Chasidut su Salmi 16:78

‎“I place (shiviti) Hashem before me, always” (Tehillim 16:8). Shiviti is an expression of equating. ‎That is, every matter that arises before a person must be considered as equal. This is true when ‎others praise or denigrate someone, and so too with all other matters. Similarly, regarding food, ‎whether eating delicacies or anything else, all should be equal in one’s eyes, because the evil ‎inclination has been removed from him entirely. Whatever arises, a person must declare, “This too ‎is from Hashem, and if it is proper in His eyes, etc.,” and all of a person’s actions should be for the ‎sake of Heaven, although from the individual’s perspective there is no difference [between good ‎and bad events] at all. This is a very high level.‎ Every person must serve Hashem with all their strength, for it is all necessity, for Hashem desires ‎that people serve Him in every way. Meaning: there are times when a person engages in ‎conversation and is unable to learn Torah. At these times, a person must maintain focus on ‎Hashem and perform [Kabbalistic] yichudim. And when a person is going on the way and is unable ‎to pray or learn as usual, and one must find other ways in which to serve Hashem, one must never ‎be distraught about these things. Hashem wishes to be served in many ways, and therefore He ‎grants the opportunity to travel or converse in order to serve Hashem in that way. “Commit your ‎deeds to Hashem, and your thoughts will be established” (Mishlei 16:3). Everything that occurs, a ‎person should think that it is from Him.‎ It is appropriate for one to ask Hashem to always grant what Hashem knows to be in one’s best ‎interest, and not what a person thinks based on their own mind. It is possible that what is good in ‎one’s eyes could be detrimental. As such one should cast everything, all of one’s matters and ‎needs, upon Hashem.‎

Similarly, we find in the Midrash Sochar Tov: “How may a young man make his path pure? By serving according to Your word” (Tehillim 119), Shlomo said, “In all your ways know Him.” If you know and are conscious of God in all that you do, He will straighten the paths before you. Thus, it is said (Tehillim, 16), “Make the path of life known to me.” So too, Moshe said to God (Shemot, 33), “Now, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know Your ways.” And also (Tehillim, 25), “Lead me in Your truth, and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.” And (Tehillim, 86), “God, teach me Your way.” And it is written (Yermiyahu, 6), “Stand on the roads and see, and ask about the ways of the world, and see which is the good way. Then walk in it, and find rest for your soul.” Look at the path that Avraham took, and look at the path that Nimrod took, and see who succeeded. So too did David say, “And you, Shlomo my son, know the God of your fathers, and serve him.”

“Blessings upon the head of a righteous man” (Proverbs 10:6). This is why the Talmud begins with Tractate Blessings (Berakhot), for it is the essence of everything: “Know the god of your father” (Chronicles I 28:9), and afterwards, “serve him,” for you have to know for whom you are serving. This is why a person says a blessing before each ritual act, to dedicate all of his actions to God, as the verse says, “In all your ways, know him” (Proverbs 3:6), as Maimonides wrote. This is accomplished by making the blessing, as the rabbis said the requirement [in terms of necessary age for making a blessing] is a child who knows to whom he is blessing (Bavli, Berakhot, 48a), as opposed to the rest of the mitsvot which have no requirement of knowing to whom one is making the blessing, such as phylacteries or the like. It is clear that the essence of a blessing is the knowledge of to whom the blessing is being made, and blessings were instituted for this purpose. This is the beginning of entering into Torah, as the verse says, “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God” (Psalms 111:10). Fear of God is achieved through “I have placed God before me always” (Psalms 16:8), as Rabbi Moses Isserles wrote in a comment at the beginning of Oraḥ Ḥayyim. This explains why all blessings begin with direct, second-person, address (lashon nokhaḥ), because right at the beginning of the blessing God must be present (nokhaḥ) before a person’s eyes, as if God is standing in front of and commanding him. The conclusion is in third-person, because God immediately disappears, as the verse says, “Over his nestlings he hovers” (Deuteronomy 32:11), making contact and then moving away, as is known.

