FINDING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
in the
WORDS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS
THE
FIRST COMMANDMENT
“You
shall have no other gods before Me.”
Exodus
20:3
Washington’s First Inaugural Speech:
“…in this first
official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over
the universe, who presides in the councils of nations and whose providential
aide can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the
liberties and happiness of the people of the United States…”
It seems fitting to begin with George
Washington. After all, when we think of
George Washington, like the First Commandment – he is also a first, the first
President of the UNITED States and the first Commander-in- Chief. But, as easily
as that comes to mind, these appointments were not the first positions he held,
in fact, they were his last.
Before he was President and Commander-in-Chief, before the
War for Independence, and before the decision to revolt against the monarchy of
Great Britain, Washington had served in a variety of military positions and
posts under the British flag. It was
during this time, his “near-miraculous talent for surviving the disaster”
earned him the reputation “that he was blessed, a sense that only deepened
during the Revolutionary War when soldiers died in bloody heaps all around him
and he emerged unscratched.”[i]
Washington’s military career was a bumpy road, celebrating
some successes and many failures. Joseph
Ellis writes, he lost “more battles than any victorious general in history.”[ii] Washington was not unaware of his loses nor
was he ever unaware of the precarious precipice he stood on between “when republican virtue fails,[and] slavery
ensues.”[iii]
In other words, should he lose the battle with Great Britain, the colonist
would soon fall under the harsh and unforgiving revenge of King George III and
his Parliament. Given that Washington
was aware of the weight of his responsibilities, he declared openly and on
several occasions to whom he was indebted.
Here is one
example:
“Most
Glorious God, in Jesus Christ, my merciful and loving Father; I acknowledge and
confess my guilt in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this
day. I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of my sins, but so coldly
and carelessly that my prayers are become my sin, and they stand in need of
pardon. I have sinned against heaven and before Thee in thought, word, and
deed. I have contemned Thy majesty and holy laws. I have likewise sinned by
omitting what I ought to have done and committing what I ought not. I have
rebelled against the light, despising Thy mercies and judgment, and broken my
vows and promise. I have neglected the better things. My iniquities are
multiplied and my sins are very great. I confess them, O Lord, with shame and
sorrow, detestation and loathing and desire to be vile in my own eyes as I have
rendered myself vile in Thine. I humbly beseech Thee to be merciful to me in
the free pardon of my sins for the sake of Thy dear Son and only Savior Jesus
Christ who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Thou
gavest Thy Son to die for me. Make me to know what is acceptable in Thy sight,
and therein to delight, open the eyes of my understanding, and help me
thoroughly to examine myself concerning my knowledge, faith, and repentance,
increase my faith, and direct me to the true object, Jesus Christ the Way, the
Truth, and the Life." - Authentic handwritten
manuscript book, April 23, 1752[iv]
Given the heart-felt depth of this prayer, and after seven years on the battlefield; 25,324 dead & 8,445 wounded, is it any wonder that President Washington would give tribute to the “Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations and whose providential aide can supply every human defect,” for his success?
Here are the words of his First Inaugural Speech,
“Such
being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons,
repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in
this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who
rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations and whose
providential aide can supply every human defect, that His benediction may
consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a
Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes; and may
enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success,
the functions allotted to his charge.” [v]
D.L. Moody says of the First Commandment, “Before we can worship intelligently, we must know what or whom to worship.” “When God gave the commandments to Moses, He commenced with a declaration of His own character, and demanded exclusive recognition. ‘I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’” This clearly, was not lost on Washington. Putting it succinctly, Moody says, “If He created us, He certainly ought to have our homage. Is it not right that He should have the first and only place in our affections?”[vi]
Thomas
Paine worded it slightly different,
“Government
by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the
children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the
Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine
honours to their deceased kings, and the Christian world hath improved on the
plan, by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of
sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling
into dust!
As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be
justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the
authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty, as declared by Gideon and
the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by kings”[vii]
Moody says it took “long years for God to impress” the meaning of “Thou shalt not” upon the Israelites. It didn’t take Washington that long; he knew right from the beginning, that the fate of the revolution depended on the sovereignty of the “Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations…”
[i]
His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
[ii]
His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
[iii]
Thomas Paine, Common Sense 1775
[vi] Weighted and Wanting – Addresses on the Ten
Commandments by D.L. Moody “Tekel: Thou are weighted in the balances, and art
found wanting.” Fleming H. Revell Company Copyright, 1898
[vii]
Common Sense Philadelphia, February 14, 1776 - Thomas Paine
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