Psalm 61
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments, for David.
Hear my cry, O Creator,
listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I.
3 For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 For you, O Creator, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before the Creator.
Appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.

The struggle is on the unity. Everything that a person feels comes from the Creator (i.e. the quality of love and bestowal), however in concealment, in the opposite of what one thinks is good and benevolent.

We perceive the opposite of good and benevolence because we receive from the Creator in our vessels of correction. In other words, we are shown what we need to correct.

We get bad feelings until we unite everything to a single source, where all the discernments that are considered as bad, the enemies, the haters, the “end of the earth,” (i.e. the “end of the desire,” where the Hebrew word Aretz [“earth”] extends from the same linguistic root as the word Ratzon [“desire”]) that are uncorrected, that he will try from there to cry out to the Creator, i.e. from being in the “end of th earth,” to try and unite, to connect to “There is none else besides Him” (i.e. to the attainment of the single force of bestowal and love that exists in reality), until the person reaches full adhesion with the Creator. As such, one in always in preparation toward the next state, and this continues until the end of correction.

If one thinks about the present and prepares oneself for the future, then the person is in a prayer, a request and in praise toward the Creator, i.e. one raises one’s relationship and expectations to adhesion with the Creator, and succeeds.

In the beginning of the path, it appears as if there are enemies and haters, and that the person needs to act in some way against them. Truly, there are states where a person needs to go out to war. Afterwards, when a person connects everything a little more to the Creator, then the enemies and haters disappear, and there exists only the Creator, who does everything out of Panim (anterior) and Achoraim (posterior), so that the person can come to differentiate between the force of bestowal from above and the force of reception from below.

When the enemy surfaces, it appears as if the Creator becomes distant and disappears, and when the person connects to that picture, he reaches a state where there is no difference between light and darkness, where his own mood plays no influence over him anymore, and he no longer relates to his own powers, but connects everything to the Creator, the single quality of love and bestowal, and the person comes to see how he was always in a corrected and balanced state, and was never outside holiness.

The difference between now and before, however, is that now the person attained that picture.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on May 19, 2014, available in the Kabbalah Media Archive.

How can one enter this process of self-transformation to reveal the force of love and bestowal acting perfectly in every state in the fastest way possible? This question and more are dealt with in the Free Kabbalah Course, which provides the fundamental principles and tools by which to correctly approach the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course before approaching the Daily Kabbalah Lessons with Dr. Michael Laitman. Click the banner below to sign up…

Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
O God, you are my Creator; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in the Creator;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

We see here that even a person who already very much yearns to be in bestowal, to identify with the force of bestowal, to come closer to the concept called “God,” to discover it within himself, that it does not take place all at once.

In other words, to what extent do we need to continually refine the yearning, the desire, the restriction, the screen, the reflected light, in order to be a “sanctuary” – “my soul thirsts for you”? If a person reaches vessels that are holy, in absolute bestowal – either bestowal in order to bestow or receiving in order to bestow – if he sees that holiness, then it is only possible as a result of the person preparing his vessels to be as such, in absolute bestowal.

We need to always remember that we speak about the Creator’s revelation (i.e. the revelation of the quality of bestowal and love) within the person.

“My soul thirsts for you” relates to one who yearns “When will it come?” Revelation means to reach, in the person’s correction, bestowal and giving. In other words, the desire to receive and for the revelation of the Creator is always in terms of the holy language, the language of bestowal, and not the language of reception. One aimed in such a direction asks: “Will I reach the state where my vessels will be corrected enough for revelation?” Revelation of the Creator is the quality of bestowal that I can pass to Him.

“Beholding your power and glory.” If we would see that “power and glory” mentioned, it would be the greatest darkness, because it is the quality of bestowal, and who needs that? However, in that he saw that he did not yet reach its end, he increases in strength and sensitivity.

Refining the quality of bestowal is that one is in that state of bestowal but has not yet attuned oneself completely to it. It is like tuning a radio and hearing the desired station, but not entirely clearly, and fine tuning it so that the frequency of the receiver is exactly the same as the frequency of the signal. It is the same here: he is fine tuning his vessel to precisely match the signal of bestowal.

What is the meaning of “the revelation of the Creator”? What does it mean that the Creator is a quality of bestowal? How can one fine tune oneself to this quality of bestowal and love? All these questions and more are dealt with in the Free Kabbalah Course, which provides the fundamental principles and tools by which to correctly approach the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course before approaching the Daily Kabbalah Lessons with Dr. Michael Laitman. Click the banner below to sign up…

Psalm 139
To the choirmaster, a Psalm of David.

O Creator, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
Behold, O Creator, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts.
You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O Creator!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O Creator!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Creator?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O Creator, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

This Psalm is the request, where one agrees at every second, in every state, to chase “There is none else besides Him,” to recognize that the Creator (i.e. the quality of bestowal and love) surrounds everything, and that other than the detachment inherent to the person’s perception and sensation, everything is the Creator.

However, the person perceives from within that detachment, from a broken piece of the soul, seeing through the filter of that breakage to the world.

