The National Utility of the Bible
J. Blakey. Deuteronomy 4:7-8 For what nation is there so great, who has God so near to them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call on him for?… It is impossible to estimate the amount of evil which mankind would experience in their civil capacity were the Scriptures no longer considered of Divine origin, nor constituted the ultimate standard of all moral and political obligation. All reverence for the laws would cease, for the lawgiver would have only his own authority, or the mere glimmerings of the law of nature, to enforce his commands; while those who had to obey the laws would soon have every just and equitable principle banished from their minds, and every sacred feeling obliterated from their bosoms. The whole fabric of society would soon go to pieces if men were removed beyond the sphere of the public and private sanctions of scriptural morality. (J. Blakey.) Parallel Verses KJV: For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? WEB: For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?