth of the gospel. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 18, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." So you see the emphasis. Our service to the Lord our God must be with all our heart and with all our soul. If you turn to one more passage, look at Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah chapter 32. We've looked at our response as the people of God. On the plains of Moab, they are instructed to serve the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul. We see in the New Testament, the New Covenant application, Romans 12.1, 1 Corinthians chapter 6. This is consistent biblical Christianity. that we give ourselves wholly to the one who gave himself wholly to us. Here in Jeremiah 32, there's an indicator, an incentive rather, a motivation or at least rather a pattern of how God serves his people. In Jeremiah 32 at verse 40, it says, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, notice, with all my heart and with all my soul. So the consistent teaching of scripture is that God, gives us everything with all his heart and with all his soul. So it is logical, it is a legitimate application that for the people of God we are to serve him with all our heart and with all our soul. Meredith Klein comments on love and service. He says, true fear, I'm sorry, fear and love. He says, true fear and true love are complementary and inseparable. They are the response of a true heart to God's majesty and goodness respectively. And together they are productive of wholehearted service in obedience to all God's good pleasure. So you see what he says, true fear, true love are complementary and inseparable. They are the response of a true heart to who God is. And together, this fear and love are productive of this whole soul service to God that the Bible demands. So you see, that's the flow of thought here in the plains of Moab. And then the fifth aspect with reference to the Lord's requirement is to keep his commandments. Verse 13, keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today. It was to be personal, entire, exact, and perpetual. Now obviously Israel doesn't do this. Obviously none of us does this. Ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ does it on behalf of His people. Personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience to the law of God. We can praise the Lord Jesus that he is in fact the true Israel that does what was commanded here in Deuteronomy 10. So that's the Lord's requirement, but notice the Lord's purpose. The end of verse 13. It's for your good. Isn't that beautiful? You're to fear God, you're to walk in His ways, you're to love Him, you're to serve Him, you're to keep His commandments, not because He hates you, not because he wants to harm you, not because he wants to ruin your happy life, not because he wants you to be miserable in the land that he is giving, but rather, he says, I want you to engage in this sort of covenant faithfulness, this sort of fidelity to the obligations, it is for your good. Remember, much of the old covenant is conditional. When they go into the land of Canaan, If they obey, they get blessed. If they disobey, they get cursed. In fact, the latter chapters in the book of Deuteronomy, the latter chapters in the book of Leviticus spell that out in great detail. Curses for disobedience, blessings for obedience. So God is telling his people, do these things and it is for your good. Obedience to God brings blessing. Obedience is a wonderful thing. You are able to relate to this because you've told your children, I want you to do such and such, it is for your good. Not I want you to do such and such because I really delight in watching you be miserable. That's usually not our disposition. That's usually not our disposition. Hopefully it's never our disposition. Just testing to see if everybody's awake here. God does the same thing. He commands his children on the plains of Moab, go into the land, obey, honor, serve, and love me, and this will be for your good. And then notice, inserted here in verses 15 and 16. He's going to develop this in more detail in verses 17 and 18, but there is a reason here given to them as to why they are to maintain faithfulness to this covenant. Notice in verse 15, the Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them. I'm sorry, verse 14, indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day." So to help with reference to obedience, To focus with reference to Obedius, we need to consider God. First of all, His sovereignty, and second of all, His mercy. Verse 14 is a wonderful description of the sovereignty of God. Heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God. Also the earth with all that is in it. You see, by virtue of the fact that God is creator, that he is transcendent, that he is over all and supreme, by virtue of that fact alone, his creatures owe him fear, walking in his ways, love, service, and obedience. You see, God made us. We are his image bearers. He is overall and supreme, and by virtue of that reality alone, we ought to engage in this five-fold response with reference to what the Lord requires. We should never say, well, why in the world would we ever serve God? Why in the world would we ever love God? Why in the world would we ever keep His commandments? Because He's sovereign. He made this world. If it wasn't