问题12：上帝在第九条和第十条诫命中的要求是什么？
答：第九，我们不可撒谎或欺骗，只用爱心说诚实话。第十，我们要知足，不嫉妒任何人，不因神给别人的和给自己的有差异而心生不满。
儿童版：第九，我们不可撒谎或欺骗。第十，我们要知足，不嫉妒任何人。

Question 12: What Does God Require in the Ninth and Tenth Commandments?
Answer: Ninth, that we do not lie or deceive, but speak the truth in love. Tenth, that we are content, not envying anyone or resenting what God has given them or us.
For Kids: Ninth, that we do not lie or deceive. Tenth, that we are content, not envying anyone.


歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《雅各书》2 章8 节：

经上记着说：「要爱人如己。」你们若全守这至尊的律法，才是好的。

注解

约翰·布拉德福德

　　不可作假见证陷害人。最有恩慈的主，请现在就指教我这条诫命，指教我当如何用舌头向我的邻舍说话，如何谨言慎行，不要让我做虚假的见证；禁止我一切的诽谤、谎言、假意和不实。为什么？因为祢希望「互为肢体」的我们能够「各人与邻舍说实话」，并遮掩他人的软弱，用我们的口为他人的名辩护，正如我们也愿意别人维护我们的名声一样。所以，正如祢在这条诫命里禁止我口出一切的恶毒、险恶、诽谤和不实一样，也请让我的口充满各样敬虔、诚实与真实的话语……哦！这对我来说是何等美好！想想谎言所带来的伤害，想想有太多人因此而被骗，我们就不难看出这条诫命对我们的益处和你对我们的看顾了。

　　不可贪恋……哦，最有恩慈的耶和华神，祢已经教导我，为了不冒犯甚至伤害我的邻舍，我应该避免杀人、奸淫、偷盗和作假见证等行为；如今，祢又指教我们的心，要我们因着从祢话语而来的丰盛，不去贪恋邻舍的任何东西。如今我知道，如果他的房子比我的房子好，我不可以想要占为己有；如果他的妻子比我的妻子漂亮，我不可以想要得到她……我不可以想要他的牛或他的驴、他的狗，或属于他的哪怕最微小的一样东西，我都不可以想要从他那里拿走。所以，祢在前面的诫命里禁止我一切邪恶的、伤害邻舍的做法，现在祢又要我谨防对他人有任何坏的念头……使徒彼得的一段教导说得好，他说：「你们要将一切的忧虑卸给上帝，因为祂顾念你们。」（彼前5:7）这是真的，我发现它是真的：祢如此地「顾念我们」，祢也要我们「彼此相顾」。

默想

安泰博

　　《雅各书》3 章告诉我们：舌头是不止息的恶物，能如火点着我们全身。所以第九条诫命被赐给我们，就是要约束我们的舌头，用真理约束舌头，教导我们不可说谎。「谎言」这字眼在我们的文化中是不礼貌的。当你说对方在说谎，这是一个严重的侮辱，所以很多人会尽量避免使用这个字眼。有意思的是，我认为这正体现了人堕落的本性：人们既想避开这条诫命，却又需要这条诫命。

　　「不可说谎」是什么意思？为什么我们会认为「说谎」这字眼不礼貌？这很可能证明了我们正在回避真理。我们正在背离完全的美善，远离绝对的正确和彻底的美善，当这条诫命摆在我们面前时，定了我们的罪。它借着我们如何使用舌头以及舌头所带来的毁坏，暴露出人性的堕落。

　　同样，第十诫，你不可贪恋。这样很有意思，想象一下，你的心若有双手，贪婪就像心，想抓住东西、渴望东西，抱住那些不属于他的东西。圣经中的第十诫令人惊叹也很美妙，尽管这诫命讲的是内心（内心的占有欲），却也指出了这占有欲对社会所造成的影响。所以第十诫告诫我们：「不可贪恋邻舍的东西，不可贪恋人的妻子、仆婢、牛驴，并他一切所有的。」

　　第十诫为我们设下界限，帮助我们防止内心的贪念越界。我们想要越过这界限，渴望我们想要拥有的东西。我们贪恋别人所拥有的东西，贪恋邻舍的牛驴、别人的妻子，贪恋别人的财物，事实上我们的贪心危及了邻舍。我们还会越过另一条线，当我们贪恋时，实际上就是在说，上帝没有在受造界中合理地进行分配，上帝没有满足我们一切的渴望。所以我们的心堕落在罪中，企图抓住不属于他的东西，想要拥有自己所有权之外属于邻舍或上帝的东西。

　　所以这诫命对我们说话，要求我们说诚实话。不只是说诚实话，也要在爱中说诚实话，用特定的方式说诚实话。并召我们约束、束缚、管制欲望，以上帝赐给我们的事物为喜乐，以上帝在创造中所分配给我们的为满足和祝福。不在那之外寻求，不用掠夺的方式毁坏社会、毁坏文化、毁坏邻舍，不去掠夺不属于我们的东西。而这一切是从我们的心开始的。

