Q: What does God require in the first and second commandments?
A: First, that we know and trust God as the only true and living God. Second, that we avoid all idolatry and do not worship God improperly.
Deuteronomy 6:13–14 “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you.”
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-38 “You shall the love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” This is because all the rest of the law hinges on this one command. In loving the Lord with all of our being we will by default keep the rest of his commands. Likewise, any failure to love him completely will inevitably result in our failure to uphold his law as we pursue our own will rather than his. We have already spoken of God’s primary goal, and his desire for us as well, to glorify him alone. The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: What is the chief end of man? The answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. This is the natural outworking of the first commandment, when we love God with all our heart, soul and mind, we are actively glorifying God. The natural inclination of every fallen man however, is to seek our own glory before God’s. This is the first and greatest commandment, because in it, we see God glorified in our lives, likewise, all sin stems from our breaking of this command. Whether we choose to rebel against him by denying his provision, his sufficiency, his greatness, his holiness, or any myriad of other ways, by trusting in our own ability to provide these things, we seek to glorify ourselves above him. This is how all sin flows from the failure to keep this one.
We are to know and trust God, to know and trust God as he has revealed himself to us in his Word. Only recognizing him as God is not his desire, he requires that we trust him as Lord. Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Or as it says in James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” It is in our reliance on him and willingness to submit to his loving rule in saving faith that magnifies him.
The second commandment found in Exodus 20:3 is “You shall have no other gods before me.” We fall into idolatry anytime we allow any affection of our hearts that ought to be directed at God be attributed to anything else. Colossians 3:5 says “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Covetousness is idolatry: all that our hearts long for, that we desire outside of what God has provided for us, is rebellion against the command to love and trust God with our whole heart. We rebel in believing in we know better than God, or in believing we will find greater satisfaction in something besides what God has for us, this makes an idol of our desires. As Calvin said, “man’s nature is a perpetual factory of idols” and though he was referring of our tendency to birth idols with our hands to fit what our minds conspired, this nature also rings true for our intangible idols.
The most insidious of idols are the ones that are in and of themselves good things. The greatest dangers are our lawful pleasures. Matthew 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” We are easily blinded to any number of righteous pursuits that we allow to become more important than the one who has commanded us to pursue them.
Deuteronomy 4:15-31 relates clearly the idea that idolatry is the worship of any created thing instead of the creator. Whether that is a person, an animal or anything in the heavens. Deut 4:15- 16 “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure” We are warned to remember that God did not reveal himself in any form, that we would not see any likeness of that form and worship that creation, likewise we should not try to give form to God and constrain him either to a certain form or attribute. Isaiah 46:5 “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?” Paul relates in Romans 1:25 “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
The appropriate response to God’s character and works is worship. Luke 4:8 “Jesus answered him, “It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”
Psalm 97:6-9 “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!”
1 Chronicles 16:8-36 is David’s song of thanks after the Ark is placed in the tent vv:29-21 “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!””
Worship is how we ascribe honour, worship is the act of exalting, exulting in and magnifying by humbling ourselves before God.
There are many, many ways in which we are commanded to worship, JI Packer had this to say regarding worship “Worship in the Bible is the due response of rational creatures to the self-revelation of their Creator. It is an honoring and glorifying of God by gratefully offering back to him all the good gifts, and all the knowledge of his greatness and graciousness, that he has given. It involves praising him for what he is, thanking him for what he has done, desiring him to get himself more glory by further acts of mercy, judgment, and power, and trusting him with our concern for our own and others’ future well-being. Moods of awestruck wonder and grateful celebration are all part of it: David danced with passionate zeal “before the LORD” when he brought up the ark to Jerusalem, and sat in humble amazement “before the LORD” when he was promised a dynasty, and his worship evidently pleased God on both occasions (2 Sam. 6:14-16; 7:18). Learning from God is worship too: attention to his word of instruction honors him; inattention is an insult. Acceptable worship requires “clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:4) and a willingness to express one’s devotion in works of service as well as in words of adoration.”