for Him, you wouldn't be here. If it wasn't for Him, you wouldn't know the joy of being married or having coffee or engaged in, you know, the blessings of life. We owe God this response by virtue of His sovereignty. But not only by virtue of His sovereignty, by virtue of His mercy. That's what verse 15 highlights. The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them. And He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. So the covenant obligations are necessitated by the sovereignty and supremacy of God, but additionally, these obligations are necessitated by redemptive truths. The Lord loved your fathers. He set his affection upon that. Do you ever ask the question, why should I do these five things God requires? Because he called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. because he confirmed this covenant with Isaac and with Jacob. He kept the people alive in Egypt. He ultimately brought them out through the hand of Moses. He brought them into this particular land. He is giving you every good and blessed thing because he has promised and because he is faithful. That's why you're supposed to respond in the way that is specified here in verses 12 and 13. You see, the Bible not only commands us, but it gives us reasons. And here we are given the reasons for this five-fold response to God by virtue of who He is in terms of His transcendent majesty, in terms of His Godhood. but as well in terms of his covenant lordship, the fact that he has not only loved Israel, but he chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples as it is this day. So you see what Moses is saying? Calvinism ought to promote these five responses. Now, Moses wouldn't have called it Calvinism. He would have called it Yahwism, Yahwehism, right? Sovereignty. graciousness, election, predestination, mercy, kindness, love. Those things are for us, yes, to bring us out of darkness into marvelous light, yes, to bring us justification by faith alone. But in the life of sanctification, as the blood-bought children of God Most High, we are to fear Him, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve Him, to keep His commandments, And if we ever falter, we're ever curious as to why, we look at his sovereignty, we look at Ephesians 1. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless. In love, having predestinated us unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ. Those truths are calculated to promote heartfelt worship, praise, and adoration. That is precisely Moses' point here on the plains of Moab. Christopher Wright said this verse, verse 15, with reference to God's election of Israel, and this verse echoes 7, 6 through 8. in expressing the wonder of Israel's election. Remember in 7, 6 through 8. I didn't choose you because you were more numerous. Hopefully these things are setting in. Yeah, I didn't choose you because you were more numerous, you were least among the nations. So Christopher Wright says this verse, verse 15, echoes 7, 6 to 8 in expressing the wonder of Israel's election. There, the surprise was that God should have chosen Israel though they were so small. Right? That's the surprise in chapter 7. I didn't choose you because you were more numerous. If it's only a majority report, then I would have chosen this other nation and these other nations because they were much more. The surprising fact is, is that God chose Israel though they were so small. He says here, the surprise is because God is so great. Don't divorce verses 14 from 15. The Lord, indeed heaven, and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. This sovereign, majestic, transcendent, glorious God chose Israel. That's the surprise in this section. He says, in both cases, the message is that Israel's election was based on nothing in themselves that had evoked God's favoritism, but solely in the character and action of this amazing God. So amazing grace ought to promote in us fear, walking in his ways, loving him, serving him, and keeping his commandments. Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. This is the natural outflow of the redeemed heart, of the justified by faith alone man or woman. And then notice this call to repentance, or this call rather, or this necessity stipulated in verse 16. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer. It is essentially a call for internal religion. Not even the Old Covenant. God wasn't satisfied with simply a merely external approach to Old Covenant religion. It wasn't just supposed to be some rote observance in order to appease God. You cannot rightly fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him, and keep His commandments in a merely external fashion. If you're going to respond with this five-fold thing, it must be from the heart. And that's what God is saying here in verse 16. