Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
19. I call heaven and earth, etc.] As in Deu 4:26.
set before thee life and death ] See on Deu 30:15.
choose life ] In Deut. only here; but cp. Jos 24:15, Isa 7:15 (choose the good). On that thou mayest live see Deu 30:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. See the note on the preceding verse. See Clarke on De 30:15
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Compare Deu 4:26; Jos 24:27; Psa 1:4; Isa 1:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,…. Either, literally understood, the heavens above him, and the earth on which he stood, those inanimate bodies, which are frequently called upon as witnesses to matters of moment and importance; see De 4:26; or figuratively, the inhabitants of both, angels and men:
[that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; had plainly told them in express words what would be the consequence of obedience and disobedience to the law of God; long life, and the blessings of it in the land of Canaan, to those that obey it; death, by various means, and dreadful curses, to those that disobey it; of which see at large De 28:16;
therefore choose life, that thou and thy seed may live; that is, prefer obedience to the law, and choose to perform that, the consequence of which is life; that they and their posterity might live comfortably and happily, quietly and safely, and constantly, even to the latest ages, in the land of Canaan.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you. Though the verb is in the past tense, it indicates a present act. It is in order to deal with them with greater urgency that he calls heaven and earth to witness the vengeance of God. In these words he does not address men and angels, as some tamely expound it, but in amplification attributes sense to things inanimate. I pass this over briefly, because I have (288) treated it more fully before; as also what soon afterwards follows about life and death. For the Law, as respects its doctrine, contains in it life and death; for the reward of eternal life is not promised in it in vain; but since no one is found worthy of the promised reward, Paul justly teaches that the Law ministers death. Still this is accidental, and proceeds not from any fault in the doctrine, but from the corruption of men. Nevertheless, it is asked how, if the corruption of our nature causes that the Law should engender nothing but death, Moses commands us to “choose life,” which the sinner cannot attain to by it? Thence the Papists uplift their crests, both to extol free-will and to boast of merits; as if Moses did not also testify and proclaim the gratuitous mercy of God, and direct his disciples to Christ in order to seek salvation from Him. When, therefore, he speaks of keeping the Commandments, he does not exclude the two-fold grace of Christ, that believers, being regenerated by the Spirit, (289) should aspire to the obedience of righteousness, and at the same time should be reconciled freely to God through the forgiveness of their sins. And assuredly, since the same covenant is common to us and to the ancient people, it is not to be doubted but that they “chose life” who of old embraced the doctrine of Moses. At the same time, in so far as his legation was different from the Gospel, he rather insists on the office peculiarly entrusted to him, so that the distinction between Christ and himself might more clearly appear. This is the reason why he more sparingly touches upon justification by faith, whilst he enlarges fully on loving and serving God and fulfilling His Commandments.
(288) See ante on Deu 4:26, p. 270.
(289) “S’adonnent a observer la Loy, et pource qu’ils n’en peuvent venir a bout, qu’ils ne soyent toujours redevables, que leur fautes leurs soyent gratuitement pardonnees;” should devote themselves to the keeping of the Law; and because they could never attain its end, so as not to be always indebted to it, that their faults should be gratuitously pardoned. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Ver. 19. I call heaven and earth to record See chap. Deu 4:26 Deu 32:1.
REFLECTIONS.Warm and urgent when such important concerns were at stake, he seeks to fix some abiding impressions on their hearts, or at least to leave them inexcusable. 1. The case was plain, and on their choice it depended to be happy or miserable; they had every argument pressed upon them to avoid death, every motive urged to engage them to seek the life that God promised. The love of God, and obedience to his will, would infallibly procure the one; disobedience and idolatry inevitably expose them to the other. But if, under the law, where the promises and threatenings were chiefly temporal, their arguments were so strong, how much more so are they to us, before whom death and life eternal are set, according as we believe and obey, or by our disobedience and unbelief reject, the Gospel of Jesus? 2. He appeals to heaven and earth for his faithfulness, and urges them to choose the way of duty as the path of life. Those who perish will have only themselves to blame; they would not receive the knowledge of the truth, that they might be saved: whilst they, who hear and choose it, will own it to be not of themselves, but the gift of God. He that is saved, owes it to God’s grace; every man who is damned has only himself to blame. 3. He again returns to exhort them to love, serve, and cleave to God, as the author of their life and all the comforts of it; that they may dwell in the land which he sware to give their fathers, and by their fidelity maintain a long and uninterrupted enjoyment of it. Thus closing with a remembrance, how much in interest, as well as duty, they are bound to obedience.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 227
A FAITHFUL MINISTERS APPEAL
Deu 30:19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I hare set before you life and death, blessing and cursing! therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may lire.
