Hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
"I have brought you out of Egypt," Moses heard the Lord God say.
"I have saved you! I have freed you! people, listen and obey.
Have no other gods before me; don't make idols for yourselves.
I will judge those who reject me; worship me and no one else."
"Do not use the Lord's name wrongly, use God's name for what is good.
Keep the Sabbath; keep it holy; rest and worship as you should.
Honor father, honor mother; do not murder! Honor life!
Do not wander to another from your husband or your wife."
God continued these commandments: "Do not steal another's things;
And you shall not bear false witness — see the anguish that it brings.
Do not seek with bitter longing what you see across the street.
Keep these laws and find within them where my love and justice meet."
God of grace, we see your promise in the covenant you give.
For your law is wise and wondrous as it shows us how to live.
Loving God and loving neighbor, may we follow where you call.
Saved by grace, may we together seek to live your gracious law.
The Presbyterian Outlook magazine commissioned this hymn and sells it ($9.95) with the hymn text and music together as a downloadable bulletin insert. You can buy a complete collection of hymns for Lent 2012 at a discount. Your purchase helps support this excellent religious magazine.
- The Ten Commandments, and an easy way to remember them and to teach them to children (and adults).
- Presbyterian Study Catechism (1998) on Ten Commandments: (PDF file) The Presbyterian Church (USA)'s contemporary (approved in 1998) interpretation of the Ten Commandments for today (Questions 89-119).
- A Christian Primer: The Prayer, the Creed, the Commandments by Albert Curry Winn is a very readable book filled with new insights in the pillars of the faith: The Lord's Prayer, The Apostles' Creed, and The Ten Commandments.
- The Ten Commandments for Today by Walter J. Harrelson: A gifted Old Testament professor offers this excellent, very readable overview of the Decalogue for people in the pews.
- The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart by Sister Joan Chittister: This influential activist and writer on spirituality offers wonderful reflections.
- Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America by Chris Hedges: "Why should all Americans — not just Christians and Jews — care about the Ten Commandments? Chris Hedges, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and Harvard Divinity School graduate, believes that the commandments keep us from committing evil. They hold our communities together. 'They lead us to love, the essence of life,' he writes" (copied from Amazon review).
- The Ten Commandments: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church by Patrick D. Miller offers 400 pages of very readable insights by an outstanding Old Testament scholar.
- A Short Course on the Christian Faith, by Dale Bruner of Whitworth College, offers two twenty-minute lectures on the Decalogue with humor and theological insights. This DVD is part of a series that also looks at the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the sacraments.
- The Truth About God: The Ten Commandments in Christian Life by Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon: A top Christian ethicist and popular preacher combine their considerable gifts for another insightful book in the tradition of their influential Resident Aliens: Life in Christian Colony.
- The Ten Commandments from the Back Side by J. Ellsworth Kalas is a gifted preacher's unique perspectives on the Decalogue's continuing relevancy for today.
- Engraved on Your Heart: Living the Ten Commandments Day by Day by Bill Hybels, the pastor of influential Willow Creek Community Church. This ten-week devotional Bible study shows how to apply the commandments today.
- The Decalogue and a Human Future: The Meaning of the Commandments for Making & Keeping Human Life Human by Paul L. Lehmann: An influential ethicist's lectures on the Decalogue make for challenging reading.
Above all else love God alone;
Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
God's name refuse to take in vain;
The Sabbath rest with care maintain.
Respect your parents all your days;
Hold sacred human life always.
Be loyal to your chosen mate;
Steal nothing, neither small nor great.
Report, with truth, your neighbor's deed;
And rid your mind of selfish greed.
The Sum of the Commandments
With all your soul love God above,
And as yourself your neighbor love.