Lesson # 79–81—The Tenth Commandment

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Shorter Catechism Q & A # 79 (Memorize)

Q. Which is the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. Exodus 20:17

What does it mean?

What does “Thou shalt not covet” mean?

To covet means, to delight in, to lust after, to hold precious. M. Henry wrote: “The foregoing commands implicitly forbid all desire of doing that which will be an injury to our neighbour; this forbids all inordinate desire of having that which will be a gratification to ourselves. “O that such a man’s house were mine! Such a man’s wife mine! Such a man’s estate mine!” This is certainly the language of discontent at our own lot, and envy at our neighbour’s; and these are the sins principally forbidden here.”

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Shorter Catechism Q & A # 80 (Memorize)

Q. What is required in the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all that is his.

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Shorter Catechism Q & A # 81 (Memorize)

Q. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.

What is our practice?

How is our moral character nurtured by the tenth commandment according to the following verses?

• Heb. 13:5, 1 Tim. 6:6 (be content)
• Rom. 12:15, 1 Tim. 1:5, 1 Cor. 13:4-7 (act of charity toward one another)
• Gal. 5:26 (envy)
• Rom. 13:9, Deut. 5:21 (discipline self)

Quotes for thought and discussion:

To covet “is a moral vice, it infects and pollutes the whole soul. It is a subtle sin, a sin that many cannot so well discern in themselves; as some have the scurvy, but do not know it. This sin can dress itself in the attire of virtue. It is called the ‘cloak of covetousness.’ Thess 2:5. It is a sin that wears a cloak, it cloaks itself under the name of frugality and good husbandry. It has many pleas and excuses for itself; more than any other sin: as providing for one’s family. The more subtle the sin is, the less discernible it is.” (Thomas Watson)

“St. Paul, when the grace of God caused the scales to fall from his eyes, perceived that this law, Thou shalt not covet, forbade all those irregular appetites and desires which are the first-born of the corrupt nature, the first risings of the sin that dwelleth in us, and the beginnings of all the sin that is committed by us: this is that lust which, he says, he had not known the evil of, if this commandment, when it came to his conscience in the power of it, had not shown it to him, Rom. 7:7. God give us all to see our face in the glass of this law, and to lay our hearts under the government of it!” (Matthew Henry)

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