HOWEVER long a minister may continue with his people, he must part from them at last, and be summoned to give up his account of all his ministrations to them. Moses had now presided over Israel for the space of forty years: and the time was come that he must die [Note: Deu 31:2.]. But, before his death, he warned them with all fidelity, setting life and death before them: and, in the words which I have just read, he appealed to them, that he had discharged his duty towards them fully in these respects; and urged them to improve the privileges which they had so long enjoyed.
Let me call your attention to,
I.
His appeal
It is justly said of him, both in the Old Testament and in the New, that he was faithful in all his house [Note: Num 12:7; Heb 3:2.]. And, indeed, not even Paul himself laboured under greater disadvantages, or persevered with more unwearied diligence than he. The whole of Gods laws, moral, ceremonial, judicial, did he make known to the people, enforcing the strict observance of them all (whether commandments, statutes, or judgments) on the penalty of death. The violating of any one of them wilfully and presumptuously, was declared to be such an act of rebellion against God, that nothing less than utter excision was the punishment annexed to it [Note: Num 15:30.]. On the other hand, he promised to them, that, if they were observant of Gods blessed will, they should live, and long enjoy their promised inheritance [Note: ver. 1618.]. And so uniformly had he devoted all his time and strength to their service, that he could call both heaven and earth to testify of his fidelity in executing the office that had been assigned him.
Let it not be thought that we would presume to institute a comparison between that holy man and ourselves. We well know how infinitely short of him we have come, in the whole of our personal and official character. Yet we do hope that we can so far adopt his words, as to appeal both to God and man, that, during the years that we have ministered amongst you, we have faithfully, according to our ability, set life and death before you.
1.
We have ministered the same truths unto you [Note: In quite a young minister this kind of address would be inexpedient: but in an aged minister, who had spent his whole official life in superintending one congregation, it would be thought quite in character.]
[In the preceding verses, Moses speaks particularly respecting the Gospel, which he had made known unto the people. This commandment, which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the 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? But the word is very nigh unto thee; in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day, life and good, and death and evil [Note: ver. 1115.]. The exposition of these words is given us by St. Paul, who tells us, that in them Moses spake, not of the righteousness of the Law, but of the righteousness which is of faith, even of that very faith which Paul himself preached [Note: Rom 10:5-9.].
And what has been the subject of our ministrations? You yourselves will bear me witness, that, from the very first hour that I came amongst you, I determined to know nothing amongst you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified [Note: 1Co 2:2.]. What Moses preached in types and shadows, I have declared in the plainest terms; shewing, at all times, that the moral law was a schoolmaster to bring you to Christ [Note: Gal 3:24.]; and that the ceremonial law, in all its ordinances, held forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the great sacrifice, that taketh away the sins of the world [Note: Heb 10:1-10.]. Never, at any period, have we attempted to lay any other foundation than this [Note: 1Co 3:11.]: nor have we ever hesitated to affirm the sufficiency of this to bear the weight of the whole world [Note: Act 13:39.].]
2.
