ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף משלי 18:23

And it is likewise intimated in the Midrash that what Moses requested he requested within the framework of grace and not because he saw himself worthy of it, viz. (Sifrei, Deuteronomy 26): "'And I supplicated the L-rd at that time' — This is as the verse states (Proverbs 18:23): 'The poor man speaks entreatingly.' Two goodly leaders arose for Israel — Moses and David, king of Israel — and they could have attributed the existence of the world to their good deeds. Yet, they asked of the Holy One Blessed be He only a gift of grace." The reason for this is that when the righteous man reflects upon his sin against the Blessed One, in point of His majesty and exaltedness, he feels within himself that his sin can in no way be atoned, knowing a sin to be severe in proportion to the greatness of the one sinned against. It follows from this that if His greatness is infinite then the sin is of infinite severity. This is the intent of the statement of our sages (Shabbath 88b): "They [the righteous] act out of love and rejoice in afflictions," regarding their afflictions as naught in proportion to their sins. This is also alluded to in the words of the prophet (Hosea 5:13): "When Ephraim sees his sickness and Yehudah, his wound, then Ephraim will go to Ashur and send to King Yarev. But he will not be able to heal you, and he will not cure you of your wound." The analogy here is to a sick man who is ignorant of the cause of his illness and unable to be cured so long as his ignorance persists. It is thereafter written (Ibid 15): "I the L-rd will go and return to My place until they are guilty and seek My face." That is, until they acknowledge themselves as guilty, this being the prerequisite for repentance and correction of deed. For one's averting his eyes from his sins will not conceal them from the eyes of the Tester of reins and heart, as it is written (Isaiah 65:6): "Behold, it is written before Me; I will not be silent, but will repay," and (Ibid 7): "Your sins and the sins of your fathers together, says the L-rd." That is [(on the stylistic level)], their denying their sins will not cause them to be hidden from Me. They are written down before Me; how, then, can I not remember them? Even the sins of their fathers are exposed before Me. How, then, can they think that because they forget Me I will forget them!