Are We Not All Beggars?
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke to the hearing of the whole congregation of Israel: "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." Most of the ten commandments are written in a negative phrase 'thou shalt not;' what is the positive equivalent? 'Thou shalt have me as thy God.' He goes on: "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to [any graven image], nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." The positive equivalent to this is, 'thou shalt bow down thyself to me, and serve me; love me, and keep my commandments.' Who bows down? Besides the worshiper to his God, there is the subject to his king, the servant to his master and the beggar to anyone w...