We have too, according to our ability, ministered with the same fidelity
[We hope we may, without presumption, appeal to you, as the Apostle Paul did to the elders of Ephesus, not only that we have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but that we have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God; and are therefore, as far as relates to that, pure, not from your blood only, but from the blood of all men [Note: Act 20:20; Act 20:26-27.]. You yourselves will bear me witness, that, notwithstanding the offence of the cross, which neither is ceased, nor can cease [Note: Gal 5:11.], I have at all times gloried in it, and exalted it as the only means of our reconciliation with God [Note: Gal 6:14.]. Nor have I ever amused you with speculative theories: no: I have preached the Gospel practically; and not in a cold and formal manner, but as a matter of life and death. I have never ceased to exhibit it with all its awful sanctions; assuring you of life, if you would believe in Christ; and denouncing the wrath of God against all who would not obey the Gospel; executing in this respect the commission given me, to preach the Gospel to every creature, saying, He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned [Note: Mar 16:15-16.]. Never, at any time, have I dissembled these truths; never daubed the wall of Gods sanctuary with untempered mortar, nor sewed pillows to the armholes of my people, to let them find ease in sin: never have I spoken peace to you, when there was no peace, or promised life in any other way than a total surrender of yourselves to God [Note: Eze 13:10; Eze 13:18; Eze 13:22.]. And here I will mention one point, which, from the beginning, I have kept in mind without turning to the right hand or to the leftI have never perverted one passage of Scripture to make it speak the language of human systems. I have been anxious to set before you the unadulterated word of God [Note: 1Pe 2:2 and 2Co 2:17.]; and to let it speak for itself, without ever concerning myself what human system it either countenanced or opposed: having been allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, we have spoken, not as pleasing men, but God, who truth our hearts [Note: 1Th 2:4-5.]; and with the utmost plainness too [Note: 2Co 3:12.], not with enticing words of mans wisdom, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect [Note: 1Co 1:17; 1Co 2:4-5.].
Whilst, however, we call heaven and earth to record this day respecting these things, let it not be supposed that we are not conscious of innumerable short-comings and defects in our ministrations: for we are filled with, nothing but shame and confusion of face in the review of them, God knoweth: but as far as respects the fidelity of them, we can, and do, appeal both to God and man, that, like Moses, we have faithfully and invariably set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, according as they are revealed in the Gospel, and as they shall be awarded to those who receive or reject the Gospel.]
And now let me call your attention to,
II.
The advice he founds upon it
Choose life;
A free choice is given to every one amongst you
[The Gospel is freely preached to you all: and you are all at liberty to embrace or to reject it. Almighty God is sincere when he says, that he would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth [Note: 1Ti 2:4 and 2Pe 3:9.]. Never did he reprobate any man, till that man had brought that sentence upon himself by his own wilful obduracy. The whole Scripture bears testimony to this truth. If this be not true, how can we ever explain that solemn oath of Jehovah; As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: for why will ye die, O house of Israel [Note: Eze 33:11.]? There is not a human being that is excepted from the invitations of the Gospel, or from its blessings, if he accept them. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth! for I am God: and there is none else [Note: Isa 45:22.]. And him that cometh unto me, (whoever he be, or whatever he may have done,) I will in no wise cast out [Note: Joh 6:37.]. Moreover, the fault of rejecting these overtures is always imputed to the sinner himself: Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life [Note: Joh 5:40.]. If any could have been supposed to have been reprobated from all eternity, it was the persons who were given up to reject their Messiah, and to crucify the Lord of glory: yet over them did our blessed Lord mourn, saying, How often would I have gathered you, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not [Note: Mat 23:37.]. That we have a bias towards corruption, is certain: but there is no compulsion. That Satan also is permitted to tempt us, is certain: but he cannot compel any man. We are perfectly free agents in all that we do, whether it be good or evil. If it be said, that God draws men, it is true: but he draws them with the cords of a man, and with the bands of love [Note: Hos 11:4.]. And, if he prevail over the reluctance of their hearts, it is not by the exercise of an overpowering force, but by making them wining in the day of his power [Note: Psa 110:3.]. If he work in them to do, it is by working in them to will [Note: Php 2:13.]. And I will appeal to every living man, whether he ever did good or evil by compulsion against his will? That he has acted against his judgment and his conscience, is true enough, and that in ten thousand instances: but against his will he never did. God sets good before us; and Satan evil: and, whichever we prefer, that we choose, and that we do.]
