Musar su Salmi 30:78

And the penitent should also pray to God to erase his transgressions like a fog, and his sins like a cloud; and that He desire him, accept him and listen to him as if he had not sinned - like the matter that is written in the words of Elihu about a penitent after [he has suffered] afflictions (Job 33:26), "He prays to God and is accepted by Him." For it is likely for the iniquity to be forgiven and he be redeemed from all afflictions and from all decrees, but God [still] not desire him and not want to accept an offering from him. And it is the desire of the righteous from [their] successes, to incline God's will towards them and that He should desire them. And his will is [for] real everlasting life and for the great light that includes all of the pleasant things - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 30:6), "when He is pleased there is life." And it [also] stated (Psalms 80:20), "O Lord, God of hosts, restore us; shine Your countenance that we may be delivered" - and our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed said "(Midrash Tehillim 80), "We have nothing besides the shining of Your countenance." And that is the matter of [His] desire - and we have already mentioned this and explained it. Therefore you will see in the prayer of David at the time of [his] repentance after he said (Psalms 51:4), "Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin," [that] he prayed further about the desire - that God's desire, may He be blessed - for him to be like before the sin. So he said (Psalms 51:13), "Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit away from me." Afterwards he prayed and said (Psalms 51:14), "Let me again rejoice in Your salvation" - that the miracles of God and His salvation be found with him, and that the spirit of God would come upon him as at first. And afterwards he [continued], "and a generous spirit sustain me." Its explanation is - behold I have been lessened because of my transgressions and am not fitting to be a prince, and for Your holy arm to be revealed upon Me. And even if you have lifted (forgiven) the iniquity of my sin, I am not worthy to be beloved and acceptable as in earlier times. Yet sustain me with a generous spirit; for there is no end to Your generosity and Your goodness. And [the word,] spirit, comes lacking a [letter,] bet (in front of it, which would mean, with the spirit), like [in] (Genesis 27:37), "sustained him grain and wine" (which is to be understood as if grain was preceded by a letter bet, meaning "with grain, etc."). And Hosea, peace be upon him, said about this matter (Hosea 14:5), "I will heal their affliction, I will take them back in generous love." The matter of generous love is like the matter that David said, ["and a generous spirit] sustain me."

We must always remember that nothing evil descends upon Israel from the Celestial Regions, since Israel remains at all times in the category of בנים אתם לה' אלוקיכם, "you are children of the Lord your G–d" (Deut. 14,1). Even when G–d is angry at Israel, such as when He allows the destruction of the Temple and Israel's dispersion among the nations of the earth, this is only for Israel's good. Just as the discipline a father administers to his son is due to his love for him, so the Lord disciplines us, and it is all for our own good. Such discipline aims to refine us who are His first born among all the nations. He aims to cleanse us of the stains of sins and iniquity, and thereby cause us to return to Him in penitence, so that ultimately we will be totally pure, without any blemish. We will explain this when we discuss the portions that are usually read in public during the period between the 17th day of Tammuz and the 9th day of Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Holy Temple. When that objective will have been reached, the prophecy contained in Psalms 30,2: "I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up and not let my enemies rejoice over me, "will be fulfilled. The word דליתנו can mean one of two things. It could be explained as coming from the root דל, "poor," or it could be an expression denoting "elevation." Poverty and troubles may be the causes that bring us a surfeit of light, over and beyond the light we enjoyed prior to our having been plunged into darkness (through exile, etc.). This great light emanates from the very darkness into which G–d has plunged us, so that thereby great enlightenment may emerge, a process similar to blood which eventually is converted into milk that is pure white. In a similar fashion, G–d turned the curse (of Bileam) into a blessing. The curse was not replaced by a blessing, but eventually became a blessing. Thus the destruction of the Temple is actually the beginning of its restoration. It was the catalyst that alone would lead to the condition of תם עונך בת ציון, "Your iniquity is expiated, Fair Zion; He will exile you no longer" (Lamentations 4,22). At that time, the great Temple, the everlasting one will be built. Because חורבן is the commencement of rebuilding, we conduct ourselves with dignity just as we did when the Temple was still standing; destruction is the true cause of an enduring Temple, i.e. the true ישוב. Halachah recognizes this phenomenon. We are culpable for certain kinds of destructive activities on the Sabbath despite the rule of כל המקלקלים פטורים, "all who ruin something on the Sabbath are not culpable" (Shabbat 106). The exceptions are destructive activities which are a necessary precondition to constructive activities, such as the tearing down of a structure in order to enable a new structure to rise in its place (compare Shabbat 31b). Our prophets have assured us that the fast-days we observe nowadays on the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av respectively will become great holidays on the reconstruction of the Temple (Zecharyah 8,19).

