are done; and so they build their confidence not on divine favor,
but on the works they have done, that is, on sand and water, from
which they must at last take a cruel fall, as Christ says,
Matthew vii. This good-will and favor, on which our confidence
rests, was proclaimed by the angels from heaven, when they sang
on Christmas night: "Gloria in excelsis Deo, Glory to God in the
highest, peace to earth, gracious favor to man."

IX. Now this is the work of the First Commandment, which
commands: "Thou shalt have no other gods," which means: "Since
I alone am God, thou shalt place all thy confidence, trust and
faith on Me alone, and on no one else." For that is not to have
a god, if you call him God only with your lips, or worship him
with the knees or bodily gestures; but if you trust Him with the
heart, and look to Him for all good, grace and favor, whether in
works or sufferings, in life or death, in joy or sorrow; as the
Lord Christ says to the heathen woman, John iv: "I say unto thee,
they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
And this faith, faithfulness, confidence deep in the heart, is
the true fulfilling of the First Commandment; without this there
is no other work that is able to satisfy this Commandment. And
as this Commandment is the very first, highest and best, from
which all the others proceed, in which they exist, and by which
they are directed and measured, so also its work, that is, the
faith or confidence in God's favor at all times, is the very
first, highest and best, from which all others must proceed,
exist, remain, be directed and measured. Compared with this,
other works are just as if the other Commandments were without
the First, and there were no God, Therefore St. Augustine well
says that the works of the First Commandment are faith, hope and