He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
He secures justice for the fatherless and widow by defending them, upholding their cause and rights, and not turning them away, and He loves the stranger by giving him food and clothing. He is God of gods and Lord of lords, great, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality to persons and takes no bribe. He is just, merciful and compassionate, judging by incorruptible principles, witnessing every unjust dealing, and looking with tender compassion on the stranger, widow and fatherless to help them. This calls for fearing the Lord, walking in all His ways, loving and serving Him with all heart and soul, keeping His commandments for one's own good, circumcising the heart and cleaving to Him in praise. Because Israel were strangers in Egypt, His people are to love the stranger with practical mercy, welcoming him, sharing provision and spiritual blessing, and giving active help to the wounded and dying rather than passing by.
Verse Words and Setting
The words stand in Deuteronomy 10:17-22, part of the special instruction of Deuteronomy 8-11 given in Moses's rehearsal to Israel before entering the land of Canaan. That word speaks as directly to the present reader as to backsliding Israel.
To execute judgment for the fatherless and widow is to secure justice for them, to defend them, to uphold their cause and rights, and not to turn them away from their right. To love the stranger is to provide him with food and clothing. That practical pity and active help is required toward a stranger, neighbor and suffering brother who is wounded and dying, a duty stronger even than care for a beast of burden. Binding up wounds and caring for the sufferer fulfills this law, while passing by without helping violates it, even by those who have read the law but do not bring it into daily life.
The one who does this is God of gods and Lord of lords, great, mighty and terrible or awesome. He shows no partiality, regards not persons, is no respecter of persons, and takes no reward or bribe. He knows how men act whether they serve Him in truth and righteousness or oppose His will, and judges by incorruptible principles that cannot be bought or sold. He looks with tender compassion on the stranger, the widow and the fatherless and delights to help them.
God's Character and Requirements
God is just, merciful and compassionate, showing no partiality and taking no bribe, securing justice for the fatherless and widow and loving the stranger by giving food and clothing. He knows how people act, whether they serve Him in truth and righteousness or oppose His will, and He judges by incorruptible principles that cannot be bought or sold. He witnesses every unjust transaction, looks with tender compassion on the stranger, the widow and the fatherless, and delights to help them. He gives wisdom to all who seek it asking in faith, and requires all who believe to imitate that compassionate help. His rules require care for the vulnerable and fair, compassionate treatment of others, and His workers must be tender-hearted, dealing justly rather than dominating others or grasping benefits for themselves while denying brethren what is due.
This character sets the duty to fear the Lord, walk in all His ways, love Him and serve Him with all heart and soul, and keep His commandments and statutes for one's own good. It calls for circumcising the foreskin of the heart and being no more stiffnecked, for cleaving to Him, and for praising Him as God for the great and terrible things seen by their eyes. It includes praising Him for multiplying their fathers from seventy persons going down to Egypt to as the stars of heaven for multitude. It requires loving the stranger because they were strangers in Egypt, and fearing the Lord, serving Him, cleaving to Him, and praising Him as their God for what He has done. The word speaks as directly to the present reader as to backsliding Israel.
The verse expresses God's will and requirements to be remembered and obeyed. Acquaintance with God's Word and obedience to His commandments is the most important work, since the ten commandments express God's character and reveal His will. Grace is given to those who seek Him to stand on vantage ground and give Him the heart's best and wholehearted service. When hearts are thoroughly converted they are brought by divine grace into perfect harmony with His attributes, and in that harmony is spiritual life and efficiency and power. Present obedience must copy that mercy toward brethren, fatherless, widow and stranger within the gates, doing justice for the helpless and providing food and clothing, and must not copy unbelief, murmuring and rebellion, but put far away all injustice, fraud and selfishness and honor God by walking in holiness and keeping His commandments. Such obedience brings every temporal and spiritual advantage and honor among all nations, but not freedom from temptation.
The verse means much and is to be borne in mind, placed in the papers, grouped with the most important things in a small book and circulated everywhere. It warns against going more and more after worldly ambitious display and against letting the world and nominal churches convert God's people to their ideas, calling God's people to take what God says seriously and act in obedience. It calls for sharp, discerning, spiritually minded people who make worldly policy in no sense their policy or principle, who do not divorce the interests of believers to confederate with men of the world or with worldly church methods, who trust God alone and derive strength from Him rather than trusting those disobedient to His commandments. They are to stand set apart to minister in sacred service and prepare the way of the Lord, bound in covenant relation with God and not in confederacies with men. It also gives a lesson about physical well-being from Him who made man, to be placed in students' education.
