הֲבִנְהָרִים֙ חָרָ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה אִ֤ם בַּנְּהָרִים֙ אַפֶּ֔ךָ אִם־בַּיָּ֖ם עֶבְרָתֶ֑ךָ כִּ֤י תִרְכַּב֙ עַל־סוּסֶ֔יךָ מַרְכְּבֹתֶ֖יךָ יְשׁוּעָֽה׃
Господи, что против рек, гнев Твой воспламенен против рек или гнев Твой против моря? Что Ты едешь на Твоих конях, на Твоих колесницах победы?
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי מי גוי גדול אשר לו אלו-הים קרובים אליו, “for who else is a great nation to whom G’d is so close!” Moses hints in this verse at the superior status of the Jewish people who, when praying, are answered seeing they focus in their prayers on the supreme Power in the universe, the only Power able to fulfill their requests. This is why they are answered each time. Moses describes the Jewish people here as גוי גדול, “a great nation,” instead of either as גוי קדוש, a “holy nation,” or גוי צדיק, “a righteous nation.” The reason is that גדולה, “greatness,” is the equivalent of the attribute (emanation) חסד, the highest attribute usually associated with Hashem such as in Chronicles I 29,10 לך ה’ הגדולה, והגבורה, והתפארת, “Yours O Lord is “greatness, mightiness and harmony.” The meaning of the verse then is: “who is a great nation so close to the attributes of G’d such as the Lord our G’d whenever we call upon Him!?” It was important for Moses to add “when we call upon Him, so that one should not think we address our prayers to the attributes instead to the essence, to Hashem.
This explains why our sages (Avodah Zarah 3) describe G’d as switching from being seated on the “chair of Justice” to the “chair of Mercy,” in order to avoid rendering verdicts which could be destructive. On the other hand, on occasion G’d has to switch from the “chair of Mercy” and seat Himself on the “chair of Justice,” in order to deal with certain situations in His universe. Everything in accordance with the need of the party who addresses Him in prayer.
Concerning these various attributes of G’d the prophet Chabakuk 3,8 said: “is Your rage against Yam (the Sea) or against Neharim, (rivers) that You are driving Your steeds, Your victorious chariot?” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah (68,10) comment on this that the rider is never secondary to the horse, but the horse is secondary to the rider. They are prompted to make this observation in connection with this verse as the prophet described G’d as venting His rage at the forces of nature which have no will of their own. Seeing that neither the sea nor the rivers are the prime causes of evil but man who abuses them, what is the point of G’d venting His anger at the secondary phenomena
This explains why our sages (Avodah Zarah 3) describe G’d as switching from being seated on the “chair of Justice” to the “chair of Mercy,” in order to avoid rendering verdicts which could be destructive. On the other hand, on occasion G’d has to switch from the “chair of Mercy” and seat Himself on the “chair of Justice,” in order to deal with certain situations in His universe. Everything in accordance with the need of the party who addresses Him in prayer.
Concerning these various attributes of G’d the prophet Chabakuk 3,8 said: “is Your rage against Yam (the Sea) or against Neharim, (rivers) that You are driving Your steeds, Your victorious chariot?” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah (68,10) comment on this that the rider is never secondary to the horse, but the horse is secondary to the rider. They are prompted to make this observation in connection with this verse as the prophet described G’d as venting His rage at the forces of nature which have no will of their own. Seeing that neither the sea nor the rivers are the prime causes of evil but man who abuses them, what is the point of G’d venting His anger at the secondary phenomena