What doth the Lord thy God require of thee?

 Christ in all the scriptures

And now O Israel...   Deuteronomy 10v12-13

"And now O Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"

The narrative turns: until now the dominant theme has been what the Lord has done for them.  Now the challenge is for what Israel will do for the Lord.  "What does the Lord thy God require of thee....? is the question that may apply to all those of faith in every generation.

Consider what He has done for them:  

He prospered a family of seventy souls, and formed them into formidable nation, as the last verse of the chapter says, "The Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude"-Deut. 10v22.  This despite the fact they were subjected to slavery in Egypt for over 400 years!

He redeemed them through the Paschal lamb (symbolic of Christ), and delivered them from the thraldom of Egypt, the most powerful dynasty in existence at that time.

He fed them and tended them in a wilderness for 40 years, even in the face of their rebellious ways.

He empowered them to overcome enemies who stood in their way.

He brought them to the border of the promised land the most fruitful and blessed land of all.

This is what God has done for them, and now they are asked to give a little in return.  We might ask ourselves today to "count our blessings, name them one by one" as the little chorus says: were we to do that no doubt it would take up more space than is available here.  There is an old English word (cad) to describe an individual who takes all the benefits people give them, but never give anything back!  We don't want to become spiritual cads, do we??

He answers the question with five short, sharp, commands, in sequential order:

Fear Him...Walk in all His ways...Love Him...Serve Him with all your heart and soul...Keep His commandments.  We can look at each one, but first to see the sequence.  To fear Him is to walk in all His ways.  We walk in His ways to show we love Him (He is our life model).  We serve (worship) Him because we love Him.  We keep His commandments for we are His servants and He is our master.

It's all about Him; about how we revere Him, copy His ways, do it gladly because we love Him, subject ourselves as His servants, stay loyal by keeping His commandments.  This would be a fitting response to the Lord who has given us His all.  Before we look at these individually, we focus on the phrase at the end of verse 13..."FOR THY GOOD".  Apart from the obvious obligation to return devotion to such an one, observing these five commands will be for our good.  We all love and cherish ourselves, don't we? then if we really do love ourselves we will keep His commandments for which He will grant us special blessing.  The word "good" in the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament is an interesting word in scripture usage.  It is variously interpreted as "noble", "excellent", "prosperous|", "well", "pleasant", "agreeable", "merry", "fair", "beautiful", "becoming".  Who would not want their life described as such? This is what simple obedience and reverence to God brings.  Let scripture speak for itself....

Deuteronomy 6v18, "And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee...".

Deuteronomy 6v24, "And the Lord our God commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always...".

Deuteronomy 12v2, "Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and thy children after thee for ever...".  If you love your children, walk before the Lord in their sight

Deuteronomy 19v13 "Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood in Israel, that it may go well with thee."  Even in the matter of severe discipline to honour Him by putting away sin from our midst.

The Lord is intent on the good of us all, and He has set out the terms of the way to this.  He will compensate for any earthly loss as a result.  The way forward is made plain...

"Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith....them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed"-1st Samuel 2v30.