Exercise, then, your choice with true wisdom
[The generality, in spite of all that we can say, will choose evil. It is in vain that we endeavour to allure them by the offer of life, or to alarm them with the threatening of death: they prefer evil with all its consequences: and therefore they do it: as God has said; He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death [Note: Pro 8:36.]. But do not ye act thus. Choose good: choose life; that both ye and your seed may live. Of the beneficial consequences to yourselves you cannot doubt: for, who ever sought the Lord, and was rejected? Who ever truly believed in Christ, and was confounded [Note: 1Pe 2:6.]? Who ever chose the good part, and had it violently taken away from him [Note: Luk 10:42.]? Choose God for your Father; and he will acknowledge you as his children. Choose Christ as your Saviour; and he will present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Choose the Holy Spirit as your Sanctifier: and he will perfect that which concerneth you, and complete in you the work he has begun. Choose heaven for your inheritance: and sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, than you be permitted to come short of it. The very choice you make will evince, that you yourselves have been chosen of your God [Note: Joh 15:16 and 1Jn 4:19.]: and his gifts and calling are without repentance [Note: Rom 11:29.].
And shall not this tend to the benefit of your seed also? Is it not a part of Gods covenant, that he will put his fear in our hearts, for the good of us, and of our children after us [Note: Jer 32:39.]? What is there so likely to benefit the rising generation as the piety of their parents? The force of good instruction is great: but when enforced by good example, it is almost irresistible. Children of pious parents, who have diligently instructed them, and laboured earnestly and constantly in prayer to God for them, cannot sin so easily as others: or if, through the power of temptation, they be drawn aside after wickedness, they will, it is hoped, feel the remonstrances of conscience in seasons of sickness and reflection, and be brought home at last with penitential sorrow to their God. At all events, we have encouragement to hope, that our labour for them shall not be in vain in the Lord; and that, though in some instances we should fail, it shall be found generally true, that, if we bring up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it.]
That I may enforce the counsel in my text, I would beg you to consider,
1.
The alternative that is here offered you
[It is not life or annihilation, but life or death; not a blessing, or a mere privation of good, but, a blessing, or a curse. And have you ever thought what that death is, and what that curse? Uh! who shall declare what that second death is, in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; or what that curse, which shall be there endured? Were annihilation, or eternal sleep, the alternative, you would at least have the consolation of knowing, that you would be unconscious of your loss: but, as you must live for ever, either in heaven or in hell, I entreat you to choose that life, which shall be at Gods right hand, in pleasures for evermore [Note: Psa 16:11.].]
2.
The responsibility attaching to you for the privileges you enjoy
[Our blessed Lord said respecting his hearers, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin [Note: Joh 15:22.]. And may I not say the same to you? Doubtless, if you had the Gospel ministered unto you with less clearness and fidelity, you would have less to answer for, even as Sodom and Gomorrha had on this very account a lighter condemnation than Bethsaida and Capernaum [Note: Mat 11:20-24.]. It is certainly a great comfort to a minister to know that he has delivered his own soul [Note: Eze 33:8-9.]. But it is a painful reflection to think, that the very means he has used for the salvation of his people, will in many cases only increase their guilt; and the word he has spoken to them, instead of being to them a savour of life, will only be a savour of death to their more aggravated condemnation. Beloved, let me not have to appear in that day as a swift witness against you, but rather have to present you to God as my children [Note: Isa 8:18.], and possess you as my joy and crown of rejoicing for evermore [Note: 1 These. 2:19, 20.].]
3.
The nearness of the final issue
[Moses had ministered to his people for forty years: and it is now just about that time that I have ministered to you. How much longer God may be pleased to continue my labours amongst you, he alone knows: but, according to the course of nature, it cannot be long. Be in earnest, then, to improve the light whilst you have it [Note: Joh 12:36.]. Many who are gone to judgment would be glad enough if they could come back again to hear the invitations and warnings which they once slighted. And it is possible, that, when the present ordinances shall have come to an end, and the tongue that has so often warned you lies silent in the grave, you may wish that you had known the day of your visitation, and improved the privileges you once enjoyed. Let us all work while it is day: for the night cometh, when neither your minister can work for you, nor you for yourselves. And the Lord grant, that, whilst we are continued together, I may so preach the word, and you receive it, that we may stand with boldness before God, and obtain his plaudit in the day of judgment!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Ver. 19. Life and death, blessing and cursing. ] Of God it may be more truly affirmed, than ever it was of Charles V, Emperor,
“ Una gerit bellum, monstrat manus altera pacem. ”
Therefore choose life.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I call. Figure of speech Deasis, or, Obtestatio. App-6.
