2. We must have no other God. ** Thou shalt have no other gods before me :" this commandment forbids, 1. Serving a false God, and not the true, Jer. ii. 27., " sa^nng to a stock. Thou art my father ; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth." Or, 2. Joining a false god with a true, 2 Kings \\\\. 33,, "■ They feared the Lord, and served their own gods." Both these are forbidden in the commandment ; we must adliere to the true God, and no other; " God is a jealous God," and he will en- dure no co-rival. A ^\'ife cannot lawfully have two husbands at once: nor may we have two Gods, Exod. xxxiv. 14., " Thou shalt worship no other god, for the Lord is a jealous God." Ps. xvi. 4., " Tlieir sor- rows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god." The Lord interprets it a ' Forsaking of him,' to espouse any other god. Judges ii. 12., " They forsook the Lord," and followed other gods. God would not have his people so much as make mention of idol gods, Exod. xxiii. 13., " Make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth." God looks upon it as a breaking of the marriage-covenant, to go after other gods. Therefore, when Israel committed idolatry with the golden calf, God disclaims his interest in them, Exod. xxxii. 7., " Thy people have corrupted themselves." Be- fore, God called Israel his people ; but when they went after other gods, " Now (saith the Lord to Moses) they are no more my people but thy people." Hos. ii. 2., " Plead with your mother, plead ; for she is not my ^\^fe." She doth not keep faith with me ; she hath stained herself with idols, there- fore I will divorce her ; " she is not my wife." To go after other gods, is what God cannot beai*; it makes the fury rise up in his face, Deut. xiii. 6, 8, 9., " If thy brother, or thy son, or the wife of thy bo- som, or thv friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, let us go and serve other gods, thou shalt not con- sent unto him, neither shall thine eye pity him ; but thou siluilt surely kill him ; thine
OF THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.
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hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people."
Quest. But what is it to have other gods besides the true God? I fear vpon search^ we have more idolaters among us than we are aware of.
Ans. To trust in any thing more than (iod, is to make it a god. 1. If we trust in our riches, then we make riclies our god : we may take comfort, not put confidence in them. It is a foolish thing to trust in them. (1.) They are deceitful riches, Mat. xiii. 2., and it is foolish to trust to that wljich will deceive us. 1st, They have no solid consistency, they are like landscapes or golden dreams, which leave the soul empty when it awakes or comes to itself. 2dly, They are not what they promise ; they promise to satisfy our desires, and they increase them ; they promise to stay with us, and they take wings. (2.) They are hurtful, Eccl. i. 18., " Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt." It is foolish to trust to that which will hurt one : who would take hold of the edge of a ra- zor to help him? They are oft fuel for pride and lust, Ezek. xxviii. 5., Jer. v. 7. So that it is folly to trust in our riches : but some do, and so make money their god, Prov. X. 15., " The rich man's wealth is his strong tower." He makes the wedge of gold his hope, Job xxxi. 24. God made man of the dust of the earth, and man makes a god of the dust of the earth. Mo- ney is his creator, redeemer, comforter : his creator ; if he had money, now he thinks he is made : his redeemer ; if he be in dan- ger, he trusts to his money to redeem him : his comforter ; if he be sad, money is the golden harp to drive away the evil spirit. Thus, by trusting to money, we make it a god.
2. If we trust in the arm of flesh, we make it a god, Jer. x^'ii. 5., " Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." The Syrians trusted in their army, which was so numerous that it filled the country, 1 Kings xx. 27., but this arm of flesh withered, v. 29. What we make our trust, God makes our shame. The sheep run to the hedges for shelter and they lose their wool : we have run to se-
cond causes to help us, and we have lost much of our golden fleece, — they have not only been reeds to fail us, but thorns to prick us. We have broken our parliament- crutches, by leaning too hard upon them.
3. If we trust in our wisdom, we make it a god, Jer. ix. 23., " Let not tlie wise man glory in his wisdom !" Glorying is the height of confidence. Many a man doth make an idol of his wit and parts ; he deifies himself, but how oft doth God take the wise in their owi^ craftiness. Job vi. 13. Ahithophel had a great wit, — liis counsel was as the oracle of God, — but his wit brought him to the halter, 2 Sam. xvii. 23.