Exodus 20:17-21: a reflection

17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” 18All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. 19They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” 21The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.

The tenth commandment is different from the others in a striking way: it forbids not an outward act, but an inward desire. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife, servants, or anything that is your neighbor's. The other commandments largely address things we do; but this one addresses what we want, the desire of the heart for what belongs to another. It reaches past outward behavior to the inner life of desire, forbidding not just the taking, but the coveting.

Notice how this commandment reaches the heart. It does not merely forbid stealing your neighbor's goods, which an earlier commandment covers; it forbids coveting them, wanting what is not yours, letting your heart be set on what belongs to another. This is a sin that may never show in any outward act, but festers within, a discontented craving for what others have. And God forbids it, showing that he is concerned not only with what we do, but with what we desire, with the inner life of the heart.

That inward reach is worth taking to heart, for coveting is a sin easy to hide and easy to excuse. We may keep all the outward commandments, never stealing or harming, while our hearts are full of covetous craving for what others have, their possessions, their status, their lives. But God sees the heart, and coveting is sin, a discontented desire for what is not ours. Examine not only your outward acts, but your inward desires; do you covet what belongs to others, letting your heart be set on their possessions, their advantages, their lives? God's command reaches the heart's desire, not just the outward act; guard your heart against coveting, the restless craving for what is not yours, and cultivate instead contentment with what God has given you. The sin God forbids here is inward; deal with it inwardly, rooting out the covetous desire, not merely restraining the outward act.

Lord, the tenth commandment is different: it forbids not an outward act, but an inward desire, coveting what belongs to another, the heart's craving for what is not mine. Take that inward reach to my heart, for coveting is a sin easy to hide and easy to excuse. I may keep all the outward commandments, never stealing or harming, while my heart is full of covetous craving for what others have, their possessions, their status, their lives. But you see the heart, and coveting is sin, a discontented desire for what is not mine. Help me examine not only my outward acts, but my inward desires; do I covet what belongs to others, letting my heart be set on their possessions, their advantages, their lives? Your command reaches the heart's desire, not just the outward act; help me guard my heart against coveting, the restless craving for what is not mine, and cultivate instead contentment with what you have given me. The sin you forbid here is inward; help me deal with it inwardly, rooting out the covetous desire, not merely restraining the outward act. Give me a content heart, Lord, free from coveting.