heaven and earth = the heavens and the earth. One of thirteen occurrences. See note on Deu 4:26.
to record = to witness.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I call heaven: Deu 4:26, Deu 31:28, Deu 32:1, Isa 1:2, Jer 2:12, Jer 2:13, Jer 22:29, Jer 22:30, Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2, 1Ti 5:21
that I have: Deu 30:15, Deu 11:26
choose life: Jos 24:15-22, Psa 119:30, Psa 119:111, Psa 119:173, Pro 1:29, Pro 8:36, Isa 56:4, Luk 10:42
that both thou: Jer 32:39, Act 2:39
Reciprocal: Deu 8:19 – I testify against Deu 32:47 – General Jos 24:27 – General Psa 50:4 – call Psa 119:21 – cursed Ecc 7:12 – the excellency Isa 24:6 – hath Jer 6:19 – O earth Jer 21:8 – I set Eze 18:31 – for why Amo 3:13 – and testify Act 7:38 – lively
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE WISE CHOICE
Therefore choose life.
Deu 30:19
There is one choice which we must all make; and if that choice is once well made, it will very much secure all other choices, for the reason why we so often choose badly is because we have failed in that one great choice of all.
I. Therefore choose life.Why therefore? (1) Because the option rests with yourself. You are free to take which you will. (2) Because the alternative is tremendous, and there is no middle space; it must be life or death. (3) Because life is everything. All that is worth having in this world or the next is in that word life. Therefore choose life.
II. What is life?(1) The source of life was originally the breath of God. That life was lost when man fell, but only lost to make way for a better restoration. By a mystical process, which we cannot explain, Christ became the Head of a body. Because He lives, we live also, and live for ever. This is the source of life. (2) Look at the substance of life, what it is, its reality. Everything is real in proportion as it is consistent with and carries out its own element. Your element is a body and soul and spirit. Lifes real substance is to know God, to enjoy God, to serve God. It might be safe to sum it up and say, Life is work: the inner work in ones own soul, and the outer work of Christian usefulness. The great thing every one has to do is to find out his own proper work, what God has given him to do. And that work is life.
III. What is lifes object?There may be a series of motives, but the end of motives is the glory of God. We must not seek our own glory, because God seeks His. All is His, and therefore to take any glory from anything is robbing God.
IV. Christ has said, I am the Life.Choose the Christ who has so long chosen you, and you will live. He will be in you a necessity of life; you will live for God and with God for ever.
Rev. Jas. Vaughan.
SECOND OUTLINE
There are two ways of interpreting this text: the first literally, by the way of the law; the second spiritually or evangelically, by the way of the gospel. The way of the law is that they should set themselves to work to obey the Ten Commandments: that they should have no other gods but God, that they should worship no idols, that they should keep the Sabbath, honour their parents, commit no murder, no adultery, no theft, and so on. Now this was all they could do till a better waythe way of a higher lifewas revealed; but when Christ came this better way, this higher life was revealed in Him. He said: Believe in Me that ye may livecome unto Me that ye may have life, accept Me as your Saviour, and I will give you eternal life both here and hereafter. When you do this you shall keep the law as it was never kept before; for I will make a new covenant with you, which covenant shall be, that I will put My law in your hearts and write it in your minds, so that I and those who represent Me set before you life and death. And when you thus come to Me, receive My sacraments, which are not mere acts of obedience, but means of grace, in one of which you are grafted into Me, the living Vine, and in the other you receive Me as the Bread of heaven, ye receive My Body and Blood, and have My life in you. Then you shall keep the law of My Father, not outwardly, but inwardly. In your inmost soul you shall be poor in spirit, you shall be meek, you shall not only do outward righteousness, but you shall thirst after it; you shall be pure in heart, you shall have the peace of God Himself reigning in you, you shall even rejoice in persecutions, afflictions, distresses, because you shall discern in these the tokens of the love of your heavenly Father. And if you continue in this mind you shall subdue the world to Me. Your light shall so shine in a dark world that men shall see in it the very light of heaven.
