You have declared Hashem this day to be your G-d, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice.
The Torah tells us that Hashem’s elevation and declaration as Klal Yisroel’s G-d is ‘today’. Only today did Klal Yisroel accept Hashem’s kingship over themselves. The Ohr Hachaim explains that this is based on the Gemara that tells us that someone who lives in Chutz La’aretz, outside Eretz Yisroel, is as though he has no G-d.
Only today, when they were in Eretz Yisroel, was their coronation of Hashem as their King accepted, because they were in Eretz Yisroel. Even though they were really in the land of Sichon and Og, which is not considered Eretz Yisroel proper, it still has the holiness of Eretz Yisroel since Klal Yisroel conquered it.
Now Hashem is truly their King and they can be considered His nation.
Another explanation considered by the Ohr Hachaim is based on the words of the Zohar. The Zohar writes that all countries of the world are under the jurisdiction of various Heavenly ministers. Eretz Yisroel is directly under the influence of Hashem, and everything that takes place there is a direct command from Hashem.
Klal Yisroel, as they entered Eretz Yisroel, have announced that they accept Hashem as their leader. They are entering a land in which there is no way of being led by anyone else, and this is a coronation of Hashem as their king.
The possuk in Tehillim davens מלפניך משפטי תצא – may my judgment emerge from You. We want judgment from Hashem alone, not one of his masters and slaves. Two options are possible, but Eretz Yisroel is generally under the direct jurisdiction of Hashem, whereas the other countries are only under His indirect jursidiction, as He delegates this job to His celestial ministers.
Another explanation offered by the Ohr Hachaim is that on that day, Klal Yisroel accepted Hashem as their G-d, and from now He will be judging their actions and watching over every thought, speech, and action of theirs to see if they are acting corectly.
Klal Yisroel accepted Hashem on themselves to be their א-להים. This is the name of Hashem that He uses when He is judging His nation. We still accept Him as our G-d, even when he punishes and judges us.
The Torah now tells us various actions we will undertake as we crown Hashem as our King.
First, we will ללכת בדרכיו – go in His ways. There are some Mitzvos that we have not been commanded to fulfill in the Torah. But when we see Hashem acting in a certain way, that should teach us the correct way to act, and we should emulate His ways.
Hashem visits the sick, buries the dead and helps other people, we too should follow these Mitzvos. We should observe Hashem’s actions, in order to know how to copy them.
We should also follow חקיו – His statutes. This refers to those Mitzvos whose explanation and reasoning was not revealed to us.
מצותיו refers to those Mitzvos whose explanation was revealed to us and we understand their purpose. Our own minds would also tell us to follow these Mitzvos.
משפטיו is referring to the laws and statutes that govern inter-personal relationships.
The last item on the list ולשמוע בקולו – and to hearken to His voice – is referring to the learning of Torah. The Torah uses the word בקולו – to His voice, to teach us that which the Medrash writes. “How are we to deduce that listening to a small person’s teaching of Torah is the same as listening to a great person’s teaching of Torah? The Possuk says והיה אם שמע תשמע בקול ה' אלוקיך.”
This tells us that the word בקול includes the voice of a relatively small person, whose Torah should also be respected and we should learn from it.
Now the Ohr Hachaim explains why the Torah told us these things in this order. Why is Talmud Torah the last on the list?
The Yetzer Hara may tell a person that he has figured it all out on his own. He knows how to act and his own intuition taught him Torah. That is insufficient, even after keeping the entire Torah, he must make sure to learn Hashem’s Torah.
After the list of things that a person should copy in Hashem’s ways and follow them, the person is told that he must still learn and there is no time in his life that he is exempt from this Mitzvah until his final minute. The possuk says זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אָדָם כִּי יָמוּת בְּאֹהֶל. The Chachamim explain that this teaches us that the way to merit Torah is if a person is willing to kill himself for it. A person who ‘dies’ in the tent of Torah will merit Torah. The Ohr Hachaim understands this to mean that a person who wishes to own Torah must learn until the minute of his death.
