Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NKJV
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Wholehearted Devotion to the One True God
My Notes
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”— Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NKJV)
In Jewish tradition, these two powerful verses form the opening of the Shema—a sacred declaration recited morning and evening for thousands of years. In Hebrew manuscripts, the final letters of the first word (Shema, meaning “Hear”) and the last word (Echad, meaning “One”) are drawn larger than the rest. They act as a bold visual cue, urging the reader to stop, pay attention, and absorb the fundamental truth of God’s nature: The Lord our God is One.
The Shema begins with an essential truth: there is only one true and living God. He isn’t one among many options; He is the unique, all-sufficient source of life. Having one Lord simplifies everything—we don’t have to divide our loyalties among a thousand crumbling cisterns when we have access to the one infinite fountain. Moses wasn’t just giving Israel a theological statement; he was calling them to attention. “Hear, O Israel…” means “Listen with your whole being.”
Because God is one, our response to Him cannot be divided or lukewarm. Moses outlines a complete, whole-person devotion:
- With all your heart: The seat of your intellect, thoughts, and core affections.
- With all your soul: The center of your will, choices, and personal identity.
- With all your strength (might): The outward expression of all your energy, talents, and resources.
At its core, the Shema tells us two things:
1. Who God is.
He is one—unique, unrivaled, incomparable. Not many gods. Not competing powers. Not shifting identities. One God, eternally faithful, eternally present. The unity of God anchors our worship and guards our hearts from idols—ancient or modern.
2. What God wants.
Love.
Not mere duty, not cold obedience, not external performance. God wants love that engages the whole person—heart, soul, strength. Jesus called this the greatest commandment, the foundation of all others. When love leads, obedience follows naturally.
And notice the order:
We love because He is our God.
Love is the response to relationship.
This love is not partial or divided. It is whole-hearted, whole-souled, whole-strength devotion. It touches our thoughts, desires, decisions, energy, and actions. It is a love that delights in God, depends on Him, and desires Him above all else.
The Shema is both a declaration and an invitation:
Declare who God is.
Respond with all you are.
When Jesus was asked to name the single greatest commandment in the Law, He quoted the Shema directly (Matthew 22:37–38). He knew that true obedience cannot be born out of cold, dry legalism—it must flow from a living relationship of love. If we try to offer God our time, money, and religious effort without giving Him our genuine love, all our striving is empty. But when we love Him wholeheartedly, every other aspect of our lives—our service, our giving, and our capacity to love our neighbors as ourselves—naturally falls into place.
Prayer
Abba, I thank You for being the one true God—my creator, my protector, and the infinite fountain of life. I am amazed that You do not merely ask for my compliance, but that You invite me to love You with my whole being. Forgive me for the times when my affections have been divided, or when I have tried to offer You my efforts and duties without giving You my heart. Teach me what it means to love You today with all my heart, all my soul, and all my strength. Let Your love fill me so completely that it overflows into how I treat others. I ask for this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- Singular Focus: Confessing that “the Lord is one” guards our hearts against modern idolatry and frees us from trying to please multiple masters.
- Love Over Legalism: God desires a personal relationship rooted in love rather than rigid, ritualistic duty.
- Whole-Person Devotion: Loving God isn’t just an emotion; it engages our thinking (heart), our will (soul), and our actions and energy (strength).
- The Foundation for Loving Others: Genuine, wholehearted devotion to God equips us with the supernatural capacity to love the people around us.
Cross References-NKJV
- Matthew 22:36–38
“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment.’” - Mark 12:32–33
“So the scribe said to Him, ‘Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’” - 1 John 4:19
“We love Him because He first loved us.” - Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul…”
Things to Think About
- In what practical ways can you align your “heart, soul, and strength” to express love to God in your current season of life?
- Are there subtle “insufficient cisterns” or distractions in your life that compete for the devotion that belongs to God alone?
- How does knowing that God desires your love above your legalistic performance change the way you approach your daily quiet time and prayer life?
