true God: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers; to seek and serve him wholly, according to his will, to offer sacrifices to him only at Jerusalem, as the law required, Deu 12:5 , they could not as yet be prevailed upon to relinquish the high places, built and made use of before the temple was; partly because they were nearer to some of them than that, and partly out of veneration for them, as being of a long time used.