Deu 10:12-15 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 12 Now, Israel, what doth the Lord - require of thee - An answer is immediately given. God requires, 1. That ye fear him as Jehovah your God; him who made, preserves, and governs you. 2. That ye walk in all his ways - that, having received his precepts, all of which are good and excellent, ye obey the whole; walking in God's ways, not your own, nor in the ways of the people of the land. 3. That ye love him - have confidence in him as your father and friend, have recourse to him in all your necessities, and love him in return for his love. 4. That you serve him - give him that worship which he requires, performing it with all your heart - the whole of your affections, and with all your soul - your will, understanding, and judgment. In a word, putting forth your whole strength and energy of body and soul in the sacred work.

Deuteronomy 10:12-15

Verse 12

Now, Israel, what doth the Lord - require of thee - An answer is immediately given. God requires,

1. That ye fear him as Jehovah your God; him who made, preserves, and governs you.

2. That ye walk in all his ways - that, having received his precepts, all of which are good and excellent, ye obey the whole; walking in God's ways, not your own, nor in the ways of the people of the land.

3. That ye love him - have confidence in him as your father and friend, have recourse to him in all your necessities, and love him in return for his love.

4. That you serve him - give him that worship which he requires, performing it with all your heart - the whole of your affections, and with all your soul - your will, understanding, and judgment. In a word, putting forth your whole strength and energy of body and soul in the sacred work. Verse 14

Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens - All these words in the original are in the plural number: הן השמים ושמי השמים hen hashshamayim, ushemey hashshamayim; behold the heavens and the heavens of heavens. But what do they mean? To say that the first means the atmosphere, the second the planetary system, and the third the region of the blessed, is saying but very little in the way of explanation. The words were probably intended to point out the immensity of God's creation, in which we may readily conceive one system of heavenly bodies, and others beyond them, and others still in endless progression through the whole vortex of space, every star in the vast abyss of nature being a sun, with its peculiar and numerous attendant worlds! Thus there may be systems of systems in endless gradation up to the throne of God!