Proverb for Today
Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9 NKJV
Daily Scripture
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
At its core, the following commentaries show that the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4–5) is all about relationship, not just abstract theology. Saying “the Lord is one” reminds us that God is uniquely whole and undivided, which aligns beautifully with the compound unity of the Trinity. Because He’s our one true source, God isn’t asking for cold legalism or forced duty—He simply wants our wholehearted love. Getting to love Him back is an incredible privilege.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Does not this show what is the very nature of God? God is love, for he commands us to love him. There was never an earthly prince or king whom I have heard of in whose statute-book it was written, ‘Thou shalt love the king.’ No; it is only in the statute-book of him who is the Lord of life and love that we read such a command as this. To my mind it seems a very blessed privilege for us to be permitted to love One so great as God is.”
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Enduring Word
Hear, O Israel: Among the Jewish people, these words are known as the Shema (“hear” in Hebrew). It is the classic Hebrew confession of faith, describing who God is and what the duty of His people is towards Him. (Guzik)
i. Jesus specifically mentioned the Shema (Matthew 22:37), and its core truth was also in Paul’s mind (Romans 3:30, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 4:6, 1 Timothy 2:5). James challenged believers (nearly all from a Jewish background) that their confession that God was one was not enough (James 2:19). (Guzik)
ii. “So much so did the centrality of this confession find root in the Jewish consciousness that to this very day the observant Jew will recite the Shema at least twice daily.” (Merrill)
The LORD our God, the LORD is one: This is the essential truth about God. He is a person and not a vague pantheistic force. Being one, He cannot be represented by contradictory images. Since the LORD our God is one, He is not Baal or Ashtoreth – He is the LORD God, and they are not. (Guzik)
i. In the mind of many Jewish people, this verse alone disqualified the New Testament teaching that Jesus is God, and the New Testament teaching of the Trinity – that there is one God, existing in three Persons. According to Clarke, at some times and places, as Jewish synagogues said the Shema together, and when the word one (echad) was said, they loudly and strongly repeated that one word for several minutes, as if it were a rebuke to Christians with their belief in the Trinity. (Guzik)
ii. Christians must come to a renewed understanding of the unity of God. They must appreciate the fact that the LORD is one, not three, as 1 Corinthians 8:6 says: yet for us there is one God. Christians worship one God, existing in three Persons, not three separate gods. (Guzik)
iii. Yet, the statement the LORD is one certainly does not contradict the truth of the Trinity. In fact, it establishes that truth. The Hebrew word used here for one is echad, which speaks most literally of a compound unity, rather than the Hebrew word yacheed, which speaks of an absolute unity or singularity (Genesis 22:2, Psalm 25:16). (Guzik)
iv. The very first use of echad in the Bible is in Genesis 1:5: So the evening and the morning were the first day. This context shows a unity (one day) with the idea of plurality (made up of evening and morning).
· Genesis 2:24 uses echad in saying the two shall become one flesh. Again, the idea of a unity (one flesh), made from a plurality (the two).
· In Exodus 26:6 and 11, fifty gold clasps are used to hold the curtains together, so the tent would be one (echad). This is another unity (one covering) made up of a plurality (the many parts that made up the one covering, joined by the gold clasps).
