"For they that work iniquity have not walked in His ways.

"
Commentary on Psalm 118:3.
The reason for EVERY problem we have.
What are the "ways" of God?
2012
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"For they that work iniquity, have not walked in His ways." That is the third verse of Psalm 118.
The first eight verses are the first octave, and they are all begun with the letter "Aleph," which means
leader or science. Of course, the Psalm was originally written in Hebrew. And it's acrostic.
And this is the third verse which amplifies what the other preceding verses have said. These are the
ways we attain perfection. The first is, "Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of
the Lord. Blessed are they who search out His testimonies. With their whole heart shall they seek after
Him."
And then it is said in a negative way: "For they that work iniquity, have not walked in His ways."
What are His ways? His ways are the way of life, that brings knowledge, purity, happiness, peace. In
other words, to walk in His commandments. His commandments are His ways. They are not arbitrary
commands. They are expressions of who He is. That's why we meditate upon and attempt to follow
His commandments. Because they are perfect. They are the way of life.
Now, when you think of His ways, walking in them, that is a process. It implies intimacy. It implies
long duration. Continuance. Commitment.
Remember the shorter walk that was in His ways and the road to Emmaus, on the day of Resurrection,
Luke and Cleopas? And the Lord was speaking to them, and He was opening their hearts to the
Scriptures, how they spoke of Himself. They didn't know Him until He broke bread in the evening
meal, and then He vanished from their sight. But they were walking in His ways, learning of Him.
That is what we must do. It is a lifelong process.
Now, if you take this verse and sort of parse it, you can do the contra-positive. That is: Those who
walk in His ways do not sin. So if you have something in your life that bothers you, maybe some
misfortune, some unhappiness, lack of peace, a sort of diffidence that we get during the day or
slothfulness or laziness or just not feeling quite right; you can know that sin is at the root of this. Your
sin, not somebody else's sin. Somebody else's sin might cause you grief. But we can have grief and yet
be at peace in the Lord. His life was full of grief, full of difficulty, and yet He was always at peace. So
if there is something that is disturbing your equilibrium and you're not at peace, it is definitely because
of sin. It is definitely because you are not walking in His ways.
The Christian understands that, unless we walk in His ways, we will not be happy. That is why I
believe that every Christian should read this Psalm often. I know it is a little long for a lot of people.
But the more you read it, the more it becomes very comforting. I recommend strongly that you read

this Psalm daily and, if not daily, then read a stasis daily. It's not that long. It doesn't take that much
time, and it becomes familiar to you, and you start to understand why we need to follow the Lord's
commandments.
Our world posits commandments and rules as things that are just arbitrary and made up by somebody
else who doesn't understand. People even think that about God. They think His rules are arbitrary,
capricious. Or they don't have much deep feeling for their sins so that, even though they know God's
rules are good, they have little inclination to study them so as to follow them. We must do this.
Walking can be hard. Up and down great hills and mountains. It can be in the rain, in the snow, in the
cold, in the heat. But it is a lifelong process that must continue.
Saint John speaks about this, walking a lot, in his first letter. He says that, "and hereby we do know
that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." That's basically walking in His ways. "He that
saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But he
who keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: Hereby know that we are in Him.
He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
This also gives us an understanding of what His ways are. We can say they are the commandments of
God, but that's still somewhat of an abstract concept since God is unknowable. His ways are to walk as
He walked. In other words, to emulate our Savior Jesus Christ. Saint Peter says that. He says, "For
even hereunto were ye called: Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye
should follow His steps." That's what we must do: Meditate upon His commandments and struggle to
follow them.
Just remember, brothers and sisters, when there is something wrong in your life -- and I don't mean
externally, you know, that there is a sickness or there is some problem with finances or there is some
problem with someone you know, some great sadness that has come upon you; I don't mean those
things -- I mean when your soul is not at peace; when there is agitation in your heart, it is always
because of your not walking in His ways. Therefore, it is because of sin.
Sin keeps us from peace with God. So may we be given the grace to walk in His ways. "For they that
work iniquity have not walked in His ways," the Psalm says. But the promise is that those who walk in
His ways, which is a process, which takes time, which is a lifetime, they will come to the point where
they do not do iniquity, where there is no sin. And where there is no sin, there is no sorrow, no sighing,
but there is only life everlasting.
The blessing of the Lord be upon you through His grace and love for mankind, always now and ever
and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Priest Seraphim Holland 2010

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