Persistence

Certain months have a unique flair, or at least, a specific feel to them. According to Camelot, the musical, not the ancient or mythical city, May is when people go ‘blissfully astray’, and according to Oscar Hamerstein, June is ‘busting out all over’. In Jewish tradition, ‘we increase joy when entering Adar, and decrease joy as we arrive into the month of Av’. But as for me, I think that Elul makes the biggest splash. Once we enter this month we blow the SHOFAR every morning (that’s an eye opener at 6:30 AM) and twice a day recite Psalm 27, L’DAVID HASHEM ORI.

Psalm 27 is a very powerful expression of King David’s relationship with God. To me the most fascinating aspect of this poem is that it neatly divides into two parts, each of which could be a separate poem. In verses 1 through 6, King David speaks of God in the third person; verses 7 to 13 are addressed directly to God. The final verse, 14, is addressed to us the reader.

In the first half of the poem, King David is very confident in his relationship with God. The next section is built on pleas for God’s help, protection and guidance. Rav Steinzaltz explained the dichotomy this way:

A psalm that combines gratitude for the past and supplication for the future, essentially a hymn of closeness to God.

Rav Soloveitchik famously used the two parts of the poem to describe the difference between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:

The image of the Day of Remembrance (Rosh Ha-shana) is unlike the image of Yom Kippur. On the first day of the seventh month, God comes towards man. On the tenth day of the month, man comes towards God. In God’s public approach towards the nation [on Rosh Ha-shana] is enfolded the secret of Kingship and Justice. On the other hand, the private approach on Yom Kippur of the individual towards God, Who dwells in secret, in shadow, contains the secret of repentance.

The first half of the poem is about the Rosh Hashanah experience and the second half describes the trepidation and solitude of Yom Kippur, but culminates in a resounding statement of faith. 

In the first half of the poem, King David confidently expresses faith in God:

God is my Light and rescue…The Lord is the stronghold of my life…My foes trip and fall…my heart shall not fear…Though battle is roused against me, I do trust…He hides me in His shelter…Let me sing and hymn to God.

However, in the second half, King David is begging God:

Do not hide Your face from me…do not turn Your servant away…Abandon me not, nor forsake me (Kind of like: Do not forsake me, O my darlin’)…Do not abandon me to the will of my enemies. 

This year I’m more interested in the second half of the poem. In these 7 verses, King David moves from grave doubt to sublime faith. His journey must be our journey.

Reb Moshe Alshich describes King David’s trepidation: King David asked for three things, one after another from God, as the poor do. 1. A request for God’s attention (‘Seek my face’, v 8); 2. Then he requests that God not turn away from him (‘Do not hide Your face from me’, v. 9); 3. To accompany him and show CHESED (‘Guide me in Your way’, v. 11). 

What happened? Usually Psalms begin with problems only to be resolved at the end. This poem presents us with the opposite scenario. 

The famous answer to this conundrum is based on a Gemara (Berachot 4a). Here’s how Rabbeinu Bechaye describes the situation while explaining why Ya’akov, who had received assurances of protection from God, was afraid to reunite with Esav:

Yaakov worried that he might have committed sins during the twenty years with Lavan, which had invalidated God’s promise. This is the approach of the Talmud in Berachot 4a. The sages of the Talmud comment further: “why is there a dot in Psalms 27:13, on the word לולא? David said: If I had not had the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of God. He meant, ‘O Lord, I am certain that You will repay the righteous in the hereafter for the good deeds performed on earth. However, I am not sure that I will have a share in the hereafter as I may have forfeited my share through sin.’

Okay. But I prefer another answer. He was losing his patience. David Hamelech expected God’s GEULA, redemption, and it just didn’t seem to be coming. Problems just kept arising over the horizon. Where was the GEULA? God forbid, maybe it’s not coming. 

Psalms offer us an answer to this thorny issue in at least two places. Here’s the answer given here:

Hope in the Lord. Be strong and bold. And hope in the Lord! (Tehillim 27:14).

Rebbe Nachman explains the seeming redundancy:

And even if a person has been calling to God for an extremely long time and is still very, very distant, if he persists and perseveres in the prayers and supplications, ultimately God will certainly answer him, as long as he remains strong and courageous. This is as our Sages taught (Berakhot 32b) : Prayer requires encouragement, as it is written, ‘Hope to God! Be strong, and He will give you courage. And hope to God!’

Rashi explains:

And if your prayer is not accepted, go back and hope. And keep on doing this forever, ‘until God looks down from heaven and sees’.

Great! Perseverance will be rewarded. But there’s another Psalm, which many of us are reciting a lot these days, which expresses this same idea even more powerfully. Here’s the verse:

My soul expects God more than the watchman expects the dawn, more than the watchman expects the dawn (130:6).

The last shift of night SHMIRA, guard duty, is exasperating. You have to stay on duty until the dawn, and the dawn just doesn’t seem to come. You know 100% that it’s coming, but where is it already!?!

That’s how we must feel about the GEULA. We must be as confident about the GEULA as we are about the arrival of the sun, and continue to expect it. Prof. Robert Alter said it this way:

The watchman sitting through the last of the three watches, peering into the darkness for the first sign of dawn, cannot equal my intense expectancy for God’s redeeming word to come to me in my dark night of the soul.

Persevere in your prayers and your hope. It’s worth it.