· In Ezekiel 37:17 the LORD told Ezekiel to join two sticks (prophetically representing Ephraim/Israel and Judah) into one (echad), speaking again of a unity (one stick) made up of a plurality (the two sticks). (Guzik)
v. Largely, echad does not have the exclusive idea of an absolute singularity. The concept of the Trinity – that there is one God in three Persons – works well with the term echad. (Guzik)
The LORD our God: In addition, even the term referring to God in this line suggests the plurality of Deity. The Hebrew word is Elohim (God), and grammatically, it is a plural word used as if it were singular – the verbs and pronouns used with it are generally in the plural except when it is used in reference to Yahweh (the LORD), the covenant God of Israel. (Guzik)
i. Rabbi Simeon ben Joachi, commenting on the word Elohim: “Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined together in one, and are not divided from each other.” Adam Clarke adds: “He must be strangely prejudiced indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a Trinity in unity, is expressed in the above words.” (Guzik)
ii. Leupold quoting Luther on the word Elohim: “But we have clear testimony that Moses aimed to indicate the Trinity or the three persons in the one divine nature.” (Guzik)
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength: Knowing who God is allows His people to act towards Him rightly. This is one way that believers give God His due. (Guzik)
i. God wants complete love from His people. This love is appropriate because He loved first and loved completely: We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). (Guzik)
ii. What God most wants from humanity is love. It is easy to think that God is more interested in many other things: time, money, effort, will, submission, and so forth. But what God really wants from humanity is their love. When people really love the LORD with all the heart, soul, and mind, then all else is freely given to the LORD. If one starts by giving to God all the rest – money, time, effort, will, and so forth – without giving Him love, then all is wasted – and perhaps, all is lost. “Israel’s obedience was not to spring from a barren legalism based on necessity and duty. It was to arise from a relationship based on love.” (Thompson)
iii. “Does not this show what is the very nature of God? God is love, for he commands us to love him. There was never an earthly prince or king whom I have heard of in whose statute-book it was written, ‘Thou shalt love the king.’ No; it is only in the statute-book of him who is the Lord of life and love that we read such a command as this. To my mind it seems a very blessed privilege for us to be permitted to love One so great as God is.” (Spurgeon)
iv. Jesus called this the great commandment (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus added that the second commandment, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, was like this first, great commandment. When God’s people love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and mind, they will then find the ability to love their neighbor as themselves. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Since there is but One God, and that God is Israel’s God, so Israel must love God unreservedly and entirely. The “heart” is mentioned as the seat of the understanding; the “soul” as the center of will and personality; the “might” as representing the outgoings and energies of all the vital powers.
The New Testament itself requires no more than this total self-surrender of man’s being to his maker Matthew 22:37. The Gospel differs from the Law not so much in replacing an external and carnal service of God by an inward and spiritual one, as in supplying new motives and special assistances for the attainment of that divine love which was, from the first and all along, enjoined as “the first and great commandment.”
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John Gill
Hear, O Israel,…. These are the words of Moses, stirring up the people to an attention to what he was about to say of this great and momentous article, the unity of God, to prevent their going into polytheism and idolatry. From one of the words here used, the Jews call this section Kiriathshema, which they oblige themselves to read twice a day, morning and evening; the last letter of the first word in this verse, “Shema,” meaning “hear,” and the last letter of the last word in it, “Echad,” meaning “one,” are greater than ordinary; which seems designed to excite the attention to what is contained in this passage.
The Lord our God is one Lord; the doctrine of which is, that the Lord, who was the covenant God and Father of his people Israel, is but one Jehovah; he is Jehovah, the Being of beings, a self-existent Being, eternal and immutable; and he is but one in nature and essence; this appears from the perfection of his nature, his eternity, omnipotence, omnipresence, infinity, goodness, self-sufficiency, and perfection; for there can be but one eternal, one omnipotent, one omnipresent, one infinite, one that is originally and of himself good; one self, and all sufficient, and perfect Being; and which also may be concluded from his being the first cause of all things, which can be but one; and from his relations to his creatures, as their King, ruler, governor, and lawgiver.
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Matthew Henry
A brief summary of religion, containing the first principles of faith and obedience, v. 4, 5. These two verses the Jews reckon one of the choicest portions of scripture: they write it in their phylacteries, and think themselves not only obliged to say it at least twice every day, but very happy in being so obliged, having this saying among them, Blessed are we, who every morning and evening say, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. But more blessed are we if we duly consider and improve,
What we are here taught to believe concerning God: that Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.
(1.) That the God whom we serve is Jehovah, a Being infinitely and eternally perfect, self-existent, and self-sufficient.
(2.) That he is the one only living and true God; he only is God, and he is but one. The firm belief of this self-evident truth would effectually arm them against all idolatry, which was introduced by that fundamental error, that there are gods many. It is past dispute that there is one God, and there is no other but he, Mk. 12:32. Let us therefore have no other, nor desire to have any other. Some have thought there is here a plain intimation of the trinity of persons in the unity of the Godhead; for here is the name of God three times, and yet all declared to be one. Happy they that have this one Lord for their God; for they have but one master to please, but one benefactor to seek to. It is better to have one fountain than a thousand cisterns, one all-sufficient God than a thousand insufficient ones.
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