And now [that] - due to our sins and due to the sins of our ancestors - we do not have sacrifices: If one sinned with the meditations of the heart or transgressed a positive commandment, he should read the section of the burnt-offering at the beginning of Parshat Vayikra and at the beginning of Parshat Tsav et Aharon. For the reading of the section of the sacrifice is in place of the bringing of a sacrifice for us - whether we read it from the written text or whether we read it by heart. [It is] like our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Menachot 110a), “Anyone involved with the section of the burnt-offering is as if he brought a burnt-offering; with the section of the sin-offering is as if he brought a sin-offering; with the section of the guilt-offering is as if he brought a guilt-offering.” And if a person transgressed a negative commandment and repented, he should worry about his iniquity and long for and anticipate getting to Yom Kippur in order that he will be accepted by God, may He be blessed. For His desire is for the life of the soul and the body, and the life of all that has been created - as it is stated (Psalms 30:6), “life is in His will.” And therefore, our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Rosh Hashanah 9a), “Anyone who fixes his meal on the eve of Yom Kippur is as if he had been commanded to fast on the ninth and the tenth [of Tishrei], and fasted on them.” For he has shown joy at the arrival of the time of his atonement; and it will be testimony for him, about his worry about his guilt and about his despondence about his iniquities.

The opening words of Psalm 30, מזמור שיר, require analysis. The word שיר, definitely refers to good one has experienced and for which one offers thanks. The word מזמור, however, can have more than one meaning. It may come from the word Zamar, cut off, as in Leviticus 25,4: לא תזמור כרמך, "Do not prune your vineyard." It may also come from the word Zemer melody, tune. The word דליתני in the second verse of the Psalm may also be understood in either of two ways. It may be connected to the root דל, poor, or it may be similar in meaning to the preceding word ארוממך, "I will exalt You," being derived from Dalah, to draw water, i.e. to raise water. In the former case the meaning would be negative, in the latter case it would be positive. The reason that David expressed himself so ambivalently is that he wanted to teach us that experiences such as exile which are first perceived by those who suffer it as negative, may actually be most positive in view of the developments to which they may lead. Even the destruction of the Holy Temple is viewed by the Psalmist as a harbinger of a better future. Because the Temple was destroyed, the Temple that will eventually take its place will spread a far greater spiritual light than its predecessor. The line: "I will extol you O Lord, You have lifted me up," (verse 2) means "even though I was poor, You have not let my enemies rejoice over me." These words may allude to what is reported in Eycha Rabbati that when the Jews exiled with Tzidkiyahu came to Babylon, the Jews who had been exiled earlier under king Yechonyah were forced by their captors to welcome the newcomers and to take an active part in the joy of their conquerors. The meaning of: "You have not let my enemies rejoice over me" is that David was spared what his descendants had to experience. Such was the worst kind of (דלות) דליתני that one can experience. Israel experienced this extreme manifestation of the attribute of Justice at work against itself. The trauma of the destruction of the Temple was an exception, however, since even the angels מלאכי שלום shed bitter tears when that occurred.