Loving Stranger in Practice
The love of God for the stranger in providing food and clothing is the ground for the command in the next verse that Israel must love the stranger, because Israel had been strangers in Egypt. That command makes practical mercy to vulnerable and unfamiliar people part of living out God's law, and it speaks as directly to the present reader as to backsliding Israel. Acquaintance with God's Word and obedience to His commandments is the most important work, since the commandments express His character and reveal His will, and grace is given to seekers to stand on vantage ground and give wholehearted service. This lesson about physical well-being belongs in the education of students, with the requirements to fear God, walk in His ways, love and serve Him with all heart and soul, keep His commandments and statutes, circumcise the heart and be no more stiffnecked, cleave to Him, and praise Him for great and terrible things seen by their eyes and for multiplying seventy persons going down to Egypt to as the stars of heaven for multitude.
The stranger must be treated kindly and never looked down upon for being outside Israel, because Christ died to save him as surely as He died to save Israel. Israel was to welcome strangers at thanksgiving feasts and to leave part of the harvest for strangers and the poor, sharing both material provision and spiritual blessings with them. God's people were to stand distinct and holy, separate from nations that did not know God, yet commanded to love the stranger kindly. The Lord receives strangers who choose the society of those who know and acknowledge Him, so they learn of Him and glorify Him as they behold His works in behalf of His chosen people.
The verse requires practical pity and active help for a stranger, neighbor and suffering brother who is wounded and dying, a duty stronger than care for a beast of burden. Priests and scribes had read the law but did not bring it into daily life, and to pass by a wounded man without helping violates it, while binding up his wounds and caring for him fulfills it. The same care applies to showing practical, tender attention to a young person living in a foreign country, attending to his clothing and treating him with sympathy rather than abandoning him. The stranger, the outcast, and poor souls weak in moral power are special objects of care and of value because Christ gave His life for them, requiring those entrusted with truth as depositaries of sacred gifts to impart light to all, to educate students, and to devote time to practical missionary work.
This mercy is the example for workers to be tender-hearted with the spirit of Christ rather than dominate others, and to deal justly and compassionately with each person. It calls all who believe to imitate Jesus' compassionate help, for God is no respecter of persons but looks with tender compassion on the stranger, widow and fatherless and delights to help them, and gives wisdom to all who ask in faith. Those who grasp benefits for themselves while denying brethren what is due disregard His example, and present obedience must not copy ancient Israel's unbelief, murmuring and rebellion, but put far away all injustice, fraud and selfishness and honor God by walking in holiness and keeping His commandments. The Lord is witness to every unjust transaction and defends the poor and needy and secures the stranger from being turned away from his right, and many lauded as great have obtained gain through robbery and deceit of the poor and needy and by turning the stranger from his right, whose greatness will not be coveted when God comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for iniquity.
He secures justice for the fatherless and widow by defending them, upholding their cause and rights, and not turning them away, and He loves the stranger by giving him food and clothing. He is God of gods and Lord of lords, great, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality to persons and takes no bribe. He is just, merciful and compassionate, judging by incorruptible principles, witnessing every unjust dealing, and looking with tender compassion on the stranger, widow and fatherless to help them. This calls for fearing the Lord, walking in all His ways, loving and serving Him with all heart and soul, keeping His commandments for one's own good, circumcising the heart and cleaving to Him in praise. Because Israel were strangers in Egypt, His people are to love the stranger with practical mercy, welcoming him, sharing provision and spiritual blessing, and giving active help to the wounded and dying rather than passing by.
Verse Words and Setting
The words stand in Deuteronomy 10:17-22, part of the special instruction of Deuteronomy 8-11 given in Moses's rehearsal to Israel before entering the land of Canaan. That word speaks as directly to the present reader as to backsliding Israel.
To execute judgment for the fatherless and widow is to secure justice for them, to defend them, to uphold their cause and rights, and not to turn them away from their right. To love the stranger is to provide him with food and clothing. That practical pity and active help is required toward a stranger, neighbor and suffering brother who is wounded and dying, a duty stronger even than care for a beast of burden. Binding up wounds and caring for the sufferer fulfills this law, while passing by without helping violates it, even by those who have read the law but do not bring it into daily life.
The one who does this is God of gods and Lord of lords, great, mighty and terrible or awesome. He shows no partiality, regards not persons, is no respecter of persons, and takes no reward or bribe. He knows how men act whether they serve Him in truth and righteousness or oppose His will, and judges by incorruptible principles that cannot be bought or sold. He looks with tender compassion on the stranger, the widow and the fatherless and delights to help them.
God's Character and Requirements
God is just, merciful and compassionate, showing no partiality and taking no bribe, securing justice for the fatherless and widow and loving the stranger by giving food and clothing. He knows how people act, whether they serve Him in truth and righteousness or oppose His will, and He judges by incorruptible principles that cannot be bought or sold. He witnesses every unjust transaction, looks with tender compassion on the stranger, the widow and the fatherless, and delights to help them. He gives wisdom to all who seek it asking in faith, and requires all who believe to imitate that compassionate help. His rules require care for the vulnerable and fair, compassionate treatment of others, and His workers must be tender-hearted, dealing justly rather than dominating others or grasping benefits for themselves while denying brethren what is due.
