ALEF

Psalms 119:1-8 NET.

¹ How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, who obey the law of the LORD. ² How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart, ³ who, moreover, do no wrong, but follow in his footsteps. ⁴ You demand that your precepts be carefully kept. ⁵ If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes, ⁶ Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands. ⁷ I will give you sincere thanks when I learn your just regulations. ⁸ I will keep your statutes. Do not completely abandon me!

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses. I doubt any of us chose to memorize this psalm. But there is something else special about it: it is an acrostic. It has 22 sections, each with eight verses. The first letter of every verse in a section begins with the same Hebrew letter. That’s why I titled today’s sermon “Alef.” Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It doesn’t always match the English letter “A.” Alef serves as a placeholder letter representing a vowel sound. Words starting with Alef can begin with the sounds of a, e, i, o, or u.

Here is a chart showing the first words of Psalm 119:1-8 (the Alef section) and what they mean in English:

The main message of Psalm 119 highlights the greatness and glory of God’s word and stresses the importance of obeying it. It also introduces a list of synonyms for God’s word. God’s word includes his law, rules, precepts, statutes, commands, and regulations. Each term carries a particular emphasis, but they all refer to his word.

The entire psalm praises scripture as a source of guidance, wisdom, and comfort, and shows the psalmist’s deep love for God and desire to live righteously according to His teachings. 

There is no way to cover the entire psalm systematically in just one sermon. My friend Kimon Nicolaides preached on this psalm on the radio in Hawaii. He focused on one section at a time each week, so it took him months.

For today’s sermon, I will focus only on the first section. I’ll review this section verse by verse.

The word esher (אֶשֶׁר), meaning blessed, appears as the first word in verses 1 and 2.

A blessed person is someone who is fortunate and makes wise decisions that lead to good fortune. The wise people described in these verses owe their fortune to blameless actions. Their behavior was upright, and no one could accuse them of wrongdoing. How did they achieve this? It was not by chance. They intentionally chose to obey the law of the LORD. Note that it was not just a choice to obey human law. Sometimes human laws are unjust. Many evil people justify their wicked acts by claiming they were obeying the law. But the law of the LORD is perfect. It is a just and moral law. You can’t go wrong by seeking to follow God’s law. It cuts through hidden motives and reveals the hypocrisy and selfishness behind human laws.

The people who are blessed are those who observe God’s rules. These rules are specific; they serve as God’s warning signs. We see human warning signs all around us, yet we often ignore them, which can lead to harm—like a stop sign. If we ignore the stop sign and keep driving, we risk crashing into something or someone.

The rules demonstrate the existence of those responsible for them. They are somewhat like the signs we see scattered around Columbus County right now, which list the names of candidates running for public office. These signs serve as reminders to vote for your preferred candidate in the elections on November 4th. Similarly, God’s rules remind us to remember Him when we make our choices. Observing His rules means living in a way that honors Him. Today’s text tells us that those who follow God’s rules and seek Him with all their heart will be blessed. Conversely, ignoring His rules and trying to fulfill our own desires with all our heart is the opposite.

The word af (אַף), meaning also, or moreover, appears in verse three.

This word shows an example of the same thing. People who seek God with all their hearts avoid doing wrong because they have chosen to follow in God’s footsteps. Now, God is a Spirit, and since he has no physical feet, it’s clear what it means to follow in his footsteps. It means to go where he goes and not stray from his path.

God has always made the correct path clear in His word. But since the Lord Jesus appeared, His path has become even more evident. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. People cannot come to the Father except through Him, and they cannot follow God unless they are following Him. Jesus said, “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). So, if you really want to know what it is like to follow in God’s footsteps, you should study the Gospels and learn all you can about Jesus Christ.

For a good three years, most of my sermons focused on Christ’s commands as revealed in the Gospels. I don’t regret that choice. Christ’s commands are so important that Jesus told the apostles before he ascended to teach all nations to obey everything that he commanded. That is how we follow in God’s footsteps. Jesus did not replace the law; he explained it and fulfilled it.

The word ata (אַתָּה), meaning you, is the first word of verse four.

