against the polytheist and him who, worshipping himself, says,--"no
God." The first commandment condemns the idolater, of whatever class;
includes that, instead of Covenanting with the gods of the heathen, as
many in early times did, men, in every age, should make that
acknowledgment of himself which entering into covenant with him
essentially implies; and is obeyed when, like Joshua and all Israel
Covenanting at Shechem, they choose the Lord to serve him.[195] In the
second commandment is implied an injunction to serve God. The fact that
vowing and swearing to God are a part of his service is manifest, as we
have seen from sundry passages of Scripture. Consistent, therefore, with
the commands implied in these portions of the Sacred Volume, but
distinct from them, is the injunction embodied in this precept, that
men enter into covenant with him; and the performance of every
part of that service, as exhibited throughout the whole of Divine
revelation, according to circumstances, it enjoins. The third
commandment--forbidding the irreverent use of God's name, and
threatening those who take it in vain, authoritatively inculcates the
holy use of it in Covenanting. There is no passage of Scripture in which
it is said or implied, that to vow or swear, in every case is to take
God's name in vain. The saints, in calling upon his name, have vowed and
sworn to him. In commands to call upon his name, swearing by him is not
forbidden. The oath and vow, therefore, in calling upon him, may be made
lawfully; the abuse of them only in this precept is condemned, and the
use of them receives the highest sanction from this.

It is enjoined in statutes of perpetual moral obligation, that
illustrate the ten precepts of the law. These statutes are,

Commands to glorify God. God is glorified when the perfections of his
nature, and his execution of his purposes in the works of creation and
providence, are celebrated. The Scriptures contain the most abundant and
full representations of the excellence of his character and
administration, and the confession of which, in an adoring frame of
mind, is glorifying to him. Obeying the precept, "give unto the Lord the
glory due unto his name, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,"
his saints have this said of them,--"In his temple doth every one speak
of his glory." If every spiritual act of worship is glorifying to God,
then all of them are glorifying to him also; and Covenanting with him,
includ