Rabbi Elazar said: The way of the world is that a king issues a decree; if he wishes to fulfill it, he fulfills it, and if not, ultimately he has others fulfill it. But the Holy One blessed be He is not so, but rather, He issues a decree and He fulfills it first. That is what is written: “You shall rise before the aged, show deference to the elderly, and you shall fear your God, I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:32). It is I who first fulfilled the mitzva of standing before the elderly;5This was when God came to visit Abraham; Abraham was sitting (Genesis 18:1) while God, as it were, was standing. See Bereshit Rabba 48:7. “if you follow My statutes.”