other chosen.

The reason of all this is that the higher and better the works
are, the less show they make; and that every one thinks they are
easy, because it is evident that no one pretends to praise God's
Name and honor so much as the very men who never do it and with
their show of doing it, while the heart is without faith, cause
the precious work to be despised. So that the Apostle St. Paul
dare say boldly, Romans ii, that they blaspheme God's Name who
make their boast of God's Law. For to name the Name of God and
to write His honor on paper and on the walls is an easy matter;
but genuinely to praise and bless Him in His good deeds and
confidently to call upon Him in all adversities, these are truly
the most rare, highest works, next to faith, so that if we were
to see how few of them there are in Christendom, we might despair
for very sorrow. And yet there is a constant increase of high,
pretty, shining works of men's devising, or of works which look
like these true works, but at bottom are all without faith and
without faithfulness; in short, there is nothing good back of
them. Thus also Isaiah xlviii. rebukes the people of Israel:
"Hear ye this, ye which are called by the name of Israel, which
swear by the Name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of
Israel neither in truth, nor in righteousness"; that is, they did
it not in the true faith and confidence, which is the real truth
and righteousness, but trusted in themselves, their works and
powers, and yet called upon God's Name and praised Him, two
things which do not fit together.

XXI. The first work of this Commandment then is, to praise God
in all His benefits, which are innumerable, so that such praise