מדרש על צפניה 3:5

Thou hast established the earth, and it standeth. They stand this day according to Thine ordinances (ibid.). It was according to Your ordinances that You created everything, as is said: In the beginning God created (Gen. 1:1). Another comment on They stand this day according to Thine ordinances. Even this day was brought forth according to Your ordinances, as it is said: Every morning, every morning doth He bring His ordinance to light (Zeph. 3:5). They stand this day according to Thine ordinances; they shall perish, but Thou shalt stand (Ps. 102:27), for You are the foundation of the world. Another explanation of But Thou shalt stand is that You shall cause others to stand. Another comment on And it standeth according to thine ordinances. That is, according to the words You spoke to Aaron (that) the priesthood would be firmly established through him.

(Ibid. 24) "And it was in the morning watch": We find that the prayers of the righteous are heard in the morning. The "morning" of Abraham — (Genesis 22:3) "And Abraham rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Isaac — (Ibid. 9) "and both of them went together, etc." — and both had risen early in the morning. The "morning" of Jacob — (Ibid. 28:18) "and Jacob rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Moses — Exodus 34:4) "and Moses rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Joshua — (Joshua 3:1) "And Joshua rose early in the morning and they journeyed from Shittim, etc." The "morning" of Samuel — (I Samuel 15:12) "and Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, etc." The "mornings" of the prophets that were destined to arise (for Israel) — (Psalms 5:4) "O L rd, in the morning shall You hear my voice; in the morning will I order (my prayer) before You, and I will hope." The "morning" of the world to come — |(Eichah 3:23) "New every morning; great is Your faith." And thus do you find that the Holy One Blessed be He is destined to exact punishment of the wicked in the world to come only in the mornings" — (Psalms 101:8) "In the mornings I will cut off all the wicked of the land to cut off from the city of the L rd all the workers of iniquity." Also Jerusalem, in time to come, every morning her judgment will come to light, viz. (Tzefaniah 3:5) "The L rd is righteous in its midst. He will do no wrong. Every morning He will bring His judgment to light. It will not fail. But the churl will not know shame." (Exodus 14:24) "And it was in the morning watch": This occurred at dawn. "and the L rd looked to the camp of Egypt with a pillar of fire and cloud, etc.": The Holy One Blessed be He heals all who enter the world, viz. (Exodus 15:26) "for I am the L rd who heals you", (Jeremiah 17:14) "Heal me, O L rd, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved.", (Ibid. 3:22) "Return, wayward sons; I will heal your waywardness." Come and see that the healing of the Holy One Blessed be He is not like the healing of flesh and blood. The healing of flesh and blood — With what he smites, he does not heal. He smites with a knife and heals with a plaster. Not so the Holy One Blessed be He. With what He smites, He heals. When He smote Iyyov, He smote him with a tempest, viz. (Iyyov 9:11) "He struck me with a tempest and multiplied my wounds in vain." When He healed him, He healed him with a tempest, viz. (Ibid. 38:1) "And the L rd answered Iyyov from the tempest." He answered him from the tempest and He healed him. And when the Holy One Blessed be He exiled Israel, He did so with clouds, viz. (Eichah 2:1) "How the L rd has beclouded in His wrath the daughter of Zion." And when He gathers them in, He does so with clouds, viz. (Isaiah 60:8) "Who are those who fly like a cloud, like doves to their dove-cotes?" When He scatters them, He scatters them like doves, viz. (Ezekiel 7:16) "And their fugitives will flee. They will be in the mountains, all of them moaning like the doves of the valleys, each man in his sin." And when He returns them, He returns them like doves, viz.: "like doves to their dove-cotes." When He blesses Israel, He blesses them with looking, viz. (Devarim 26:15) "Look down from Your holy abode, from the heavens, and bless Your people, Israel." And when He exacted punishment of Egypt, He did so with "looking," viz. "and the L rd looked to the camp of Egypt with a pillar of fire and cloud, and He confounded the camp of Egypt, etc." The pillar of cloud descended and made the sea-bed clay, and the pillar of fire made it so hot that the horses' hooves fell off. "and He confounded the camp of Egypt": He confounded them, He mixed them up, He removed their ensigns and they did not know what they were doing. Variantly: "Confounding" is plague, viz. (Devarim 7:23) "And He will confound them with a great confusion until they are destroyed."

Rav said, "At the time that the spheres of the sun and the moon enter to get permission from in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, their eyes are dimmed from the radiance of the Divine Presence. Then they request to go out to give light to the world, but they do not see anything. So what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do for them? He shoots arrows in front of them and they go by their light." This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Habakkuk 3:11), "Sun [and] moon stand still on high as Your arrows fly in brightness, Your flashing spear in brilliance"; and it is written (Joel 2:10) "Sun and moon are darkened, and stars withdraw their brightness." Rabbi Hoshaya the son of Rabbi Simlai of Caesarea said in the name of Rabbi Yitschak bar Zeira, "The sun never sets until it becomes like a type of mustard seed of blood." What is the reason? "[The sun] is like a groom coming forth from the chamber, like a hero, eager to run his course (orach)." And a path is only that of women, like you would say (Genesis 18:11), "Sarah had stopped having the way (orach) of women." Rabbi Levi said, "Each and every day, the Holy One, blessed be He, sits in judgement over the spheres of the sun and the moon, as they request not to go out to give light to the world. What do they say? 'The creatures prosecute us, the creatures bow down to us.'" Rabbi Yosta bar Shunam said, "What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do to them? He sits over them in judgement and they always go out and give light against their will." This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Zephaniah 3:5) "He issues judgment every morning, as unfailing as the light." What is [the understanding of] unfailing? Not ceasing. "The wrongdoer knows no shame" (Zephaniah 3:5). They are not embarrassed, but rather bow down to them - they see them eclipsed and they are not embarrassed.This is [the understanding of] that which is written (Leviticus 24:2), "and they shall take olive oil to you."