We are now in Tehilim perek 115, pasuk י
בֵּית אַהֲרֹן בִּטְחוּ בַה׳ עֶזְרָם וּמָגִנָּם הוּא
House of Aharon, rely on Hashem, He is your help and your savior.
These words עֶזְרָם וּמָגִנָּם הוּא He is your help and your savior,
are repeated three times - for Bet Yisrael- the house of Israel, Bet Aharon/The Kohanim, and Yireh Hashem/ the God-fearing people.
Why are they separated this way?
Some say that Bet Aharon is singled out because they are the ones that atone for, and pray for the Jewish people, that their korbanot should be accepted properly, that there should be no problems in their days …and in order for their prayers to be accepted on behalf of the Jewish people, they need to rely on God. Bet Aharon are the messengers of the Jewish people.
Similarly, there is a special tefila for the chazanim on Yom Kippur, as those that represent other people.
Other explanations of this pasuk zero in on the Bet Aharon because they, in a way, had less of a reason to have Bitachon in the times of the Bet Hamikdash, because God specifically commanded the Jewish people to take care of them. There are 24 different gifts that they get. Furthermore,
עֶזְרָם – help, means financial help and וּמָגִנָּם/shield, means protection from disease.
As they were working in the Bet HaMikdash, they ate a lot of meat, so there were special doctors set up just for the kohanim in the Bet HaMikdash, so that they would not get stomach ailments.
So the Kohanim were basically taken care of, and therefore, one might say they were just fine.
But no- they should rely on God, even though everything was set up for them. Realize that the One that is helping you is not the person who gives you gifts, and the One that’s protecting you isn’t the doctor who takes you. Rather, it’s Hashem.
So this pasuk is specifically addressing the one who has everything taken care of, who’s in a cozy position, because he too needs to rely on Hashem.
Another explanation, given by the Malbim, as well as the Chafetz Chaim, is that these pesukim refer to the different levels of Bitachon, which bring about the different levels of protection. The more a person relies on Hashem, the more protection he gets. We go up on the levels.
The Gemara in Pesachim tells us that in the end of time, the wars of Gog UMaGog ( which some say were already started in WWII) will be a very difficult time, when it will be very hard to escape the severe Middat Hadin. Therefore, it’s directing each person on his level- the people at large, the Bet Aharon (referring to the clergy, rabbis) and the God fearing people, who are even higher than the kohanim.
To all of these people we say, “In this severe time, the only way to save oneself from the very strict judgment is to strengthen oneself in Bitachon.”
In the words of the Chafetz Chaim, “In our times, we are being attacked by a lot of difficulties. If we strengthen ourselves and rely on God with all our hearts, God will help us and remember us for good.
That’s why it says ה׳ זכרנו יברך
If we rely on God, then God remembers us,
יְבָרֵךְ אֶת־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל יְבָרֵךְ אֶת־בֵּית אַהֲרֹן
יְבָרֵךְ יִרְאֵי ה׳
The beracha that comes to these three groups of people:
Bet Yisrael, Bet Aharon and Yireh Hashem corresponds to the bitachon that each of these groups has.
The more bitachon you have, the more protected and saved you will be during these times.
These are the three levels of people, and the degree of bitachon with the corresponding levels of beracha.
Have a wonderful day.