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This chapter is one of my favourite in the whole of scripture. I imagine it is passages like this that inspired David to write;

I find my delight in your commandments, which I love
Psalm 119:47

I have at times got a bit distracted by trying to understand which commandments persist and which have ceased. The passage mixes things that seem to have been for the nation of Israel with timeless commandments. It is probably important to think about that, we shouldn’t just push things aside as we choose, neither should we get bogged down in legalistic commands that don’t apply any more.

The thing that draws me in with this chapter is you can see in so many ways what God’s justice and mercy looks like, what kind of character he desires us to have and so much of it reminds me of the way Jesus lived.

It’s been years since I memorised any scripture, maybe this would be a good chapter to learn.

There are a great many things in here which are really searching and challenging. It’s easy to think of myself as being a pretty good person, until I read what I should be like.

When Jesus was asked;
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” He responded first with a quotation from Deuteronomy; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
But he followed it up with a quotation from this chapter, saying;
“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36-40

Because God loves everyone so much, these two commandments are intimately linked.

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me
Matthew 25:40

This sentiment is clearly here in this chapter. At the end of numerous commandments to do with doing right by others we see the phrase;

I am the LORD your God

The clear implication is that it matters to God how we treat each other.