Verse 1

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt a call [them] to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,

(a) By calling to mind both his mercies and his plagues.

Verse 2

And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine b heart, and with all thy soul;

(b) In true repentance there is no hypocrisy.

Verse 4

If [any] of thine be driven out unto the outmost [parts] of c heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he d fetch thee:

(c) Even to the worlds end.

(d) And bring you into your country.

Verse 6

And the LORD thy God will e circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

(e) God will purge all your wicked affections, a thing that is not in your own power to do.

Verse 8

f And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

(f) If we will have God work in us with his Holy Spirit, we must turn again to him by repentance.

Verse 9

And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again g rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:

(g) He does not mean that God is subject to these passions, to rejoice, or to be sad: but he uses this manner of speech to declare the love that he has for us.

Verse 11

For this commandment which I command thee this day, it [is] h not hidden from thee, neither [is] it far off.

(h) The law is so evident that no one can pretend ignorance.

Verse 13

Neither [is] it beyond the i sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

(i) By heaven and the sea he means places most far distant.

Verse 14

But the k word [is] very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest l do it.

(k) Even the law and the gospel.

(l) By faith in Christ.

Verse 16

In that I command thee this day m to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest n live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

(m) So that to love and obey God, is only life and happiness.

(n) He adds these promises to signify that it is for our profit that we love him, and not for his.

Verse 19

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore o choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

(o) That is, love and obey God; which is not in man's power, but only God's Spirit works it in his elect.