Scripture also says: “Tell me the ways to live, to be sated with joy in Your presence.” (Psalms 16:11). Lulav is numerically equal to hayyim (life), Israel desire the true life of their inner selves. This is what it means to be “sated with joy” – the more deeply you take life into your heart, the more you are sated. This happens through the lulav and the species that accompany it. Israel actually point to God, taking in the light of the Sukkah, which is given to them as a gift. When the King invites guests, he gives them what their heart desires. “Whoever invites someone does so with the intent that they eat and drink.”

For example, in Hakhsharat haAvreikhim we already began to introduce ourselves to this avodah, by recognizing ourselves and the laws of our souls, to conquer them—especially in Chapter Nine, where we spoke of how since our natural law is that when we look at one thought, it dissipates, therefore we should use this law as well when a thought interferes with our thoughts during prayer—that we should look at the foreign thought, seizing it in our minds. Now, we might add to this, that through this knowledge we can identify another weakness which we sometimes encounter in our avodah and, by recognizing its foundation, know also how to heal it. As is known from the holy books, one should envision the Tetragrammaton before one’s eyes, in the sense of ‘I place God before me always.’⁵⁸⁴Psalm 16:8. It is a bad omen for him if one wants but is unable to do so; and in an manner which seems designed to frustrate, the more he wants and tries to do so, the more difficult it becomes. It is difficult for him to even see the image of one letter, as he worries about this, his forehead starting to sweat and yet he is unable. And yet, do you not already know from Hakhsharat haAvreikhim that even the most familiar image of your father or brother or son which are always in your imagination, including now—when you begin to think ‘What is now in my imagination? The image of my father. I want to imagine it well. Is his image truly in my imagination?’ then the image will weaken in your imagination and cease completely. The more you want and try to imagine it the more it disappears. Therefore, when you fashion a familiar image in your mind and begin to think ‘What is now in my imagination? I want to fashion it well’ etc, thereby strengthening his consciousness and human intellect, then his imaginative faculty becomes weakened and completely passes away.⁵⁸⁵It is only by understanding this psychological truism that a hasid can realize that at some point, the way to achieve meditative focus is by avoiding meta-cognition of the meditation itself.

And that is [the meaning of] King David’s statement, peace be upon him, I have set [shiviti] the LORD always opposite me (Psalm 16:8), which is to say that Existence was the same [shaveh] for me. That is, “When I am attached to Blessed God with clear mind-states” – opposite me connoting opposition – “then when I fall from my level it was all the same for me,” that he was attached to Blessed God even in the moment of his falling. And that is [the meaning of] what King Solomon, peace be upon him, said, Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this (Ecclesiastes 7:10), which is to say that there are fools who in their falling from their level lie in the dust and do not rise again to Blessed God. And that is [the meaning of] Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these,” meaning that then I served Blessed God and now I have fallen from my level – Do not say such a thing, For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. For Wisdom gives life, and the life-force ebbs and flows, in which case it must be so. And in the Holy Zohar this is called “Arriving and not arriving,” meaning that when he is attached to Blessed God in clarity then it is called “arriving;” but when [the attachment] leaves it is called “not arriving.”

