This commandment also forbids the giving of the praise of any good that has befallen us, or is possessed by us, to ourselves, to fortune or to idols. Deut. viii. 17; Dan. iv. 30; v. 23; 1 Sam. vi. 9.

All impatience under God's dispensations, all discontent and murmuring, all foolish and wicked speeches respecting God, are also sins against this commandment. Ps. lxxiii. 2-17; Jude 16; Phil. ii. 14; 1 Cor. x. 10.

Some never show cheerfulness in bowing to God's will. Others openly fret against it. Many sin by taking no thankful notice of mercies received and remaining. Leighton: "There is more joy in enduring a cross for God, than in the smiles of the world; in a private, despised affliction, without the name of suffering for his cause, or anything in it like martyrdom, but only as coming from his hand, kissing it and bearing it patiently, yea, gladly, for his sake, out of love to him, because it is his will so to try thee. What can come amiss to a soul thus composed?

"I wish that even they who have renounced the vain world, and have the face of their hearts turned Godwards, would learn more this happy life, and enjoy it more; not to hang so much upon sensible comforts, as to delight in obedience, and to wait for those at his pleasure, whether he gives much or little, any or none. Learn to be still finding the sweetness of his commands, which no outward or inward change can disrelish, rejoicing in the actings of that divine. love within thee. Continue thy conflicts with sin, and though thou mayest at times be foiled, yet cry to him for help, and getting up, redouble thy hatred of it and attempts against it. Still stir this flame of

God. That will overcome: 'many waters cannot quench it.' It is a renewed pleasure to be offering up thyself every day to God. Oh! the sweetest life in the world is to be crossing thyself to please him; trampling on thy own will to follow his."

Three other sins against this commandment should not pass without notice. One of them consists in resisting and grieving the Holy Spirit. How dreadful this sin is, may be learned from the fact that inspired men speak of it as if it were the sum of all wickedness. Thus said Stephen to his impenitent audience: "Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost." Acts vii. 51.

Another form of breaking this commandment is the rejection of Jesus Christ. Without him we can do nothing. John xv. 5. He is the sole and sufficient author of salvation to lost men. To reject him is to reject all the counsels of God for our restoration to the divine favour. The Scriptures employ the most alarming language respecting this sin. Christ himself says, "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." John viii. 24. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Heb. x. 28, 29.

The last form of breaking this commandment is by insincerity of heart in religious worship. When Christ was on earth, he used more alarming and terri

ble language to hypocrites than to all others. Their case is indeed sad, and their guilt heinous. Hopkins: "The hypocrite calls on God to be an accomplice and partaker with him in his crimes; and so makes God to be the patron of sin, who will be the Judge and condemner of sin.”

CHAPTER XV.

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT.

THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, OR ANY LIKENESS OF ANYTHING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR THAT IS IN THE EARTH BENEATH, OR THAT IS IN THE WATERS UNDER THE EARTH: THOU SHALT NOT BOW DOWN THYSELF TO THEM, NOR SERVE THEM: FOR I THE LORD THY GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD, VISITING THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS UPON THE CHILDREN UNTO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION OF THEM THAT HATE ME; AND SHOWING MERCY UNTO THOUSANDS OF THEM THAT LOVE ME, AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.

OD never gave a command more solemn in its

GOD

terms, or in the sanction connected with it. Nor are we left in doubt respecting the vast importance of this precept. On this point other parts of God's word are full and urgent. Let us first consider the sanction annexed to it. It is very weighty. The words in which it is delivered seem to have been chosen for the purpose of striking terror into the hearts of the rebellious, and of giving the highest encouragement to the obedient.

I. We have an assertion of God's rightful authority

and sovereignty; for I the LORD thy God, &c. The phrase rendered the LORD thy God is precisely the same as found in the preface to the commandments, already considered. It points to the foundation of all religious obligation. It is commonly thought to be a fair mode of estimating the importance of a principle by the frequency with which it is stated in Scripture. Applying this rule to the present case, there is no more important truth than this, I am the LORD thy God. "He is thy Lord, and worship thou him." "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God." Ps. xlv. 11; xcv. 6, 7. From the fact that the Scriptures frequently compare idolatry to whoredom, some suppose that the phrase thy God, has special reference, not only to a covenant relation in general, but to a covenant relation well represented by that of marriage; and so Isaiah says: "Thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called." Is. liv. 5. See also Rev. xv. 3, 4. There can be no true religion except as the doctrine of God's sovereign and rightful authority over us is received.

II. As the human mind is exceedingly prone to practical atheism, and to idolatry also, God takes pains to inform us respecting his nature. He says, I am a jealous God. The word here rendered God is not Elohim, but El. This latter word rendered. God, when used as an adjective, signifies strong or mighty; and when used as an abstract term, it signifies might or power. As a name of God, standing alone, it is chiefly found in the poetic parts of Scrip