m is nowhere else except
within you." [Luke 17:21] The fourth petition is "Thy will be
done"; in which we pray that we may keep and have the Seven
Commandments of the Second Table, in which faith is exercised
toward our neighbor; just as in the first three it is exercised
in works toward God alone. And these are the petitions in which
stands the word "Thou, Thy, Thy, Thy," because they seek only
what belongs to God; all the others say "our, us, our," etc.; for
in them we pray for our goods and blessedness.

Let this, then, suffice as a plain, hasty explanation of the
First Table of Moses, pointing out to simple folk what are the
highest of good works.

[Sidenote: Second Table]

_The Second Table follows._

[Sidenote: The Fourth Commandment]

_"Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother."_

From this Commandment we learn that after the excellent works of
the first three Commandments there are no better works than to
obey and serve all those who are set over us as superiors. For
this reason also disobedience is a greater sin than murder,
unchastity, theft and dishonesty, and all that these may include.
For we can in no better way learn how to distinguish between
greater and lesser sins than by noting the order of the
Commandments of God, although there are distinctions also within
the works of each Commandment. For who does not know that to
curse is a greater sin than to be angry, to strike than to curse,
to strike father and mother more than to strike any one else?
Thus these seven Commandments teach us how we are to exercise
ourselves in good works toward men, and first of all toward our
superiors.

[Sidenote: Obedience and Honor to Parents]

The first work is that we honor our own father and mother. And
this honor consists not only in respectful demeanor, but in this:
that we obey them, look up to, esteem and heed their words and
example, accept what they say, keep silent and endure their
treatment of us, so long as it is not contrary to the first three
Commandments; in addition, when they need it, that we provide
them with food, clothing and shelter. For not for nothing has He
said: "Thou shalt honor them"; He does not say: "Thou shalt love
them," although this also must be done. But honor is higher than
mere love and includes a certain fear, which unites with love,
and causes a man to fear offending them more than he fears the
punishment. Just as there is fear in the honor we pay a
sanctuary, and yet we