These words which I command you today

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(Alexander Smellie, "The Hour of Silence" 1899)

"These words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9

It is well when the Word of God governs my personal life.
It should control my body with its members and passions.
It should solve the puzzling questions of my intellect.
It should answer the indictment, and allay the fears of my conscience.
It should fill my imagination with pure and inspiring pictures.
It should make my will the happy bond-servant of Christ.
It should satisfy the cravings of my heart for the perfect and eternal love.

And it is well when the Word of God governs my home life. When I teach it to the children, when I talk of it sitting in the house and walking by the way, lying down and rising up--I am giving them . . .
the sublimest theme for meditation,
the best rule of conduct,
the strongest safeguard against evil,
the passport to the family of the Lord and the city of the eternal King.
I am rendering them the most noble service conceivable!

And it is well when the Word of God governs my social life. Let it be written on the posts of my house and on my gates. Then my neighbors will know where I stand, and whom I serve. They will not come to me to talk gossip and scandal, and to whisper away the good name of others with idle tongues. They will not wish me to be a partner with them in any evil work. They will be drawn rather towards the Book and towards the Lord.

In my personal history,
in the relationships of my home,
in my social fellowship--
may God rule through His Word, with an undisputed scepter and a gracious tyranny!

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