CHAPTER 6 Apr. 23 
The Command to Love God
Now these are the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land which you go over to possess, 2in order that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, yes you, your son and your son’s son, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, so that it may be well with you and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh the God of your fathers has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one; 5and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6These words which I command you this day shall be on your heart; 7and you must teach them diligently to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them for a sign on your hand and they shall be for memorials between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. 10When Yahweh your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers to give you, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, great and good cities which you didn’t build, 11houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and wells dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full - 12then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13You must fear Yahweh your God and you shall serve Him and shall swear by His name. 14You must not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you, 15for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of Yahweh your God shall be kindled against you and He shall destroy you from off the face of the land. 16You must not test Yahweh your God as you tested Him in Massah. 17You must diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18You must do that which is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken. 20When your son asks you in time to come, What do the testimonies, the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean? 21then you shall tell your son, We were Pharaoh’s bondservants in Egypt and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, 22and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh and on all his house, before our eyes. 23He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers. 24Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as at this day. 25It shall be righteousness to us if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as He has commanded us.

Commentary

6:3 The God of your fathers- It's been observed that the phrase "The God of [somebody]", or similar, occurs 614 times in the Old Testament, of which 306 are in Deuteronomy. Our very personal relationship with God was therefore something else which Moses came to grasp in his spiritual maturity.
That it may be well with you- Moses really wanted Israel's well-being, he saw so clearly how obedience would result in blessing (see also 12:28). This is a major theme of Moses in Deuteronomy. There was therefore a real sense of pleading behind his frequent appeal for Israel to "hear" God's words. "Hear, Israel" must have had a real passion behind it in his voice, uncorrupted as it was by old age. He didn't rattle it off as some kind of Sunday School text. At least four times Moses interrupts the flow of his speech with this appeal: "Hear, Israel" (5:1;  6:3,4; 9:1; 20:3).  At the end of his life, Moses saw the supreme significance of our attitude to God’s word, and so he pleads with God’s people: Hear the word, love the word, make it your life. For in this is your salvation. And the Lord Jesus (e.g. in passages like Jn. 6) makes just the same urgent appeal to us.
6:4 The fact there is only one God means that He is to have our total loyalty and love (:5). If there were two gods, each would have 50%. But the one God demands our total devotion.
6:5 Some time, read through the book of Deuteronomy in one or two goes. You'll see many themes of Moses in Deuteronomy.  It shows how Moses felt towards Israel, and how the Lord Jesus feels towards us, and especially how he felt towards us just before his death. For Jesus was the prophet like unto Moses. "Love" and the idea of love occurs far more in Deuteronomy than in the other books of the Law. "Fear the Lord your God" of Exodus becomes "love the Lord your God" in Deuteronomy. Moses perceived that love is indeed the bond or proof of spiritual maturity (Col. 3:14).