Midras Mazmur 34:23: Shemot Rabbah & Midrash Tehillim

“The Lord will pass to smite Egypt” – some say by means of an angel, and some say the Holy One blessed be He Himself. What is it that is stated: “To smite [lingof]”? It teaches that even the pregnant women miscarried and the mothers died, and the destroyer emerged and harmed everything that it found. Lingof refers to nothing other than pregnant women, as it is stated: “And they strike [venagefu] a pregnant woman” (Exodus 21:22). The Holy One blessed be He was destroying the firstborn of Egypt, and Israel was performing everything that the Holy One blessed be He said to them, as it is stated: “The children of Israel went and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron” (Exodus 12:28).
To what were the Holy One blessed be He and Israel comparable? To a king who travelled with his sons by sea, and pirate ships surrounded them. He said to them: Here are my giant spears, all prepared, with which I pass over the sea waves and do battle. So, the Holy One blessed be He was with His children in Egypt, and the Egyptian camps were plotting against them all night. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: Such wicked ones, are you plotting against My children? My giant spears are prepared, as it is stated: “He saved them for His name’s sake” (Psalms 106:8).
[The Israelites] were engaged in roasting [the paschal offering], and the Holy One blessed be He was killing the firstborn of Egypt; they were sprinkling [blood] on their entrances, and His great name was standing over their entrances. They were engaged in Hallel, and the laws of the paschal offering, and God was distinguishing so that the blood of the impure would atone for the blood of the pure,³The death of the Egyptian firstborn atoned for the firstborn of Israel. as it is stated: “The Lord redeems the soul of His servants” (Psalms 34:23). They were engaged in their matzot, as they were grinding and kneading, and the Holy One blessed be He was uprooting the plants⁴The reference is to the Egyptian firstborn, who were killed even in utero. of Egypt, as it is stated: “Arise, Lord, in your anger [lift Yourself up in indignation [be’avrot]⁵The midrash expounds be’avrot, indignation, as though it were be’ubarot, meaning fetuses. against my adversaries]” (Psalms 7:7).

“The Lord will pass to smite Egypt, and He will see the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, and the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to smite you” (Exodus 12:23).
“The Lord will pass to smite Egypt” – that is what is written: “What shall I do when God rises? When He reckons, what shall I answer Him?” (Job 31:14). Who stated this verse? It was the angel who oversees the world who said it, even though Job said it regarding himself. Likewise, all mankind are destined to say thus. We find regarding the generation of the flood that God judged them while sitting, as it is stated: “The Lord sat enthroned at the flood” (Psalms 29:10). What is written in their regard? “He blotted out all existence” (Genesis 7:23). But, in Egypt, He judged them while passing, as it is stated: “The Lord will pass to smite Egypt,” and it is written: “I will pass in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12). However, in the future, He will stand and judge His world while standing, as it is stated: “And His feet will stand on that day” (Zechariah 14:4), and it is written: “Therefore wait for Me, said the Lord, until the day that I rise up forever; [for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them My indignation, all My fierce anger; for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of My jealousy]” (Zephaniah 3:8).
Mankind will say: If while sitting He judged the generation of the flood and blotted them out, and He judged the Egyptians while passing and killed their firstborn, when He stands in the future to judge His world, who will be able to withstand it? Therefore, it is written: “What shall I do when God rises?” Why is He destined to stand? It is because of the outcry of the poor, as it is stated: “For the oppression of the poor, for the sigh of the needy, now I will rise, says the Lord” (Psalms 12:6).

"God redeems the souls of his servants." Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said (Proverbs 25:21), "If your enemy is hungry, feed him bread." What does the verse mean by this? If a person walks with his friend for an hour, he becomes his beloved, and the evil inclination is born with him and grows with him all his days, as it is said (Genesis 8:21), "for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth." If you find a place to defeat it, a son of twenty, or fifty, or eighty, or a hundred, can defeat it. There is no greater enemy than this. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said, "If the evil inclination stands against you, make war with it by studying Torah," as it is said (Proverbs 25:21), "if your enemy is hungry, feed him bread." And if it is thirsty, give it water from the well of Torah, as it is said (Isaiah 55:1), "Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters." Why (Proverbs 25:22), "for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head." What is it? God will repay you. He will repay us with you. And it says (Proverbs 16:7), "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Let all my bones say, "LORD, who is like unto Thee, Who delivers the poor from him that is too strong for him?" Rabbi Acha said, "He who saves the good inclination from the evil inclination, the poor and needy are rescued." There is a greater robbery than this (Ezekiel 18:24), "But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity." Rabbi Yitzhak said in the name of Rabbi Menachem, "Every righteous person has a world in himself and a paradise in himself," as it is said (Psalms 36:9), "For with Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light do we see light."