Step Two

Therefore I carefully follow all Your precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way.  Psalm 119:128  NASB

Carefully follow – Step one: recognize that the miṣwōt are designed to ensure the success of society.  Step two: do them!  Now you know why ʿǎl-·kēn opens each of these last two verses in this section of the acrostic.  There’s no point in having the commandments written on the wall of the courthouse if you don’t follow them.  It makes no difference to the society if God’s laws are platitudes or theories.  Unless they become actions, collapse will continue.

Notice, however, that the psalmist doesn’t employ the same Hebrew word for “commandments.”  Instead of miṣwōt, he uses piqqûdîm.  As we know, piqqûdîm is basically about oversight.  Why does he make this change?  It’s all about fences.

Think of the commandments (miṣwōt) as fences.  They prescribe what should or should not be done.  But fences only cordon off areas.  They do not tell you how to act inside the fence.  “You shall not lie” is the fence.  It commands that you be truthful in your actions.  But it doesn’t give you the details.  What if you’re writing fiction, but your characters are based on real people?  How much latitude do you have to make up the stories about these fictional people that won’t be transferred to the known real people?  You’re a journalist (are there any these days?).  How much of your reporting contains conclusions or personal evaluations before it becomes false?  Where is the line between sensationalism and exploitation?  And when is a lie really a lie (the Nazis are knocking on the door)?  All of these “situations” might not break the rules, but they may seriously bend them.  Without oversight, how will you know precisely what to do—or not do?  As James Bond replied to the comment, “Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled,” with “Or not pulled.  It’s hard to know which in your pajamas.”[1]

Oversight isn’t just a steering committee or a supervisor.  The psalmist chooses piqqûdîm because of its roots.  “Precepts” (piqqûdîm) is a derivative of pāqad, that very serious concern on God’s part for the influence of one generation’s mistakes on the next—and the next.  You’ll recall the critical verse: “yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the ^[a]punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations” (Exodus 34:7) NASB, with the truly unfortunate translation of pāqad as “inflicting punishment.”  You’ll notice the footnote provided by the translators explaining that what they mean is “punishment for wrongdoing,” as if that settles anything.  They intend to suggest that God only punishes later generations who also sin like their fathers, but this is theological gymnastics in an effort to avoid the conclusion that God is vindictive.  If they had only recognized the the KJV “visitation” meant “oversight,” no avoidance would have been necessary.  The psalmist knows this.  That’s why step two must involve yāšar.  Yāšar is the verb for staying on the path.   “Literally. ‘To go straight or direct in the way’ (I Sam 6:12), but more frequently in the intensive (Piel) ‘to make (a way) straight,’ i.e. direct and level and free from obstacles, as when preparing to receive a royal visitor. This is the work of God for man (Prov 3:6 KJV ‘direct’), but also of man for God (Isa 40:3).”^[2]  God’s frequent and continual oversight is the only way to make sure my playground within the fence stays away from the edges.  And since the verb is a Pi’el perfect, it is a statement of fact, finished, not open to alteration.  The psalmist is saying that he doesn’t make any detours, not even slight deviations.  Oversight is his SOP.

And, by the way, this results in an emotional attitude of contempt and disgust for any action that breaks a promise, vitiates a treaty, promotes something false, betrays the truth, or forsakes what is right.  In other words, undermines the reliability of God and others.  The foundation of society is trust.  Once lost, nearly impossible to regain.  Lies are the nuclear weapon against society.  The psalmist wants nothing to do with them.

Topical Index:  ʿǎl-·kēn, therefore, miṣwōt, commandments, piqqûdîm, oversight, pāqad, lie, Psalm 119:128

[1] Skyfall, 39:55 minutes.

^[2] Wiseman, D. J. (1999). 930 יָשַׁר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 417). Moody Press.