This character sets the duty to fear the Lord, walk in all His ways, love Him and serve Him with all heart and soul, and keep His commandments and statutes for one's own good. It calls for circumcising the foreskin of the heart and being no more stiffnecked, for cleaving to Him, and for praising Him as God for the great and terrible things seen by their eyes. It includes praising Him for multiplying their fathers from seventy persons going down to Egypt to as the stars of heaven for multitude. It requires loving the stranger because they were strangers in Egypt, and fearing the Lord, serving Him, cleaving to Him, and praising Him as their God for what He has done. The word speaks as directly to the present reader as to backsliding Israel.
The verse expresses God's will and requirements to be remembered and obeyed. Acquaintance with God's Word and obedience to His commandments is the most important work, since the ten commandments express God's character and reveal His will. Grace is given to those who seek Him to stand on vantage ground and give Him the heart's best and wholehearted service. When hearts are thoroughly converted they are brought by divine grace into perfect harmony with His attributes, and in that harmony is spiritual life and efficiency and power. Present obedience must copy that mercy toward brethren, fatherless, widow and stranger within the gates, doing justice for the helpless and providing food and clothing, and must not copy unbelief, murmuring and rebellion, but put far away all injustice, fraud and selfishness and honor God by walking in holiness and keeping His commandments. Such obedience brings every temporal and spiritual advantage and honor among all nations, but not freedom from temptation.
The verse means much and is to be borne in mind, placed in the papers, grouped with the most important things in a small book and circulated everywhere. It warns against going more and more after worldly ambitious display and against letting the world and nominal churches convert God's people to their ideas, calling God's people to take what God says seriously and act in obedience. It calls for sharp, discerning, spiritually minded people who make worldly policy in no sense their policy or principle, who do not divorce the interests of believers to confederate with men of the world or with worldly church methods, who trust God alone and derive strength from Him rather than trusting those disobedient to His commandments. They are to stand set apart to minister in sacred service and prepare the way of the Lord, bound in covenant relation with God and not in confederacies with men. It also gives a lesson about physical well-being from Him who made man, to be placed in students' education.
Loving Stranger in Practice
The love of God for the stranger in providing food and clothing is the ground for the command in the next verse that Israel must love the stranger, because Israel had been strangers in Egypt. That command makes practical mercy to vulnerable and unfamiliar people part of living out God's law, and it speaks as directly to the present reader as to backsliding Israel. Acquaintance with God's Word and obedience to His commandments is the most important work, since the commandments express His character and reveal His will, and grace is given to seekers to stand on vantage ground and give wholehearted service. This lesson about physical well-being belongs in the education of students, with the requirements to fear God, walk in His ways, love and serve Him with all heart and soul, keep His commandments and statutes, circumcise the heart and be no more stiffnecked, cleave to Him, and praise Him for great and terrible things seen by their eyes and for multiplying seventy persons going down to Egypt to as the stars of heaven for multitude.
The stranger must be treated kindly and never looked down upon for being outside Israel, because Christ died to save him as surely as He died to save Israel. Israel was to welcome strangers at thanksgiving feasts and to leave part of the harvest for strangers and the poor, sharing both material provision and spiritual blessings with them. God's people were to stand distinct and holy, separate from nations that did not know God, yet commanded to love the stranger kindly. The Lord receives strangers who choose the society of those who know and acknowledge Him, so they learn of Him and glorify Him as they behold His works in behalf of His chosen people.
The verse requires practical pity and active help for a stranger, neighbor and suffering brother who is wounded and dying, a duty stronger than care for a beast of burden. Priests and scribes had read the law but did not bring it into daily life, and to pass by a wounded man without helping violates it, while binding up his wounds and caring for him fulfills it. The same care applies to showing practical, tender attention to a young person living in a foreign country, attending to his clothing and treating him with sympathy rather than abandoning him. The stranger, the outcast, and poor souls weak in moral power are special objects of care and of value because Christ gave His life for them, requiring those entrusted with truth as depositaries of sacred gifts to impart light to all, to educate students, and to devote time to practical missionary work.
This mercy is the example for workers to be tender-hearted with the spirit of Christ rather than dominate others, and to deal justly and compassionately with each person. It calls all who believe to imitate Jesus' compassionate help, for God is no respecter of persons but looks with tender compassion on the stranger, widow and fatherless and delights to help them, and gives wisdom to all who ask in faith. Those who grasp benefits for themselves while denying brethren what is due disregard His example, and present obedience must not copy ancient Israel's unbelief, murmuring and rebellion, but put far away all injustice, fraud and selfishness and honor God by walking in holiness and keeping His commandments. The Lord is witness to every unjust transaction and defends the poor and needy and secures the stranger from being turned away from his right, and many lauded as great have obtained gain through robbery and deceit of the poor and needy and by turning the stranger from his right, whose greatness will not be coveted when God comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for iniquity.