I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place— And, consequently, there can be no regard to moral laws and righteousness; of which the fear of God is the only sure foundation. Observe here, how different the reasoning of Abraham is from that of our deists and moralists, who put the fear of God out of the question; and deduce all their morality from mere human sources. Without piety there can be no true morality. This has been the sentiment of the wisest men in all ages: "If piety towards the Supreme was once taken away," says Cicero, "there would be an end of all fidelity, a dissolution of the bonds of human society, and even of justice itself, that most excellent of all virtues." De Nat. Deor. Lib. I.
Note; How liable to be mistaken are the best of men. Such instances as the above, in such men as Abraham, are the strongest comments on those passages of the word of God, which require us not to judge from conjecture or appearances. No human conduct is to be judged of, even by the thoughts of an Abraham or from appearance, but from real evidence; and no man is to be condemned till it be known what he has to say in his own defence: a careful regard to this scriptural rule, in common life, would prevent many bitter pangs of sorrow in the minds of men, who are so often hearing of their sentence before they even know themselves to be accused.