Matthew Henry Commentary Exodus 20:1-2

"And God spake all these words, saying, I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." — Exodus 20:1-2 (ASV)

God speaks in many ways to the children of men—by conscience, by providences, by his voice, all of which we should carefully attend to; but he never spoke at any time as he spoke the TEN COMMANDMENTS. God had given this law to them before; it was written in their hearts. But sin so defaced it that it was necessary to revive the knowledge of it.

The law is spiritual and discerns the secret thoughts, desires, and dispositions of the heart. Its grand demand is love, without which outward obedience is mere hypocrisy. It requires perfect, unfailing, constant obedience; no law in the world admits disobedience to itself.

Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). Whether in the heart or the conduct, in thought, word, or deed, to omit or to vary anything is sin, and the wages of sin is death.