Midrash sa Mga Awit 41:14: Otzar Midrashim, Aggadat Bereshit, Bamidbar Rabbah & Midrash Tanchuma

2) We have found that before the universe was created, parchment skins were not found on which the Torah's script is written, for animals were not yet in existence. Rather, on what was it written? On the arm of the Holy Blessed One, in black fire upon white fire. And the Holy Blessed One took it and laid it out before Him, and would gaze at it. And when He desired to create the world, all the letters came in turn and each said before the Holy Blessed One: "Master of the Universe! May it be Your will that through me the world be created!" First, tav came before the Holy Blessed One and said to Him: "Master of the Universe! May it be Your will that through me the world be created, since Your Torah is named by me!" The Holy Blessed One answered her: I will not do as you wish, for inducements¹terumot begin with you, and it is written, "An inducement-taking man destroys" (Prov. 29:4). Afterwards, shin entered before the Holy Blessed One etc. "It shall not be as to your wish, since vanity²shav' and bribery³shohad begin with you, and it is not fitting that a letter without a base⁴The letter ש has only one point on its lowest level. be the one on which the universe is created." Afterwards, all the letters entered in reverse order, until bet. Finally, bet entered and said: "Master of the Universe! May it be Your will that through me the world be created, for your children will bless Your name by me! As it is said, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD" (Psalms 118:26), "Blessed is the LORD each day" (Psalms 68:20), "Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel" (Psalms 41:14). He said to her, "Thus I will do. By you I will create my world. "As it is written, (Genesis 1:1) "In the beginning God created"⁵bereshit bara Elohim. When alef saw that the Holy Blessed One desired to create the world through bet, she stood to one side and was silent, until the Holy Blessed One called her and said to her: "Alef, why are you silent? Why do you not speak as your companions?" Alef answered and said before Him: "Master of the Universe! While my companions amount to much, I am of comparatively little value." The Holy Blessed One said to her: No wonder that you are the first of them all and the sovereign, since I am One and you are one! And since you have been humble, I will glorify you by making you a thousand⁶elef." And He also said to her, Be consoled that when I give the Torah, I will begin with you." Therefore the Holy Blessed One opened with anokhi when giving the Torah to Israel. [And why did the Holy Blessed One open with anokhi when giving the Torah to Israel?] For anokhi is an acronym: Ana nafshi katvit, yahavit⁷Aramaic: "My own soul wrote it, bestowed it!" and in reverse order yehiva, ketiva, ne'imim imreha⁸Hebrew: "A bestowing, a writing, pleasant are its statements!" Alternatively, why did the Holy Blessed One open with anokhi when giving the Torah to Israel? For anokhi is Egyptian⁹The Coptic word for "I" is ⲁⲛⲟⲕ anok, and in order to usethe language they used in Egypt He opened with anokhi. And the Holy Blessed One wanted to create the universe all at once, a width of a 500 years' walk and a length of a 500 years' walk, and the great sea surrounding all the universe like a dome atop a great column, and all the universe standing on the scales of the Leviathan standing in the abyssal waters to which is it compared to a small fish in the sea, and the abyssal waters stand upon the primordial waters, and the primordial waters upon the ocean's waters, and the ocean's waters upon the waters of Bokhim. And why are they called by the name Bokhim? For when the Holy Blessed One halved the waters, half He placed above and half He placed below, and the ones He placed below started crying⁹bokhim and saying "Woe is us, for we did not merit to be close to our Creator!" And they presumptuously souoght to ascend on high, until the Holy Blessed One rebuked them and crushed them under the sole of His feet. Thus they said before the Holy Blessed One, "It is well known before You that for Your glory's sake we did so!" The Holy Blessed One said, "Inasmuch as for my glory that You did so, know in truth that I will not give permission to the upper waters to say song before Me until they take permission from you!" As it it said, "From the voices of the many mighty waters, the wave's breakers, mighty on high is the LORD!" (Psalms 93:4)