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer." The emphasis here is on the necessity for internal religion. External compliance was never acceptable. The fulfillment of covenant obligations flow from the heart. What we find in verses 12 to 13 cannot flow from a heart of granite. It must flow from a regenerate heart, a circumcised heart. But as well, what we find here in verse 16 is not a command to regenerate oneself. This is not a command that God is saying to the people, you have the ability to circumcise your own heart. You have the ability to be born again. You're the one who makes this happen. I don't believe that's what's in view here at all. Rather, it is an exhortation to take heed to the word of God and to internalize it. It's a bit of a phrase that perhaps we wouldn't always use, But circumcision also applied to ears in the Old Testament. The idea being, cut off the dead mass so that the word can penetrate. I think that's the emphasis here in verse 16. Coupled with the latter half of the verse, be stiff-necked no longer. Don't be recalcitrant. Don't be hardened. Don't be stubborn. Don't be like you were back in Exodus 32. Rather, circumcise the foreskin of your heart. Receive the word of truth. Understand the word of God. Let it find its mark in your heart. The actual power behind heart circumcision lies solely and alone with God. You can turn to chapter 30 and verse 6 for just a moment. Incidentally, chapter 10, verse 16, it's not a command. The tense of the verb or the form of the verb is not an imperative. Rather, it is the ideal state, the way things ought to be. A circumcised heart means that you're ready and receptive to receive the Word of God internally and act upon it. Remember that Deuteronomy 30 points to the New Covenant. Deuteronomy 30 essentially is saying, you're going to leave here, or you're going to go on the land, you're going to fail, you're going to sin, and God is going to make a new covenant with you. And notice in Deuteronomy 30 in verse 6, and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all, excuse me, your soul that you may live. In Colossians 2.11, when the apostle sort of talks about baptism and circumcision. He refers to regeneration as a circumcision made without hands. And so what we find in the Bible is that heart circumcision or regeneration is solely and alone the work of God Most High. At times in the Old Testament, a couple places, the word is used in a way that means, I think this is what the view is here, in verse 16, that you're to internalize these things, you're to receive it from the heart. You're not to let it just get in the head, roll around and forget about it, but rather it is a call, a necessity to take heed to the Word, to bring it deep into your heart. And John Gill actually speaks this way. He says, content not yourselves with, nor put your confidence in outward circumcision of the flesh, but be concerned for the circumcision of your heart. For removing from that whatever is disagreeable to the Lord, even all carnality, sensuality, hypocrisy, and superfluity of naughtiness, and for having that put there which is well-pleasing in his sight. and which, though it is the work of God, and He only can do it and has promised it, yet such an exhortation is made to bring men to a sense of their need of it, and of the importance of it, and to show how agreeable it is to the Lord, and so to stir them up to seek unto Him for it. So there's some of that as well, the idea being you need a power, you need the spiritual power of God, but also more fundamentally, verse 16, coupled with the latter part, just means take this to heart. Don't let it fall on deaf ears. It might be akin to a preacher, you know, preaching on a Sunday saying, look, pay attention, receive this, don't harden your heart. Don't stiffen your neck. Don't get stubborn or upset about this truth, but rather receive it. It's probably more in that phrase of an exhortation for them to take in the Word of God, to think through it, to put it into practice, in their own lives. So that's the Lord's design, verses 12 to 16. Let's look quickly at the Lord's character. To inspire fear and love, Moses directs Israel to consider God's sovereignty and His grace. It's a beautiful thing. To inspire fear and love, Moses directs Israel to consider God's sovereignty and His grace, just like he already did in verses 14 and 15. He does the same thing here again in verses 17 and 18. You see how much of our practice is connected to our doctrine. You have to appreciate that. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, verses 12 and 13. Here's why. Behold your God, verses 14 and 15. Circumcise your heart, the foreskin of your heart. Do not stiffen your neck. Here's why. Behold your God. So much of Christianity or the believer's life is connected firmly to doctrine. In other words, we live a particular way because of the truth we believe concerning God. We saw something of that in our last time in Matthew chapter 6. What is one of Jesus' arguments as to why we are not to worry? Not just the birds and not just the lilies, but also the Gentiles. He says, don't be like the Gentiles. For all these things the Gentiles seek. They earnestly seek after them. They are carnally anxious. They are fretful and worrisome. They are that way because they have no sovereign God. They have no Heavenly Father. They don't have providence. They don't have a Bible. They don't have that rock-solid confidence that the child of God does. So you see, Jesus says the Gentiles function in a particular way based on their doctrine or lack thereof. Conversely, the child of God acts a particular way because of his doctrine, because of what he knows concerning God. That's what Moses is doing. He's enjoining upon them fear and love. He gives them motives, or he gives them arguments, or he gives them a theology lesson to inculcate in them this fear and love. And he does that again in verses 17 and 18 with the supremacy of God and with the grace of God. Notice in verse 17. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bride. This is the sovereign God of heaven and earth. This is the glorious maker of all things, seen and unseen. This is the God of absolute and unrivaled majesty and glory. Therefore, you should fear him. Therefore, you should love Him. Therefore, you should honor Him. Theology proper, the doctrine of God, who He is, affects how we live. If we have low thoughts of God, if we're Pelagian in our approach, if we're even semi-Arminian in our approach, or semi-Pelagian, which is Arminian, we're going to reduce God. We're going to have a lower view of God. which conversely, or by implication, teaches us that Calvinists, or Reformed people, who have a proper understanding of who God is, ought to be those who love God the most. Fear God. Walk in all of His ways. If we really understand who He is, It ought to be fleshed out in the way that we conduct ourselves. I mean, when the Gentile lives in panic, it's obvious. He doesn't have a sovereign God. When the Arminian is fretful and worrisome and, you know, not really altogether there in his service to the Lord, not that we're justifying it, but we can sort of understand it. He's got a smaller version of God. But when the Calvinist or the Bible believer, the Reformed Christian knows his God, how much more are we to be the verse 12 and 13 types of people? You see, what we know about God ought to be fleshed out in our lives. What we know affects how we live. That's the emphasis here on the planes of Moab. This is, you know, great stuff here. He wants to show us continually that our practice is connected to our theory and to our doctrine. So then verse 17 highlights the sovereignty. Verse 18 highlights his graciousness. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow. And he loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Isn't that a wonderful display of the graciousness of God? Isn't that just majestic? Christopher Wright makes this observation. And I trust what he's saying here. I'm not as schooled in the ancient Near Eastern texts as he is. But he says, in some ancient Near Eastern royal texts, you've got to remember, the ancient Near East, there was covenant treaties and documents all over the place. It wasn't just Israel that had covenants. It wasn't just Israel. who had a king who made a covenant with his subjects. There were other nations that had these sorts of things. But he said in some ancient Near Eastern royal texts, the exaltation of national gods is commonly followed by the derivative exaltation of the royal household. See what he says? When you were a Hittite and the Hittite god was exalted, the Hittite leaders benefited, right? If the god had a good day, the leader would have a good day. He goes on to say, it was human kings who basked in the reflected glory of the ruling gods. But who, in this wonderful doxological definition, are the beneficiaries of Yahweh's supreme lordship? The fatherless and the widow and the alien. Nothing could be more characteristic of Israel's countercultural faith. You have this statement of his transcendent majesty, God of gods, Lord of lords. Who does he come to bless? He bypasses the rulers, he bypasses the families, I mean all the people that have it together. He finds the fatherless, he finds the orphan, and he finds the alien, and he blesses them. That's the God of Holy Scripture. He goes on to say, the majestic monotheistic superlatives of verses 14 and 17 are harnessed, not to the glory and power of the wealthy and strong, but to the needs of the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable. And then he goes on to make this statement, granted all the redemptive covenantal uniqueness of Yahweh's actions on Israel's behalf, it remains true that what Yahweh, I'm sorry, granted all the redemptive covenantal uniqueness of Yahweh's actions on Israel's behalf, They enjoyed many benefits, many blessings, many good things. He says, it remains true that what Yahweh did for them was, quite simply, typical for him. Isn't that beautiful? He does this for the fatherless and the widow and the alien. This is what he's about. This is his character. So know his being, sovereign God of gods, Lord of lords. Know his character, his compassion, his kindness, his love. He not only humbles himself to look upon this creation, Psalm 113, but he actually raises up the widow. He actually blesses those who are in the ashy. He actually comes to the aid of the fatherless and the widow and the alien. Behold your God. Let that fester in your heart and be that proper motivation for your love, your fear, your worship, your reverence, your adoration, every response that is due to Him because of who He is and what He does. So intertwined between these practical implications of obeying God, what we have is heavy theology calculated to promote that in God's people. And then thirdly and finally, the practical application, verses 19 to 22. Notice, because of how God is, that ought to affect the way we are with reference to the stranger. Verse 19. Therefore, love the stranger, for you are strangers in the land of Egypt." The covenant fidelity and view not only included Israel's love to God, but also Israel's love to man. Now, that's going to