Deuteronomy 5:7 You shall have none other gods before me. The affirmative part is, Thou shalt have Jehovah for thy God. The negative part is, Thou shalt have no other God. This, therefore, is that which is the very substance of this commandment: There shall be unto thee a God, and I am that God. If you ask what is enjoined in this, I answer, no less than the whole service and worship of God, and our behaving ourselves towards Him as such. But more particularly to display the contents of this commandment, it is requisite that we discourse both of the inward and outward worship of God, for both these are contained in this Divine precept. It enjoins that service which consists in the employment of the head and heart, and also that of the body and outward actions. Under the first are commanded these following duties — 1. The believing of a God (Hebrews 11:6). 2. Being persuaded that there is but one God. 3. The believing of His Word. 4. Right apprehensions concerning God's glorious attributes and perfections. 5. Thinking and meditating on Him and His Divine perfections. 6. To the acts of our understanding must be added those of our will and affections, and consequently we are to have a high respect and observance of the Divine Author of our being, the glorious God; we are to admire Him, we are to rejoice in Him. But the chief of the affections which are most celebrated in the Holy Scriptures are fear, and hope, and love, of which therefore I am obliged more distinctly and amply to speak. (1) First, an awful fear and dread are due to God, and are the genuine issue of those conceptions which we ought to frame of Him. Fear is a passion that naturally flows from the serious contemplation of the greatness and power of God, and of His impartial justice in punishing offenders. He that hath this fear stands in awe of God, though no punishment should ensue, for he reckons that sin itself is a punishment. Filial fear is founded in love. Having thus briefly displayed the nature of the fear of God, I will in the next place show what are the natural effects and fruits of it. We owe it to this fear that we are not inconsiderate and rash and furious in our prosecutions. And on the other hand, we are kept by it frown security, for it begets watchfulness and circumspection. Hereby we weigh all our actions and undertakings, and ask ourselves whether they will be pleasing to God. (2) To hope in God is another Divine affection which is included in this first commandment. He that hopes in God cheerfully expects that God will support him under and deliver him from evil, and at last glorify him. (3) Again, ardently to love God is another main thing enjoined in this commandment. And truly to love that Being who is most amiable and most perfect is but the natural effect which the contemplation of such loveliness and perfection should produce in us. But there is an outward service and worship which this commandment enjoins also. This is adoration, a religious reverence and homage performed by the body by all external acts of religion. This is a visible expression of the inward esteem we have of a person. So this worship we are now speaking of is an extrinsic sign of that inward reverence, fear, hope, trust, love which were mentioned before. And the conjunction of these is necessary, for first God's image was imprinted on the body as well as the soul, and therefore both must be sanctified, both must be instruments of religion. Besides, they are assistant to one another by reason of that intimate union which is between them, so that they jointly advance the concerns of religion.And then we are to remember that Christ redeemed not only our souls but our bodies; therefore we are to serve Him with both. (1) First, this must be done by our words and speeches. There must be a vocal expressing of the sense we have of God's perfections. The most notable instances of this kind of external and audible worship are these three — (a) A speaking reverently of God and all things belonging to Him. (b) Open profession of the name of God and of the holy religion which we have embraced. (c) Prayer, including confession, petition, praise, and giving of thanks. (2) Secondly, this worship must be discovered in bodily gesture (Psalm 95:6). (3) The true worship which is due to the eternal God is discovered by the actions of the life. The true adorer of the Divine Being is known by his frequent exercises of mortification and abstinence, his guarding himself from outward objects that may promote temptation, by watching over his bodily senses, his addicting himself to temperance and chastity, his acts of righteousness and justice towards his brethren. We must live according to that sense we bear in our minds of a Being so perfect and so worthy to be adored. To obey God, to live a pure and holy life, and to discharge a good conscience in everything, are the height and perfection of this duty, and are indeed the most acceptable worship we can perform to God. And, to sum up all, worshipping of God implies that we and they endeavour to be like Him. After all, I must add this, that the chief worship which is here enjoined is that which is seated in the inward man, the soul. Now, that this is chiefly here meant I gather from this, that the other three commandments of this first table relate most of all to outward worship, for they forbid bowing down to images, and taking God's name in vain, and profaning the Sabbath Day. Thence I argue that the inward and mental worship of God is that which is principally aimed at in this first precept of the law. I take it to be the great design of this commandment to enjoin inward and spiritual religion. Next I come to the negative part of this commandment, i.e. to show what sins are forbidden by it. 1. First, atheism is directly opposite to the duty required of us in this first precept of the moral law. This atheism is — (1) In thought (Psalm 14:1). (2) There is atheism of the tongue as well as of the. heart. There are those who openly disavow the belief of a deity, and are so impudent as to proclaim it to the world. (3) There are atheists not only in thoughts and words, but in actions. These are they that acknowledge a God, but yet live as if there were none. They behave themselves as if there were no omniscient eye to take notice of what they do, as if there were no Supreme Ruler to punish their miscarriages. Of these men the apostle speaks (Titus 1:16). 2. Superstition, as well as atheism, is forbidden in this commandment. For this we are to know, that there are two extremes in religion, one in the defect, which is neglect and contempt of God and His worship, profaneness, and even atheism itself; the other in the excess, which is a vain and unnecessary worship, and this is superstition. The former proceeds from a fond conceit of reason without fear; the latter, from fear without right reason. The first is a defiance of religion; the second makes it a sordid thing. The one makes men irreligious and profane; the other fills them with false imaginations and needless terrors. We have seen in the general that superstition is an overdoing in religion; but more particularly to explain the nature of it — (1) It is doing more in religion than is required by God. (2) It is doing that which is in itself commanded, but with a false principle. (3) It is a being over-concerned about things that are merely circumstantial or indifferent. And withal, consider the pernicious nature of superstition. To conclude, this is a base and servile temper, void of all that generous freedom which should attend true religion. It is unworthy of a noble spirit, and unbecoming a true worshipper. It is one of the foulest blemishes that a person or a church can be defaced with. 3. Idolatry is condemned by this commandment. It is having that thing or being for a god which hath no divinity in it.Here, then, is a threefold idolatry forbidden — 1. That which is moral, which is an immoderate affecting or prosecuting of anything that is not our chief good. It is setting our hearts wholly on any finite and worldly object. All wilful sinners, all those that delight in the practice of what is vicious, are such, for they make their lusts their chief good, and so in a manner make them their gods. This is moral idolatry. 2. There is polytheism, or pagan idolatry, i.e. the believing and worshipping of a multiplicity of deities, even among the works of the creation, as of the sun, moon, and stars, etc. As the atheist maintains that there is no God, so the Gentile worshipper is for making everything a god. 3. The last sort of idolatry is that which hath a mixture of the worship of the true God with it. From the sacred history in Exodus 32:5 we may inform ourselves that the Israelites worshipped Jehovah and the golden calf at the same time. They sometimes worshipped the Lord and Baal together, which Elijah objects to them in 1 Kings 18:21. This medley of religious worship you will find among the strange nations which were transplanted into Samaria (1 Kings 17:41). They feared the Lord and served their graven images. ( J. Edwards, D. D..) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou shalt have none other gods before me. |
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