The “you” in this case refers to God Himself. He requires that His precepts be followed carefully. A precept is a rule or principle that guides behavior or conduct. I might also call it a guideline. In the army, we had to be very diligent in following the SOP for every task. SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedures. What the psalmist is telling us here is that God Himself has established the SOP for how we live our lives. He doesn’t want us to do it our way; He wants us to do it His way. To ensure we live according to His way, God has provided some guidelines in the Bible. If we choose to ignore these guidelines, our lives may not immediately fall apart, but they will always be flawed. There will always be some dysfunction. God doesn’t want that.

The word ahalay (אַחֲלַי) means if only, and appears in verse five.

This word expresses a desire for something to be true. The psalmist reveals his inner longing here. After everything he has said before, you might think he’s an expert at obeying God. But that’s not the case. The psalmist admits that he also struggles to get it right. He says, “If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes!” This means the psalmist isn’t naturally inclined to follow God’s statutes. I appreciate how the psalms’ writers are open about their own weaknesses and failures.

Last Monday night, Brother Martin spoke about taking up our cross daily and following Jesus. I’m also glad he quoted Romans 7, which shows that even the Apostle Paul struggled with this. He admitted that he had trouble doing the good things he knew he should do. That is what the psalmist is expressing here. He knows the rules but struggles to follow them. The Bible’s message is not “Be perfect and God will save you.” The Bible’s message is one of grace. The good news is that God saves imperfect people through His grace.

The word az (אָז), meaning then, appears first in verse six.

It continues the idea from verse 5. Both verses say: “If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes, then I would not be ashamed if I were focused on all your commands.” The psalmist admits that he doesn’t always do it right. He struggles to focus on God’s commands, so his life often becomes something he’s ashamed of.

These verses introduce two additional synonyms for God’s word: his statutes and his commands. We understand what a command is, but what exactly is a statute? Our English word ‘statute’ refers to a written law passed by a legislative body. However, that is not precisely what is meant by the term here. The Hebrew word suggests something that is prescribed. In my translation, I use the word ‘prescription.’ We all know what a prescription is — the doctor prescribes medication for you to take, and if he is right, you will take it and get better. That is what a biblical statute is. That’s why the psalmist wishes he were predisposed to follow God’s prescriptions. He knows that if he simply straightened up and took his medicine, he would improve. It’s an if-then condition. The psalmist says that if he would only keep God’s statutes, then he would not be ashamed.

I’m picturing the walk of shame in my mind. You know, that walk into the courthouse for trial. The suspect often covers his head, partly out of shame and partly to keep anyone from taking his picture to broadcast on the six o’clock news. I can imagine what might be going through those people’s minds as they walk that walk of shame. They are thinking, “if only I had stayed away from that fight, if only I had not tried to rob that bank, if only I had not tried to get rich by cheating people.”

The word odecha (אוֹדְךָ) means I will thank you. It’s the first word in verse seven.

The psalmist thanks God for His regulations, while most of us do not thank the government for its regulations. We see those regulations as unnecessary barriers to our success and happiness. But God’s regulations are a means to our success and happiness. He sets limits on what we can do and when we can do it. If we are wise, we will seek out God’s instructions to guide our lives, families, and work. Wise people understand that living life God’s way will eventually cause them to thank Him for those rules.

The words et chukecha (אֶת־חֻקֶּיךָ) mean “your statutes.” They are the first words in verse eight.

We’ve already discussed statutes because the word first appeared in verse 5. We also see that the psalmist is honest enough to admit he did not always follow God’s prescriptions exactly. In this final verse of the Alef section, the psalmist pleads with God not to abandon him and promises to keep God’s statutes. These are the words of someone who has failed before and understands the shame and guilt that come with that failure. He is determined to do better next time. We have a word for that kind of person: we call that person repentant. A repentant person comes to God not based on their track record but because of their need. A proud person might approach God asking for help so they can be a winner. But a genuinely repentant person always comes to God, desperately seeking His help because without God, they know they are a loser.

The message of the Alef section is that the word of God serves as a way to connect with God’s righteousness and power. It speaks theologically about a God who has gone before us and prepared our path by giving us guidelines to live by. It demonstrates that humans often fail to do what God desires, even when we know it is right. It offers us a second chance. It tells us that God will not abandon us if we admit our failures and seek Him through repentance. Even if we have failed Him in the past, He remains faithful to His word. So, we can always return.