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1) This can be explained according to what is written in the verse "I was asleep, But my heart was wakeful." (Song of Songs 5:2) This is the idea - every member of Israel should wake with great joy and powerful desire in the middle of the night to contemplate the following. If a king of flesh and blood wanted one to make him a crown, and they were able, and they knew that the king would take great pleasure and delight in this crown, and due to his joy the king would make them one of his intimate ministers, imagine with what alacrity they would arise, rejoicing and glad, to speedily make the crown. They would wipe the sleep from their eyes and neither rain, sleet, ice nor snow would stop them. All the more so this is true of the songs and praises from which a crown is made for the Kinng, king of kings, when they are a product of one's heartfelt will. The verse cries out "worship the LORD in gladness..." (Psalms 100:2) and it is explained in the holy Zohar 'even one who has sinned before their master and must return in repentance, confessing in brokenhearted bitterness, nevertheless must also fulfill "worship the Lord in gladness."' (Zohar 3:8a) The root of the matter is thus - when one prays the midnight fixing (tikkun chatzot) or when they confess, asking for pardon and forgiveness, they should do so with great weeping and bitterness of heart. In the same manner, when one says the songs and praises which were written by the sweet singer of Israel, their soul should ignite with tremendous joy that they merit to make a crown for the King, king of kings - just as King David said them in joy. It is also true that when one is occupied with Torah that they should be in a state of great joy. It is explained in the Reishit Chochmah (Sha'ar HaAhavah ch. 10) that one who desires to bring joy to their soul should seclude themselves for part of the day and contemplate the greatness of the letters of the four-lettered Name of God. A proof for this can be found in what David said "I have placed the Lord (four-lettered name before me continually...So my heart rejoices, my whole being exults..." (Psalms 16:8-9) This second part refers to the soul (neshama) because the neshama is an emanation from the four-lettered Name as it says "You are children of the Lord your God..." (Deuteronomy 14:1) Therefore when one contemplates the four-lettered name, the soul is illuminated and shines with a wondrous brilliance - this is joy. The power of this illumination has the strength to plant its sparks even with one's flesh, so that "...even my body rests secure," (Psalms 16:9) meaning that no rot will rule over it. These are his holy words, see there further. According to this our verse is explained 'Thus says the LORD (the four-lettered Name), the God of Israel, from whom the souls of Israel emanate, Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me - this is as its says regarding Sukkot "You shall rejoice in your festival..." (Deuteronomy 16:14)

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1) This can be explained according to what is written in the verse "I was asleep, But my heart was wakeful." (Song of Songs 5:2) This is the idea - every member of Israel should wake with great joy and powerful desire in the middle of the night to contemplate the following. If a king of flesh and blood wanted one to make him a crown, and they were able, and they knew that the king would take great pleasure and delight in this crown, and due to his joy the king would make them one of his intimate ministers, imagine with what alacrity they would arise, rejoicing and glad, to speedily make the crown. They would wipe the sleep from their eyes and neither rain, sleet, ice nor snow would stop them. All the more so this is true of the songs and praises from which a crown is made for the Kinng, king of kings, when they are a product of one's heartfelt will. The verse cries out "worship the LORD in gladness..." (Psalms 100:2) and it is explained in the holy Zohar 'even one who has sinned before their master and must return in repentance, confessing in brokenhearted bitterness, nevertheless must also fulfill "worship the Lord in gladness."' (Zohar 3:8a) The root of the matter is thus - when one prays the midnight fixing (tikkun chatzot) or when they confess, asking for pardon and forgiveness, they should do so with great weeping and bitterness of heart. In the same manner, when one says the songs and praises which were written by the sweet singer of Israel, their soul should ignite with tremendous joy that they merit to make a crown for the King, king of kings - just as King David said them in joy. It is also true that when one is occupied with Torah that they should be in a state of great joy. It is explained in the Reishit Chochmah (Sha'ar HaAhavah ch. 10) that one who desires to bring joy to their soul should seclude themselves for part of the day and contemplate the greatness of the letters of the four-lettered Name of God. A proof for this can be found in what David said "I have placed the Lord (four-lettered name before me continually...So my heart rejoices, my whole being exults..." (Psalms 16:8-9) This second part refers to the soul (neshama) because the neshama is an emanation from the four-lettered Name as it says "You are children of the Lord your God..." (Deuteronomy 14:1) Therefore when one contemplates the four-lettered name, the soul is illuminated and shines with a wondrous brilliance - this is joy. The power of this illumination has the strength to plant its sparks even with one's flesh, so that "...even my body rests secure," (Psalms 16:9) meaning that no rot will rule over it. These are his holy words, see there further. According to this our verse is explained 'Thus says the LORD (the four-lettered Name), the God of Israel, from whom the souls of Israel emanate, Let My people go that they may celebrate a festival for Me - this is as its says regarding Sukkot "You shall rejoice in your festival..." (Deuteronomy 16:14)