A father knows how to give good gifts to his children. This week, in Deuteronomy 5, we hear of the Lord giving the law to his people – and this is a good gift! The law given at Horeb, and repeated here on the banks of the Jordan, is not the condition for entry into the Promised Land, nor of their being accepted into God’s covenant. It is the way of life given by God, to his people: that they might live; that it might go well them, and that they might live long in the land.
The Lord longs for Israel to know his covenant love and blessings, and to enjoy to the utmost the fulfillment of his promises to them. Just as it is for us today, his heart’s desire is that he might dwell with his children, and they with him, in the place he has chosen for his name to dwell. And so, he provides for his children the means to do just that! May he grant to us, such a hearing of his word that like Israel, we are filled with reverent fear and that our own heart’s desire is to hear his word and do it.