The Book of Psalms are deeply powerful. They enter the heart effortlessly. What gives them such power? What has made them beloved throughout the world? Also, why is King David constantly engaged in struggle?
David was the king of Israel, a unique people whose roots go back to ancient Babylon. There, Abraham discovered that a single force operates throughout nature, a governing system, an operating program. We can call it nature, God, or the upper force.
Abraham taught anyone willing to listen that the greatest achievement in life is connection with this force, and that such connection is attained through kindness and love for others. Why? It is because this is how we align ourselves with the unity of nature, and evolution is guiding humanity to that level. The community of Abraham’s students eventually became the people of Israel, as Maimonides describes in The Book of Knowledge.
Incidentally, the crises we see in the world today stem, at their root, from an increasing mismatch between humanity and the general force of nature operating upon us. The Torah, in its inner meaning, is a method for attracting a corrective force, which is called “light,” and which is capable of transforming the narrow egoistic nature in us into connection and harmony with others.
Within this unique group emerged King David.
David was called a king not because he ruled the people with an iron hand, but because he served everyone, elevated everyone, and guided them to a life based on the principle of “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
David personally experienced all the states that the people would undergo throughout their development, and accordingly composed a wide range of appeals to the upper force. He discovered within himself the negative forces that had to be fought, understood that they could be transformed into positive forces, which are called “corrections,” and asked for strength to develop correctly.
Sometimes his prayers arose from the revelation of evil within himself. At other times, they came from the positive force that he sought to receive. And so it continued.
All the states that a human being can ever experience, individually or collectively, are contained within the Book of Psalms.
This is why people find that whenever they are in any situation and open Psalms at random and read a little, something immediately stirs in them. The words always evoke a response from the heart, some form of connection with the upper force, with the general system to which we belong.
Moreover, if we develop a desire for spiritual growth and learn how to pursue it in a group setting, we can awaken through the Psalms a special force that advances us to connection and love for others.
This force is part of the overall force drawing humanity forward, a force called “Messiah,” or “the Messiah son of David.”
In the Holy Temple, the Levites sang the Psalms, and by doing so, they blessed the people and helped unite everyone into a single system. The Holy Temple is not a building made of stone and wood. It is an inner place of connection between hearts that desire to unite. Also, the sacrifices offered there are the sacrifice of one’s ego, enabling genuine closeness to others.
What does this mean? The sages taught that a person is a miniature world, containing within themselves the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of nature. To build the truly human level within us, the part that connects with everyone through love, we need to sacrifice the egoistic elements within us, i.e., the still, vegetative, and animate aspects. This means rising above them through a greater power of love for others, transforming the evil inclination into a good inclination, which is also called fulfilling a commandment.
“Out of the depths I have called to You.” From the depths of the heart. The Sefira of Malchut represents the deepest point revealed within a person. It is the final Sefira, the one that completes the spiritual structure built from ten Sefirot.
Therefore, only David, the king, could fully realize the Psalms and compose them for everyone. “A Song of Ascents,” he says. “I wish to ascend degree after degree, becoming increasingly similar to the Higher Force operating throughout nature. … I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.”
Help comes from that one force. It is the force that creates the earth, i.e., the earthly, egoistic desire that wishes for self-benefit alone, so that we may choose to rise above it toward heaven, i.e., the the qualities of love and giving.
The book is called “Psalms,” “Tehillim” in Hebrew, from the root for the word for “praise” (“Hallel”), despite it containing descriptions of extremely painful states in which we feel torn apart.
Our enemies, i.e., the negative desires revealed within our heart, pull us in harmful directions. We cannot overcome these forces and therefore cry out, weep, and ask for strength to correct ourselves. Yet despite everything, we praise the Creator, because we understand that through this entire process we ultimately draw closer.
This reflects a higher awareness that there is no evil force in the world. Whenever evil becomes revealed, it depends on us how quickly we transform it into good. There is no direct path to love. The only way is to transform the forces of evil into forces of good, a process also called “repentance.” A true human being, in the fullest sense of the word, is one who was opposite to the upper force and became similar to it, acquiring its qualities of love and bestowal.
One final point from a global perspective. The various crises visible today in personal life and society stem from the growing contradiction between the increasingly powerful egoism emerging in people and the increasingly interconnected nature of the world. To avoid total collapse, we must learn how to relate to each other as parts of a single system.
The people of Israel are uniquely positioned to lead such an educational and cultural transformation. We must rediscover the method of connection established by Abraham, implement it among ourselves, and share it with the world. To the extent that this happens, we will come to recognize the universal love that permeates creation, and our hearts, too, will sing. Hallelujah.
Based on “New Life 172 – The Book Of Psalms” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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