Rev. M. F. Sadler.
THIRD OUTLINE
For what are we all here on this struggling earth? What is the real end for which you live? What is the standard by which we shall be tried, each in turn? How often such questions dart across the mind in the swarming London streets! What is the goal? What purpose does this scurrying serve? What do men and women want to make out of this life? Well, to be sure, there was the gaining of ones daily bread. That was a prime necessity. But the bread was naturally for the sake of something else. Man wanted to realise his capacities, to do something to fulfil an aim, to satisfy a desire, to feel that before he died he had achieved something, and had not lived in vain. What was that something? What did man set before himself? And not before himself alone, for he could not have a mere individual purpose; he was a social animal, belonging to the fellowship of men. What did they seek, and which, if known, would give meaning and value to all this un-intelligible hubbub?
I. Do not say that it is happiness which is sought.That was only a word used in laziness of thought when they were first challenged on this point. As an answer they could see, the moment they reflected, how untrue it was to the facts. By saying it they meant that they hoped to be happy in attaining the end they desired; and that meant that happiness itself was not their aim and end. The question was, What was the thing in attaining which they would be happy? The fact that they would be happy in attaining it told them nothing at all about the thing itself. Or, did they mean that they aimed at some particular end, whatever it might be, for the sake of the happiness it would bring? Well, universal experience showed that if they aimed at being happy, they were sure to be disappointed.
II. Let them try another answerachievement.Were they here to fulfil a task? That was a noble, inspiring ideal, good and right enough, and brave spirits rose and followed. Only, they looked sadly round on their groaning earth to-day, and wondered how many men there were to whom this ideal would appeal with any hope of success. What would they achieve? What fair and seemly work would they ever be fit to finish? They were looking for an aim common to all, stupid as well as cultivated. These ideals of some perfect achievement were the ideals of the few, of the elect, of the cultivated. What of the maimed, the halt, the damaged, the poor, the fragmentary? What work were they to carry to perfection? It would be a sorry world if that were their only message. Moreover, on this earth there could be so little achievement even for the few, and least of all for the highest. The greatest never attained what they aimed at, but broke themselves in struggling after an ideal hopelessly remote and unattainable. There was a story of the great Archbishop Trench, of Dublin, turning round and looking sadly at a man who had just painted a cart-wheel. I envy that man, he said; he has finished something. You could finish a cart-wheel; but only because it was a mere cart-wheel. If there was one thing which they had learned with absolute certainty, it was that this earth could never be meant for achievement. This life was not complete in itself. Not by what they achieved were they judged, but by what they tried to achieve, what they left unfinished when they died. What I aspired to be, said the poet, and was not, comforts me:
All I could ever be,
All, men ignored in me,
This, I was worth to God.
III. What, then, is the answer? What is it that we are all here to do? They were here, as Browning would tell them, to make a choice. Their lifes value would be judged by the choice they made. A moral choice and a moral judgmentthat was what they must, at their peril, to their cost, have made before they died. I have set before you this day good and evil, life and death; therefore choose life. That was the cardinal secret, the challenge that was to ring in their ears day and night in every variety of experience and circumstance and condition, in hope and in fear, in sorrow and in joy, in confidence and in doubt, in darkness and light, at whatever social level their lot was cast, under whatever limitations life and death were set before them, and they were to choose one or the other; and each such choice determined their bent, and each such determination built up their character, and by that character, so formed, they were judged. Characterthat was the key-word needed. They were looking round anxiously in London for men of character. But character belonged to the man who had gained a steady bent towards the right, and who had made his choice, who had committed himself on the side of a sound life, who could be counted on to be straight and true and pure. There was something in the man on which they could rely. His will always made in one way, and nothing could turn it aside, and that was the way of justice, and righteousness, and conscience.
