Deuteronomy 5:32

32._Ye shall observe to do therefore. _Again, in this verse also, he does not merely exhort the people to embrace the Law, but at the same time enjoins them to be content with its unadulterated teaching; and, in fact, to receive as just and right whatever God has commanded, is only to be half obedient, unless men also put this restraint upon themselves, not to import anything else, (in addition to His Law.) So, also, in another passage, which I have subjoined, God no less severely forbids additions to it than taking away from it; and this is a declaration deserving our especial observation, because, in its preposterous wilfulness, the whole world almost is carried away into false religions; which, nevertheless, God has briefly condemned in a single word, when He commands His people so to acquiesce in His appointed Law that they may not seek to be more righteous than they are taught to be...

23-33 Moses refers to the consternation caused by the terror with which the law was given. God's appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall; but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. They were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law who have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles are fixed and rooted in them. God commended what they said. He desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be...

Verse Deuteronomy 5:32. _YE SHALL OBSERVE TO DO_] He who _marks_ not the _word_ of God is never likely to fulfil the _will_ of God. _YE SHALL NOT TURN ASIDE TO THE RIGHT HAND OR TO THE LEFT._] The way of truth and righteousness is a _right line_; a man must walk straight forward who wishes to go to glory; no crooked or devious path ever led to God or happiness....

These verses contain a much fuller narrative of the events briefly described in Exodus 20:18. Here it is important to call attention to the fact that it was on the entreaties of the people that Moses had taken on him to be the channel of communication between God and them. God approved Deuteronomy 5:28 the request of the people, because it showed a feeling of their own unworthiness to enter into direct communion with God. The terrors of Sinai had done their work; they had awakened the consciousness of sin....

EXPOSITION THE DECALOGUE THE BASIS OF THE COVENANT, THE ESSENCE OF THE WHOLE LAW, AND THE CONDITION OF LIFE AND FELICITY. DEUTERONOMY 5:1 Moses reminds them of the making of the covenant at Horeb, and of the revelation of the fundamental law of the covenant there. As he was about to recapitulate the laws which God their King had enacted, it was fitting that he should refer at the outset to that covenant relation between Jehovah and Israel on which all the injunctions of the Law rested....

YE SHALL OBSERVE TO DO THEREFORE AS THE LORD YOUR GOD DOTH COMMAND YOU,.... Observe every precept, as to matter and manner, which the Lord has commanded, and that under a sense of the great obligations laid on them by him, in giving them freely so good a land to possess: YOU SHALL NOT TURN TO THE RIGHT HAND OR TO THE LEFT; but walk in the way of the commandments of God, and not depart from them at all, but follow the Lord in his own ways fully. The phrase is expressive of a strict and close attention to the word of God, without deviating from it in the least; for every sin, which is a transgression of some command of God or another, is a going out of the way that directs unto; see Isaiah 30:21....

II. THE EXPOSITION OF THE LAW, EXHORTATIONS AND WARNINGS, BLESSING AND CURSE 1. The Proclamation of the Decalogue Chapter S 4:44-5:33 _ 1. The introductory words (Deuteronomy 4:44)_ 2. The law proclaimed (Deuteronomy 5:1) 3. Moses, the mediator (Deuteronomy 5:22) First a general announcement is given of the discourse on the law. The fact is emphasized, that it was set before them after they came forth out of Egypt. Then the victories over Sihon and Og are mentioned once more and that they now possessed their land. Why this repetition? It was to remind them of the goodness and faithfulness of Jehovah, whose law they were about to hear expounded. It was to be

Exhortations to obey this new charge: a number of characteristic deuteronomic formulas. Because of this and specially because of the phrase _which Jehovah your God has commanded you_, these verses are taken by some to be a later addition. Yet it was surely quite logical for the writer of the rest of the chapter to put the phrase in Moses" mouth in Moab, because God had already at Ḥoreb charged him with these laws; the phrase does not imply their previous publication. _ye shall not turn aside_, etc.] Deuteronomy 17:11; Deuteronomy 17:20; Deuteronomy 28:14, and in deuteronomic passages in other books; cp....

DISCOURSE: 194 EXCELLENCY OF THE LITURGY Deuteronomy 5:28. _They have well said all that they have spoken: O that there were such an heart in them!_ THE further we proceed in the investigation of our Liturgy, the more we feel the difficulty of doing justice to it. Such is the spirit which it breathes throughout, that if only a small measure of its piety existed in all the different congregations in which it is used, we should be as holy and as happy a people as ever the Jews were in the most distinguished periods of their history. If this object has not been yet attained, it is not the fault of our Reformers: they have done all that men could do, to transmit to the latest posterity the blessings which they themselves had received: and there is not a member of our Church, who has not reason to bless God, every day of his life, for their labours. But they knew that

_VER._ 32. _YE SHALL NOT TURN ASIDE,_ &C.— A phrase signifying their strict observance of God's laws, and a steadfast persisting in the path of their duty. It is a metaphor taken from a traveller, who, being once set into the right way, ought not to deviate from it. See chap. Deuteronomy 4:2 Deuteronomy 17:11; Deuteronomy 17:20. Joshua 1:7. REFLECTIONS.—Overcome by the displays of the terrible Majesty that they beheld, and trembling at the voice of God, they cannot endure the method of immediate communion with him, lest they die. _Note;_ (1.) Fallen man is naturally in terror at God's voice.