W. Robert Godfrey

He had said, you're a stubborn people.

Don't be stubborn anymore.

Cut your heart.

so that covenant will exist between me and you.

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

Love the sojourner therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

You shall fear the Lord your God.

You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.

He is your praise.

He is your God.

who has done for you these great and terrifying things that you have seen."

It's a remarkable statement, a remarkable call to love, and it's almost as if Moses can't quite keep exclusively on the subject of loving God.

He's got to also talk about loving the neighbor, loving the sojourner among you.

This was articulated really well in some writings by Marilynne Robinson.

If you're familiar at all with her, she's become somewhat famous as a novelist.

She's written three best-selling novels, which doesn't always mean you're a novelist, but she's really a very fine writer, very sensitive about a Protestant minister from several different angles.

It's set in Iowa, so it's not your typical Manhattan novel.

She is, it would appear to be a rather liberal Protestant, but is remarkably acquainted with the Scriptures and with the book of Deuteronomy in particular.

And what was even more startling to me was in reading an essay she wrote about Moses and Deuteronomy was to realize she had read very carefully John Calvin's sermons on Deuteronomy.