And London throws all its terrible force into the effort to break down character, and does this especially by massing together in dreadful contrast the extremes of wealth and poverty; for both extremes ruined character. Take wealth, for instance, and luxury. These allowed the destruction of character, for they relieved a man from all necessity of making a choice. The man could do what he liked, could float, could drift from careless day to careless night. The man of luxury loafed along with nothing to compel decision; and as a mere loafer his character was spoiled, and withered and died. The man was not obliged to act, and life was for him a meaningless vacancy; no choice made, no character formed. This was why character was so near to perishing out in some rich sections of society in the West End. At another end of the scale were the poor, the unskilful, the wreckage, living from hand to mouth from day to daydrifting, loafing in aimless waste. Such a life never had a ground from which it could make a positive choice. It had no power to make its own career; poverty spoiled the chance of self-direction. In that state of things there could be no character. And that was why the true workman dreaded like poison the being out of work. In such an experience he could feel himself sinking lower and lower in self-respect and moral force, just because he had no power of choice. He had lost his purpose, and the very fact of having no worth in mens eyes tended to make him worthless. He felt himself degenerating, and could not help it. He might drop to the level of a wastrel.
And it was because of this disastrous peril that it became a matter of public responsibility, a matter of national well-being, to see to it that the true workman, in a time of depression, was saved from this fatal lapse. God grant courage and wisdom to come to the rescue of human character, their one imperial assetnay, their only qualification for the city of God. The actual choice at each moment must be the verdict of ones own conscience, of ones own independent will, of ones own personal character.
Canon Scott Holland.
Illustration
(1) There are those who tell me that I cannot know anything about Him, so distant He is, so high in glory.
When John Bunyan was in distress of soul, he imagined that he heard God talking with the angel in His remote and shining heaven. This poor, simple wretch doth hanker after Me, God said, as if I had nothing to do with My mercy but to bestow it on him. Many speak to me of the impossibility of my learning either Gods love or Gods law, so infinitely removed He is from me; and they do it jauntily, and with none of Bunyans regret.
But the answer to all such scepticism is found in Jesus Christ. In Him God has entered my world, has clothed Himself in my nature, walks by my side, knocks at my door, takes my hand into His own. I may without doubt know Him, hold intimate communion with Him, follow Him: His well-beloved Son is my Brother and Saviour and Friend.
The Word is very nigh unto me, the Living and Personal WordJesus, my Lord and my God.
(2) What bliss can compare with that which is summed up in the words, The Lord will rejoice over thee for good? The Word of God, equally with His words, is very nigh. Let us choose life in choosing Him who asks our love, and let us cleave unto Him as the branch cleaves to its parent stem; yea, let us anew yield ourselves to obey His least admonition, so shall we dwell ever in the land of victory and rest and plenty.
(3) In making this choice, it often seems as though we are turning our back on the open door of heaven and our face to the cross. But it is only so in appearance. Remember that our Lord refused the joy that was unveiled before Him, and set Himself to bear the cross with its shame. Yet through it there has come a greater joy and deeper blessedness than ever. So must it always be.
(4) We each determine for ourselves whether the knowledge of what we ought to do will lead to life or to death, and by choosing obedience we choose life. Every ray of light from God is capable of producing a double effect. It either gladdens or pains, it either gives vision or blindness. The Gospel, which is the perfect revelation of God in Christ, brings every one of us face to face with the great alternative, and urgently demands from each his personal act of choice, whether he will accept it, or neglect or reject it. Not to choose to accept is to choose to reject. To do nothing is to choose death. The knowledge of the law was not enough, and neither is an intellectual reception of the Gospel. The one bred Pharisees, who were whited sepulchres; the other breeds orthodox professors, who have a name to live and are dead. The clearer our light, the heavier our responsibility. If we are to live, we have to choose life; and if we do not, by the vigorous exercise of our will, turn away from earth and self, and take Jesus for our Saviour and Lord, loving and obeying Whom we love and obey God, we have effectually chosen a worse death than that of the body, and flung away a better life than that of earth.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Deu 30:19. Choose life They shall have life that choose it: they that choose the favour of God, and communion with him, shall have what they choose. They that come short of life and happiness, must thank themselves only. They would have had them, if they had chosen them, when they were put to their choice: but they die, because they will die.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
30:19 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.