Musar su Salmi 69:78

And the highest level in this is that one would be humiliated by all of his iniquities in front of God, may He be blessed. And the content of humiliation is the feeling of shame and change in the radiance of his face, like the matter that is stated (Psalms 59:8), "shame covers my face." And you will see that in every place, humiliation is mentioned after shame - as it is more than shame: "Be ashamed and humiliated" (Ezekiel 36:32); "I am ashamed and humiliated"(Jeremiah 31:19). And when the sinner sees that God, may He be blessed, passes over his transgression, is patient with him, does not pay him back, does not do to him according to His sins and does not pay him back according to his iniquities, he has greater shame in his heart. For does not one who sinned against a king of flesh and blood and was treacherous to him, yet is forgiven by him, feel shame towards him? Accordingly is it written (Ezekiel 16:63), "Thus you shall remember and feel shame, [...] when I have forgiven you for all that you did." And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 12b) that someone who does something and is ashamed by it has all of his iniquities forgiven. And so do we find with Saul, who said (I Samuel 28:15), "and He no longer answers me, either by prophets or in dreams," but did not mention the Urim and Thumim. For he was ashamed to mention them, since he killed [the inhabitants of] Nov, the city of priests. So Samuel said to him (I Samuel 28:19), "Tomorrow your sons and you will be with me" - with me in my section [of the world to come]." And one acquires the level of shame by meditating to think about the greatness of God, and how evil is the one who rebels against His words; and in always remembering that God sees his deeds, examines his [feelings] and looks into his thoughts.

ועשית עמדי חסד ואמת . The main ingredient of חסד, kindness, is that it be performed without expectation of a reward. Only when performed thus is one called generous; otherwise one is simply a trader. There is no greater virtue than that of חסד. This is why a person must train himself to practice this virtue until it becomes second nature to him. Not only should he perform acts of kindness for the dead, but even more so for the living. By doing so he will emulate the virtues practiced by G–d Himself who constantly performs acts of kindness without any thought of compensation. Concerning this David has said in Psalms 63,4: "For truly Your kindness is better than life itself; my lips declare Your praise." David meant that whereas when human beings practice acts of altruistic loving-kindness, this is almost always with the dead. You, G–d, perform deeds of loving-kindness for the living, by the very fact that You grant us our life. What could we possibly do in the way of compensating You!? All we can do is to pay You lip-service, extol Your virtues in song and prayer. Rashi referred to this in his commentary on 49,21, where he interprets the אמרי שפר as an allusion to the song of victory sung by Deborah after Israel defeated Sisera under her leadership. G–d performs the miracles and all we can do in return is to acknowledge them with our lips.

The reason that repentance is such a powerful tool is that it ranks higher than all the accusers [in the Celestial Spheres], and those who address themselves to that "power" need not be afraid of any evil forces in the world. We know this from such verses as Isaiah 14,27: כי ה' צבאות יעץ ומי יפר, וידו הנטויה ומי ישיבנה. "For the Lord of Hosts has planned it, who could possibly foil it? We also read in Nachum 1,6:לפני זעמו מי יעמוד! "Who can stand up to His wrath!" The word Mee in both these verses refers to the institution of repentance. We know this from Isaiah 40,26: "שאו מרום עיניכם וראו מי ברא אלה" as well as from Isaiah 40,14: "את מי נועץ ויבינהו?" "Raise your eyes heavenwards and behold, who has created all these?" Or, "With whom did He consult, and who taught Him?". We have the verse מי א-ל בשמים ובארץ, which means that the Lord of Heaven and earth is called מי, "Who", seeing no one can comprehend His Essence. This is the mystical dimension of the word מי. When the prophet Isaiah 41,4 says: מי פעל ועשה, "Who has labored and brought to fruition," he reveals a deep secret. Heavenly decrees are reconsidered in the upper emanation of בינה or in the lower emanations of נצח and הוד respectively. The latter regions are known as G–d's צבאות. A righteous person who wants to annul someone else's vow concentrates on the region in which G–d annuls such decrees. Eicha Rabbah 3, explains the verse in Lamentations 3,44, סכותה בענן לך מעבור תפלה, "You have screened Yourself off with a cloud, so that no prayer may pass through." Our sages refer to the story involving Rabbi Chanina bar Papa. This rabbi approached Rabbi Samuel who had a reputation of being an expert in homiletics, asking him to explain this verse to him. The latter explained that the verse means that there are times when the gates of prayer are locked, and other times when they are open. He quoted Rabbi Yossi ben Chalafta who had said that there are times when it is propitious to offer prayer, based on the verse in Psalms 69,14: "As for me, may my prayer come to You My Lord, at a favorable moment." The gates of repentance however, are never locked, since repentance is compared to the ocean which is never sealed, and accepts waters from the rivers at all times.