And as the person tries to see “There is none else besides Him” at every moment, in spite of every other appearance, then it is considered that the person tries to reconnect Malchut to Zeir Anpin, awakening the cause of all causes, and as such, the person undergoes many corrections, eventually reaching a state where the person disappears, entering complete adhesion with the Creator.

This Psalm depicts the path in spiritual work: to try, at every moment, through the dressings, to reach their true cause, which is to discover everything taking place to us, in us, and around us, as being the Creator.

What is the meaning of “There is none else besides Him”? What is the soul? What does it mean that we perceive and feel through a broken piece of the soul? What does it mean to reconnect Malchut to Zeir Anpin? All these questions and more are dealt with in the Free Kabbalah Course, which provides the fundamental principles and tools by which to correctly approach the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course before approaching the Daily Kabbalah Lessons with Dr. Michael Laitman. Click the banner below to sign up…

Psalm 84
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.
A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Creator;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living Creator.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my Creator.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before the Creator in Zion.
8 O Creator, God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O Creator;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my Creator
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Creator is a sun and shield;
the Creator bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!

There are all kinds of Psalms. This Psalm is King David’s gratitude toward everything he went through in order to reach the source of the whole path he underwent. It marks the closure of all questions, disconnections and misunderstandings, whereby then comes the outburst of praise.

Psalms are impossible to comment on. They are a vessel similar to the Light, where discernments disappear and everything is swallowed in wholeness.

Why do we say that Psalms are written in wholeness when sometimes they sound like they are written out of pain, sorrow, lacks and requests?

Sometimes they do sound very much like outbursts of sorrow, or outbursts of lacks of understanding, pain, and lacks of wholeness, for example, as David escaped Avshalom, and how he had problems with Uriah. He had a very difficult life arranged for him, because it is Malchut (Kingdom), i.e. the King of Israel, who is in constant battles.

However, everything he wrote, despite sometimes revealing very deep sorrow, so deep that we do not understand its meaning, in any case, it is written out of adhesion. Every single word in Psalms is written out of adhesion. Everything King David wrote about as prior to adhesion, i.e. what he underwent in order to discover adhesion, is him awakening the vessel, because one cannot exist without the other. Right without left is not right, and likewise, left without right is not left, and therefore, they can only complement each other in the middle line.

If you divide Psalms into all kinds of styles, you cast a flaw on them. This is because, despite them appearing different, with some appearing greater or smaller, or some relating to gratitude or to request, that is simply an incorrect view.

Each and every Psalm contains wholeness, as it is written out of perfection. In order to reach such attainment, King David needed to go through a lot of incompleteness, the same as it is for all of us.

What is adhesion? What is wholeness? Where are you in this whole picture of attaining wholeness and perfection out of a lack of that state? All these questions and more are dealt with in the Free Kabbalah Course, which provides the fundamental principles and tools by which to correctly approach the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course before approaching the Daily Kabbalah Lessons with Dr. Michael Laitman. Click the banner below to sign up…

Psalm 61
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. To David.

Hear my cry, O Creator,
listen to my prayer;
2 From the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
3 For you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
4 May I dwell in your tent forever!
May I take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 For you, O Creator, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before The Creator;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.

We see that the person has gone through a lot in his path, until he discovers that the Creator conceals and reveals Himself, and secondly, protects the person with His wings and cover, and thirdly, protects him practically with His support.

It is hard for a person to connect two forms of guidance, where on one hand, everything comes from the Creator, and on the other hand, he needs to request that the Creator help, protect and cover him. Protect him from what? From the enemies that the Creator Himself arranges for the person?

The Creator organizes His guidance in two lines so that the person can stabilize himself in the middle line. As such, the person is quite confused, and doesn’t exactly know how to be together in all the states, until he acquires the two lines, stabilizes the middle line, and then he has understanding and mutual work with the Creator such that he understands that there is reciprocity, guidance and learning which brings the person to adhesion with the Creator.

Until then, however, in each and every generation, in each and every state, there are states which come and confuse the person a lot in terms of the extent to which he needs to correct the vessels (Kelim) to discover the unity of the Creator’s guidance – in terms of the apparent bad or evil that appears through the uncorrected vessels, and in terms of the good that shines in the corrected vessels – which give the person the ability to perceive through two lines, in which the person constructs himself. The person, the human being (Adam), is the middle line.

“Psalms Commentary – Psalm 61: To the Choirmaster” is based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson of May 4, 2014, “Preparation.” You can watch and/or download this lesson in video and audio formats from the Kabbalah Media Archive.

What is the Creator? What does it mean that the Creator reveals and conceals Himself? Why is the Creator referred to as “Him,” in masculine form? What are the left, right and middle lines in a person’s spiritual work? What is “adhesion with the Creator”? What does it mean, that a person “corrects his vessels (Kelim)” and what are these “vessels” that the person corrects? What does it mean that the human being (Adam) is the middle line? All these questions and more are dealt with in the Free Kabbalah Course, which provides the fundamental principles and tools by which to correctly approach the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is recommended to take the Free Kabbalah Course before approaching the Daily Kabbalah Lessons with Dr. Michael Laitman. Click the banner below to sign up…