In Moroni 10:27-34 we find an exhortation of Moroni which was given, and better understood, in a covenant context. Among the words of Moroni he said the following:
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. (Moroni 10:32)
Amy Hardison writes that anciently, covenants were written with a specific vocabulary. Inside the covenant context, certain words had official and legal meanings that sometimes differed from their normal, everyday use. For instance, a word that has a specific covenant meaning is love. If a vassal abides by the terms of the covenant, he is said to love the suzerain (lord); if he does not, he is said to rebel against him. In Deuteronomy 6:5 when man is commanded to "love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might," God is not requiring an emotion or a feeling of endearment. He is demanding obedience and loyalty, something a suzerain (lord) had every right to demand of his vassal and something a vassal owed to his lord. Moreover, in Hebrew thought, the heart (not the mind) was the source of thinking, willing, and deciding. Therefore, to love God with all one's heart was to make a deliberate commitment to steadfast loyalty and unwavering obedience. To love "with all thy soul" was the demand for the vassal to be prepared to die for the suzerain. It denoted full devotion. To love "with all thy might" meant that a vassal would come to the aid of the suzerain with all his force, with his army and chariots. In sum, Deuteronomy 6:56 requires a vassal to pledge complete loyalty and obedience to his suzerain and to be willing to give all that he is and all that he has as an expression of his loyalty.
God's response to covenant love is hesed. Although it is often translated "mercy," "there is no English word that conveys the meaning of hesed accurately. It means loving-kindness or unfailing love. Delbert Hillers explained: "Hesed is the quality one wants in a partner to an alliance, hence it involves loyalty above all. But it is more than just abiding by the letter of what one is legally required to do. It is the quality shown when a man helps a partner who needs it, hence it connotes "kindness, mercy, grace." Such rescuing loving-kindness is the promise of Isaiah 41:10: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." The right hand is the hand with which we make covenants. Thus, by covenant God has sworn that he will be there for us, that he will uphold us and strengthen us throughout this rigorous mortal experience. [Amy Blake Hardison, "Being a Covenant People," in Covenants Prophecies and Hymns of the Old Testament, pp. 24-25] [See the commentary by Raymond Treat on 1 Nephi 4:19]