From this passage we can see that one should join up with Torah scholars along the road and avoid the company of the ignorant, just as the child did. Secondly, from this incident we learn of the great humility of Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Yitzchak. For they were leaders of the generation, yet when they heard that the child was the son of Rav Hamnuna the Elder they carried him upon their shoulders in order to listen to his Torah. Nor were they too proud to hear Torah even from the mouth of a child. For a man who renders himself like the dust upon which all trample is called, “Beloved above and valued below.” Moreover, he is called one of the “lovers of Hashem,” concerning whom it is written, “And the lovers of His Name will dwell in it [in Tzion]” (Tehillim 69:37).

See how the tongue is better than sacrifices, for it is said, "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs" (Ps. 69:31—32).

He who is a true penitent should seek to do good deeds, and to remove himself from thoughts of this world, and to strengthen himself in the counsel of God, Blessed be He, and to take shelter in His shadow, and bear the yoke of the Torah of God, Blessed be He, and bear the revilement of fools, and to be like one who is deaf, blind, and dead against their attacks, as it is said, "Because for thy sake I have borne reproach… I make sackcloth also my garment… but as for me, let my prayer be unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time" (Ps. 69:8—14).

Concerning this matter a call goes out every day proclaiming that one must not cause his soul to be banished. Thus the Zohar relates (1:62a, Tosefta): A voice from a voice descends from On High, shattering mountains, proclaiming: Who are they who see but do not see? With stopped up ears and closed eyes they neither see nor hear nor understand! These are the ones who cause the holy soul to be banished from its place so that it is not inscribed in the Book of the Living. Thus is it written, “Let them be erased from the Book of the Living and let them not be inscribed with the righteous” (Tehillim 69:29). Woe to them, for when they leave this world they are delivered into the hands of the angel Dumah to be burned with fire!

The merchant explained that there are times that are under the influence of the realm of holiness and there are times that are under the influence of the Sitra Achara. A time that is under holy influence is called a “time of favor,” as it is written, “And as for me, let my prayer to You, Hashem, be at a time of favor” (Tehillim 69:14). This time is illuminated by the name A-d-n-y [“My Lord”]. A time that is under the influence of the Sitra Achara is called a “time of afflictions.” These afflictions emanate from the wicked Lilis and the primordial snake. For this reason Israel has been warned to stay far from the entrance to her house and to avoid her and all the workers of evil that are dependent upon her. Instead they must draw as near as possible and cling as closely as possible to the “time of favor,” which is associated with the Shechinah. For the Shechinah encompasses all the souls of Israel, for which reason it is called Knesses Yisroel — “the Congregation of Israel,” as is known to the Kabbalists. Regarding this the Torah warns (Koheles 3:8), “There is a time to love” — that is, one must love the Shechinah — and a time to hate — that is, one must hate the Sitra Achara, which is connected with Lilis. A proof to this can be drawn from the Torah’s warning to the Kohein Gadol regarding his entry into the Holy of Holies to arouse mercy for Israel, “And let him not come at all times into the Holy Precinct” (Vayikra 16:2). In other words, the Torah adjures him to enter only with thoughts of holiness, especially on Yom Kippur, which is a time of favor. For this was the day that Israel received atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf, for which reason it was established as a day of forgiveness and atonement for all generations. Therefore it is forbidden for the Kohein Gadol to enter the Holy of Holies with alien thoughts emanating from the Sitra Achara, Heaven forbid.

Come and see what is stated in the Zohar, Parashas Beshalach (61a) regarding the special concern Providence shows towards the poor and the needy: Rabbi Chiya said, “I am very perplexed by the verse, ‘For Hashem hears the needy’ (Tehillim 69:34). Does He hear only the needy and not others?” Rabbi Shimon said, “It is because the needy are closer to the king. For it is stated, ‘God will not despise a heart that is broken and contrite’ (Tehillim 51:19), and there is no one in the world more broken hearted than the poor.” Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said further, “Come and see. All the inhabitants of the world appear before the Holy One Blessed is He in body and soul, whereas the poor man appears before Him in soul alone. And the Holy One Blessed is He is closer to the soul than to the body.”