祷告

　　真理的主，帮助我们，使我们的言行反映出祢的良善。万事祢都晓得，没有什么在祢面前是隐藏的。祢赏赐美好的礼物，祢将所有的好处都给了祢的孩子。愿我们的口诉说祢的真理，愿我们的心得满足。阿们。

Scripture

JAMES 2:8

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Commentary

JOHN BRADFORD

Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Thy Neighbour. Now dost thou, most gracious Lord, instruct me in this commandment, how I should use my tongue towards my neighbour, and behave myself concerning his name, forbidding me to bear false witness; in the which thou forbiddest me all kinds of slandering, lying, hypocrisy, and untruth. And why? Because, as “members of one body,” thou wouldest we should “speak truth one to another,” and be careful every one to cover others’ infirmity, and with our tongue defend the names of others, even as we would that others should defend ours: so that in this commandment, as thou forbiddest me all kind of evil, perilous, calumnious and untrue speaking, so dost thou command to me all kind of godly, honest, and true report and talk. . . . O how great a good thing is this unto me! If we consider the hurt that cometh by untruth, and by words wherethrough many are deceived, easily may we see a wonderful benefit and care of thee for us in this commandment.

Thou Shalt Not Covet. . . . Here, O most gracious Lord God, thou givest me the last commandment of thy law who having taught me what outward actions I shall avoid, that I do not thereby offend or undo my neighbour, as murder, adultery, theft, and false witness, now thou teachest me a rule for my heart, to order that well, from the abundance whereof all our works and words proceed, that I shall not covet any thing that is my neighbour’s. I know hereby that, if he have a fairer house than I, I may not wish for it; if he have a more beautiful wife than I, I may not desire her. . . . I may not desire to take from him his ox, nor his ass, no, not his dog, no, not the meanest thing he hath in his possession. So that, in the other commandments as thou hast forbidden all injuries and evil practice against my neighbour, so now thou chargest me to beware of thinking any evil thought against him. . . . The apostle said well, when he taught us, saying, “Cast all your care upon God, for he careth for you.” It is true, I find it true: thus thou “carest for us,” and wouldest have us to “care one for another.”

Devotional

THABITI ANYABWILE

The tongue is a restless evil. It sets the whole person on fire, James 3 tells us. And so the ninth commandment is aimed in part at bridling the tongue. It’s aimed at bridling the tongue with truth, teaching us to put off falsehood, to put off lying. In our culture, to accuse someone of telling a lie is a serious insult, so many people hesitate to even use the term. I think that this hesitancy reveals fallen man’s heart to shy away from this commandment—as well as his need of this commandment.

What does it mean that we think the command “thou shalt not lie” or the word lie is impolite? It probably indicates that in some ways we’re already shading the truth. We’re already pulling back from a full expression of what’s good, what’s right, and what’s true. And the ninth commandment convicts us of that. It points out our fallenness when it comes to our use of the tongue and the destruction that the tongue represents.

And, likewise, the tenth commandment: “Thou shalt not covet.” If you can imagine the heart having hands, coveting is like the heart grasping for things, desiring things, laying hold of things that don’t properly belong to it. What’s remarkable and beautiful about this commandment—about all of Scripture, in fact—is that even though the commandment addresses something inward (that inward grasp- ing of the heart), it also points out the social implications of that interior grasping. So we have “thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Not our neighbor’s spouse, not our neighbor’s cattle, not anything that belongs to our neighbor.

The tenth commandment sets for us a kind of boundary that protects against the way covetousness tends to cross lines. We are tempted to cross the line of desires, longing for things that aren’t properly in our possession. We cross the line of property, grasping for things that belong to another person (your neighbor’s cattle, your neighbor’s spouse). So our coveting actually, socially, does injury to our neighbor. And there’s another line that we cross. When we covet, what we’re actually saying is that God has not apportioned his creation properly because he hasn’t given us everything we desire. And so the heart, in its fallen, sinful way, grasps for things that don’t belong to it and seeks for things that actually belong on the other side of ownership—to the neighbor or to God.

These commandments speak to us, and they call us forth to truth- telling. And not just to truth-telling, but to the truth spoken in love. They call forth a bridling, a restraining, and a channeling of desire to things that are good and right. They call us to things that God has legitimately given to us for our enjoyment, and to be content in how God has distributed his blessing, how he rules his creation. They call us not to go outside of that contentment by taking things, for if we do, we destroy society, culture, and our neighbors. This is true even if the taking of what doesn’t belong to us is only a taking in heart.

Prayer

Lord of All Truth, help us to reflect your goodness in word and deed. You know all things. Nothing is hidden from you. You give good gifts and withhold no good thing from your children. May your truth be on our lips and contentment be in our hearts. Amen.