be fleshed out in a lot more detail. In fact, in Deuteronomy 24, 17, it gets specifically into this whole idea of dealing with the aliens, dealing with those within the land. But interestingly, the connection here, again, is because of how God is, this is how we are to be toward other people. The statement in Micah chapter 6 verse 8 comprehends man's duty to man and to God, and this section in Deuteronomy 10 does the exact same thing. In fact, Wright says, there are not many dimensions of Old Testament theology that are not directly expressed or indirectly echoed in this mini symphony of faith and life. We are to love the stranger. That's an application of what's already gone before. We are to walk in all his ways, and God loves the stranger, doesn't it follow then that when somebody comes into the nation, we love them too, we give them a fair shot, we don't discriminate against them, but rather we love them in the manner in which God has displayed his kindness toward the stranger. So the duty toward man is in verse 19, our duty toward God, Again, these are practical applications, summarizing, summing up what has gone before in verses 20 to 22. To fear the Lord, we've already seen that. To serve the Lord, we've already seen that. New dimension here, to hold fast to the Lord. To hold fast to the Lord. It's an interesting verb. It's the same verb used in Genesis 2.24, where it says that Adam would cleave to his wife. He would hold fast to his wife, a verb used of marital intimacy. That's the sort of relationship that Israel was to bear with their God. They were to hold fast, cleave to him, and not let go of him. Hold fast, take oaths in his name. That's repeated from Deuteronomy 6.13. The idea is probably a renewal of the oath of allegiance. And then notice in verse 21, this newer dimension, to worship the Lord, verse 21, He is your praise. You see, the context of this covenantal response was not one of raw determination, but rather a delightful worship in their living and true God. The duties that we have based on the covenant are motivated by the character and the goodness and the mercy of God. Find their application and their fleshing out in our worship of God. He is your praise. delight in Him, revere Him, worship Him, honor Him, speak well of Him, speak well to others concerning Him. He is your praise, He is your God, and He has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. Based on that truth, you have seen these great and awesome things. Therefore, praise Him, worship Him, honor Him, and glorify Him. And remember, He is faithful to His covenantal promise. That's what verse 22 highlights. Your fathers went down to Egypt with 70 persons, And now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude. Isn't this the promise to Abraham? Look at those stars. I'll make your descendants more numerous than that. So here, in Deuteronomy 10, verses 12 to 22, we are given those basic obligations associated with covenant religion. It's not just the old, but when we go to the new, we see the same things hold true. We are to fear God, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 1. We are to walk in His ways every call to obedience in the Christian life. We are to love Him. When Jesus was asked, what is the first and the foremost commandment? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. We are to serve Him, Hebrews chapter 12, worship, acceptable, with reverence and awe. We are to serve Him, Romans chapter 12, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is your rational service. And we are to keep His commandments according to the scriptures in the New Testament. So though the covenant is different, we're in the New Covenant, what we find here on the plains of Moab is essentially the same. When God brings a sinner out of darkness into marvelous light, when he justifies him freely by his grace, the life of sanctification is to look like this. Fear, obedience, love, service. That is what we need to take away from this passage. And one more thing, we need to take away from this passage that Jesus feared, walked in obedience, loved, served, and did everything perfectly. And it's based on that reality. We have an imputed righteousness, but that does not invalidate the requirement in terms of sanctification to pursue these things in a manner that is well-pleasing to the Lord God. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for this, your word. We thank you for all of your mercy and your grace. We thank you for the cross and for the Lord Jesus Christ, for all that we have in him. And God, help us to hear the apostle Paul, that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto you. Help us to hear this man of God, Moses, what he speaks here in Deuteronomy 10. Help us to see that this is legitimate. This is right. This is the natural outflow of the redeemed heart. We just pray that you would forgive us, God, that we often come so far short. We thank you that there is forgiveness with you, that we do have an advocate with the Father. We thank you that ultimately, God, we know that Israel hardly made it out of the plains of Moab before they continued in sin and rebellion and rejection of you. And it's because of that you sent your son to do what man could never do. And we praise you for him. We ask that we would go in his name now. We pray through Christ. Amen.