All of us experience ups and downs during the course of our lifetime. Sometimes we triumph and sometimes we fail. The Yetzer Hara has a hard time influencing us when we are feeling great about ourselves and our lives. However, when we falter just a little bit, here is where our lower self attempts to give us a sucker punch and pull us all of the way down into the abyss.
You all know what I’m talking about.
When we fall just a bit in our spirituality – or in any aspect of our lives for that matter, our Yetzer Hara starts playing mind games with us. He tells us to throw in the towel. We feel depressed and dejected. We are upset with ourselves and our seemingly hopeless situation. We must realize that in these precious moments, we are most vulnerable to the temptation of “jumping from the frying pan into the fire”.
Yet at the same time, we need to understand that we are literally receiving a gift from Hashem! Hashem loves the downtrodden even when they are the cause for their own failures! When we feel down, we can reach out to Hashem in a far more meaningful way than would be possible during moments of happiness.
To talk to Hashem in your own words, at any time of the day, with a broken heart, is precious and priceless!
Indeed, David Hamelech writes in Sefer Tehillim, “Ki Tov Chasdecha M’chaim…”Your kindness towards me, is more precious than life”
Rv Shimshon Pincus Z’L explains this by way of an analogy.
Suppose you spend time in the hospital and you are treated by a certain doctor who helps you recover. You develop a relationship with that Doctor who ultimately becomes your friend in addition to being your savior!
David Hamelech was expressing his profound thanks to Hashem for not only being the source of his salvation, but (also) for their heightened relationship and Hashems kindness which resulted from this process.
