F.E. Marsh :: 326. Responsibility Regarding the Word of God

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DEUTERONOMY 6:3-15

THERE are seven things Israel were to do with the statutes and commands of Jehovah, which are indicated in the following points:—

1. “Observe” (Deut. 6:3). The Hebrew word rendered “observe” means to hedge about, to guard, to protect. No less than twenty times in Deuteronomy is the same word translated “observe,” namely, Deut. 5:32; 6:3, 25; 8:1; 11:32; 12:1, 28, 32; 15:5; 16:1, 12, 13; 17:10; 24:8; 28:1, 13, 15, 58; 31:12; 32:46. The term is of frequent occurrence, and variously translated. To observe the word of the Lord is a comprehensive duty. This may be seen by reference to passages of Scripture where the Hebrew word “Shamar” occurs. In Gen. 2:15, and Psalm 17:8, the word is rendered “keep;” in Num. 31:30, 47, “kept;” in 1 Sam. 19:2, “take heed;” in 1 Sam. 19:11, “watch;” in Psalm 37:37, “mark;” and in Josh. 24:17, “preserved.” The incidents in which the words occur afford illustrations as to how we are to observe the commands of Jehovah.
2. “In thine heart” (Deut. 6:6). R.V., “Upon thine heart.” We generally speak of the head as the seat of intelligence, and the heart as the seat of the affections. We may grasp truth intelligently, and yet not lay hold of it with the heart. The wee fellow who said that faith was “grasping Jesus with the heart” had the key to the situation. If the fountain of the heart be clean, the stream of the life will correspond.
3. “Teach” (Deut. 6:7). The margin says, “Whet or sharpen.” Dr. Young remarks, “The original verb generally signifies to whet or sharpen. I prefer deriving it from a root signifying to repeat, to do a thing a second time.” The Hebrew word is rendered “whet” in Deut. 32:41; “sharp” in Psalm 45:5; and “pricked” in Psalm 73:21. From the meaning and the usage of the word it will be seen that no light or listless teaching is meant, but a diligent teaching which is as a sharp sword to cut, an arrow to stick, and an instrument to pierce.
4. “Talk” (Deut. 6:7). The children of Israel were not to talk occasionally about the law of the Lord, but sitting and walking, however engaged, lying down and when rising up, that is, early and late this was to be the theme of their conversation. To talk of the Word of the Lord, is to have the Lord of the Word (Luke 24:32); and to impart that Word to others, is to have the comfort and cleansing of the truth, even as the pipe is cleansed which is the medium of conveying water to those who desire it.
5. “Bind” (Deut. 6:8). The statutes of the Lord were to be bound on the hands of the Israelites. The law of the Lord was to be bound on the hand as a sign that it must be righteous in all its actions. Nothing mean or unrighteous was to be performed by the people of God, but the rule of heaven was to be knit to their being, that they might do the right thing always. The word translated “bind” is given “knit” in 1 Sam. 18:1, in speaking of Jonathan being knit to David in love; and “joined together” in stating that the wall of Jerusalem was completed under Nehemiah (Neh. 4:6). The command of love should be knit to our nature as Jonathan’s heart was bound to David; and the whole life should be complete in righteous action. No flaw in our dealings with each other.
6. “Frontlets” (Deut. 6:8; Exodus 13:16; Deut. 11:18). The Word of the Lord was to be as “frontlets between the eyes,” that is, their thought and sight were to be ruled by the truth of God. What a difference it would make in the life, if the Word of the Lord dwelt in us richly (Col. 3:16), it would then be held forth more effectively (Philippians 2:16). We need the tongue of the taught to teach (Isaiah 50:4, R.V.).
7. “Write” (Deut. 6:9). Written on the posts and gates of the house, that all who come to the house may see and observe.

“All this is perfectly beautiful. The Word of God written in the heart; flowing out in loving instruction to the children in the bosom of the family; shining out in all the activities of the daily life, so that all who came inside the gates or entered the house might see that the Word of the Lord was the standard for each, for all, and in everything.”