Kabbalah sa Isaias 24:23: Reshit Chokhmah & Sha'arei Orah

And one should attempt to honor the creatures, in order that he be honored by the creatures, as we learned (Avot 4:1), "Who is honored, etc." And the reward of one who honors the elderly is very great; and he fulfills a positive commandment in the Torah, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:32), "You shall rise before an elder." And one of the things that Rabbi Yehudah ben Batirah commanded his students was to be careful about an elder who forgot his learning from causes beyond his control, and not to treat him disparagingly. As the master said, "The tablets and the broken tablets are resting in the ark." (See Berakhot 8b; Sanhedrin 96a). And we have found that the Holy One, blessed be He, gives honor to the elderly, as we learn in the Sifri (Sifri on Numbers 11:16): "And the Lord said to Moshe, 'Gather seventy men for Me [from the elders of Israel]'": Not in [only] one or two places does the the Holy One, blessed be He, accord honor to the elders, but in every place that you find elders, the Holy One blessed be He, accords them honor, as it is stated (Exodus 3:16), "Go and assemble the elders of Israel, etc."; and it is written (Exodus 24:1), "And to Moshe He said, 'Ascend to the Lord, etc.'" Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says, "Whence do you derive that the Holy One, blessed be He, will also accord them honor in the time to come? As it is stated (Isaiah 24:23), 'And the moon will be shamed and the sun abashed, etc. and He will accord honor toward His elders.' It does not say, 'towards His angels,' or 'towards His prophets'; but rather, 'towards His elders!' Now does it not follow a fortiori: If He who spoke and brought the world into being accorded honor to the elders, how much more so should creatures of flesh and blood accord honor to the elders!"

Understand the verse that states,²⁸⁸Psalms 91:15 “He will call upon Me and I will answer him, I am with him in distress; I will release him and I will bring him honor.” The explanation is that “He will call upon Me,” means that he will call upon My abundant mercies-Rachamim, and “I will answer him.” “I am with him in distress; I will release him and I will bring him honor,” in that when a person is punished below, it is as though there is a problem in the conduits above. I will hint at the matter with the verse,²⁸⁹Deuteronomy 32:18; See Midrash Eichah Rabba 1:33 “You have weakened-Teshee-תשי the Rock who gave birth to you,” and,²⁹⁰Lamentations 2:3 “He drew back His right hand in the presence of the enemy,” and,²⁹¹Isaiah 63:9 “In all their troubles He was troubled.” This is the secret of, “I am with him in distress.” The verse then concludes, “I will release him and bring him honor.” What is the meaning of “I will bring him honor?” It comes to explain a great matter. That is, it is not enough that I merely save the righteous Tzaddik who calls upon Me from his troubles. Rather, once the World of abundant Mercies appears, all the upper and lower Sefirot become filled with every kind of joy, blessing and emanation, all of which was brought about through this righteous Tzaddik who opened the Gates of the World of Mercies. Therefore, since he caused all the Sefirot to be blessed for his sake, it is fitting that he be accorded honor both above and below, as in the secret of the verse,²⁹²Isaiah 24:23 “There will be honor for His elders,” and the verse,²⁹³Proverbs 3:35 “The wise inherit honor.” Understand this. To further hint at this matter, when it states, “I will bring him honor-Achabdeihu-אכבדהו,” it means, I will cause that light which is called “Honor-Kavod-כבוד” to adhere to him. Understand this.