[2] Another interpretation: "Things will come to your heart." Everything is first considered in the heart. Esau did this, as it is said, "And Esau said in his heart" (Genesis 27:41). Nebuchadnezzar did this, and you also said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God" (Isaiah 14:13). Haman did this, as it is said, "Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai" (Esther 5:9-13). The kingdom of Sodom did this, as it is said, "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:3-4). Likewise, Gog did this, as it is said, "Let things come to your heart and put evil schemes into your mind" (Ezekiel 38:10). Everything he thought in his heart, the Holy One, blessed be He, made public. And what Esau thought, see later at the end of chapter 42 [of Genesis]. He went to Ishmael and said, "This is not the way of the world that I should kill my father Isaac. Rather, kill him and let me inherit the entire world." This is what he said with his mouth, but in his heart he was saying, "I will kill Jacob after Ishmael kills Isaac." He came to Ishmael and killed him and said, "Why did you kill my father?" And I will inherit the entire world for myself." He thought this in his heart, and the Holy One, blessed be He, made it public, as it is said, "For I have laid bare Esau's rugged mountains and his dwelling place" (Jeremiah 49:10). The Lord said, "I know what you thought in your heart," as it is said, "Because you said, 'These two nations and these two lands shall be mine, and we will possess them,' whereas the Lord was there" (Ezekiel 35:10). There I looked into your heart and saw what you thought. Likewise, Gog and Magog think in their hearts, as it is said, "On that day, things will come to your heart and you will plan an evil plan" (Ezekiel 38:10). And the Holy One, blessed be He, makes public what they are thinking, as it is said, "And you said, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates'" (Ezekiel 38:11). And what does he think? Rather, this is what Pharaoh, who came against the Israelites, says: "He [Moses] was a fool, he left his patron and came to them." And similarly, Amalek, Sisera, and anyone who stood against them [the Israelites], they left [it] to the Holy One, blessed be He, [to deal with them], [because] they were fools. But what can I do? I will go first to the patrons of Israel, and if I kill the Messiah, he will raise up other Messiahs. But [the judgment] is upon the Lord, as it says, "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" (Psalms 2:1-2). Edom, Ishmael, Gebal, Ammon, and Assyria all conspired against the Almighty, as it is written, "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones" (Psalms 83:3). And what do they do? They stand on their feet and look up at the Almighty, saying, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more" (Psalms 83:5). What is the name of Israel? They say, "Let us wipe it out," as it is written, "Blessed is the Eternal, God of Israel" (Psalms 41:14). And what does the Lord do to them from above? He stands on their feet and punishes them, as it is written: "And this shall be the plague...he shall stand upon his feet, and his eyes shall consume away in their holes, and his tongue shall consume away in his mouth." (Zechariah 14:12). Those feet that wanted to stand against Me, the plague consumes them while they stand on their feet. Those eyes that looked upwards, his eyes shall consume away in their holes. And that tongue that spoke against Me, his tongue shall consume away in his mouth. The Lord said to them: "At first, there was no peace among you, 'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked'" (Isaiah 48:22). But now you have made peace with each other to come against Me. It is written, "For they have consulted together with one consent; against thee do they make a covenant: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah." (Psalm 83:6-9). All of you have made peace to come against Me, so I will also do the same. And you, son of man, shall say to the birds and to every beast of the field: "Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood." (Ezekiel 39:17). Just as you did not have peace with each other and made peace to come upon me, so too I call the birds and animals that did not have peace with each other and I make peace between them to come upon you. And because you said, "And let not the name of Israel be remembered anymore," (Psalm 83:5) your life will end and they will bury you and take your name away from the world, as it is said, "all the people of the land shall bury them. The day I manifest My glory shall bring renown to them", and they shall make an end. (Ezekiel 39:13)

“The Lord said to Moses: Count every firstborn male of the children of Israel from one month old and above, and take the number of their names” (Numbers 3:40).
“The Lord said to Moses: Count every firstborn male of the children of Israel…” – that is what is written: “Since you were precious in My eyes, you were honored…” (Isaiah 43:4). The Holy One blessed be He said to Jacob: Jacob, you are exceedingly precious in My eyes, as, as it were, I have affixed your visage to my Throne, and the angels laud Me in your Name and say: “Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity” (Psalms 41:14). That is, “since you were precious in My eyes, you were honored…”
Another matter: “Since you were precious in My eyes, you were honored” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Jacob: You are exceedingly precious in My eyes, as, as it were, I and My ministering angels emerged to greet you upon your departure to go to Padan Aram and upon your return. When you departed, what is written: “Jacob departed.… he encountered the place.… he dreamed, and behold, a ladder…[and behold, the angels of God].… And behold, the Lord stood over him… (Genesis 28:10–13). Rabbi Hoshaya said: Happy is one born of a woman who saw this, the King and His entourage standing over him and protecting him. From where is it derived upon his return? It is as it is stated: “Jacob went on his way, [and the angels of God encountered him]” (Genesis 32:2). Those are the angels; the Divine Presence, from where is it derived? “God appeared to Jacob again, upon his return [from Padan Aram]” (Genesis 35:9). That is, “since you were precious in My eyes, you were honored.”
Another matter: “Since you were precious in My eyes…” – the Holy One blessed be He said to Jacob: You are precious in My eyes, as for all the nations of the world, I did not provide a census, but for you, I provided a census. This is analogous to a king who had many granaries and they were all foul and filled with black kernels. He was not particular about their number. He had one granary that he saw that it was fine. He said to a member of his household: ‘Those granaries are foul and filled with black kernels; therefore, do not be particular about their number. But ascertain how many kor are in this one, how many sacks, how many measures are in it.’ So, the king, this is the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He. The granary, this is Israel: “It is like My threshing floor, the product of my granary” (Isaiah 21:10). Likewise, it says: “Israel is sacred to the Lord, the first of His crop” (Jeremiah 2:3). The member of his household, this is Moses, as it is stated: “Not so My servant Moses; in all My house he is faithful” (Numbers 12:7). The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘The idol worshippers are foul,’ as it is stated: “Peoples will be as burnings of lime, cut thorns…” (Isaiah 33:12); ‘therefore, do not be particular about their number. But Israel, they are righteous; their groups are all wheat,’ as it is stated: “Your people, they are all righteous” (Isaiah 60:21). Likewise it says: “All of you is fair, my love, and there is no blemish in you” (Song of Songs 4:7). ‘That is why you shall be particular about their number.’ So, Moses did; he counted them, how many kor are in it, as it is stated: “Take a census of the entire congregation of the children of Israel” (Numbers 1:2); how many sacks: “its host and those counted” (Numbers 2:4); how many measures, as it is stated: “Count every…male.”