The First Word: You shall have no other gods before Me

As we continue our study of the Ten Commandments we need to be reminded why most of these commandments are couched in the negative form. Keil-Delitzsch state, "Nearly all the commandments are couched in the negative form of prohibition, because they presuppose the existence of sin an evil desires in the human heart." Thus the law reveals to us how sinful we are as we look at what the Lord requires of us.

The First Word: You shall have no other gods before Me.

We are going to look at the literal translation in order to appreciate what this commandment says.

Not have you gods another against My Face

Not: unconditional prohibition; absolutely not

Have: to possess

You: singular which emphasizes the personal aspect of the message

gods another: in addition to Me

Before: in defiance of Me

My face: in my presence

There is only one God and whoever and whatever we have more respect and give more honor to becomes our god. In 1 John 2:15 we are warned not to love the world or the things in the world because if we do the love of God is not in us. Which means we love something else more that we love the Lord.

The following passages will show us how to have no other gods.

Psalm 62:5-8 We trust only in the true and living God

Luke 22:20 We are in a covenantal relationship with the Father
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore our commitment
is to the Lord and no one else

Joshua 24:15 We have made a commitment to follow the Lord only. The
idol we must be aware of is our own self. Being what "I"
want to be and doing what "I" want to do as opposed to
being obedient to the Lord

Nehemiah 8:6 Am I willing to humble myself before the Lord and honor
Psalm 29:2 Him only or do I have more respect for myself and other
people than I have for the Lord?

We all need to take time to see if we have subtly brought additional gods
into our lives that need to be removed so we may truly honor the Lord our God.