We are back to our Pesukim in Tehilim. Today we will study chapter 131, pasuk ג
יַחֵל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל ה׳ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עוֹלָם
The Jewish people should hope to God from now to forever. There is a beautiful Yalkut Shemoni on this pasuk, that I would like to share. It talks about the concept of hope, which is some thing that David HaMelech stresses quite often.
The Midrash quotes another pasuk in tehilim,
קַוֺּה קִוִּיתִי ה׳ וַיֵּט אֵלַי וַיִּשְׁמַע שַׁוְעָתִי
Hope, I hoped to Hashem, and He tilted Himself toward me and He heard my cries”
That’s what it means, “On that day, in the future we will say This is our God, the One that we hoped to, and He saved us.”
On that, the Midrash says, “All we have going for us is that we are hoping for God to redeem us. And we will be redeemed, “because of the consistent hope.“ As it says in Eicha, “God is good ( to those) that hope to Him.”
And there is another pasuk that says, “ God will return to those that are tied to hope.”
We are bonded to hope.
The Midrash then says that If one will say, as it says in Yirmiyah, “the cutting season has passed and the summer is over, and season after season goes by, and promise after promise….? Still,
קַוֵּה אֶל ה׳ חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל ה׳
Still we should hope to Hashem, strengthen our hearts again, and hope to Hashem.
The Midrash is telling us, “Hope after hope.“
It’s talking to us.
We know from the Bet Halevi that when it says that God will ask if we hoped for our salvation, it doesn’t just mean the public salvation, but rather it means everyone in their own challenges.
חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ
We have to strengthen our hearts, and hope because if we hoped and we weren’t saved, hope again and if you weren’t saved, hope again!
And if you ask when this is going to end, the Midrash says that David HaMelech told us, in our pasuk fro above,
יַחֵל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל ה׳ מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עוֹלָם
The Jewish people should hope to God from now to forever.
Hoping is forever. It is never ending.
When am I going to stop hoping? Never.
It keeps on going. We keep on hoping.. Hoping is forever.
We once quoted the Ramchal that says that this trait of hoping is literally forever.
Even after a person passes away and they are in Gehinom, they hope to get out.
Therefore, we should exercise our hoping muscles. It’s not a one time event. We are constant hopers. It is our trademark. יחל ישראל
The Jewish people hope- it’s our trademark. And it will be our merit for the redemption. And that is why we say “because we hoped, we will be saved.“ “Because we always hoped to You.“ These pesukim are common and well-known. We have to focus when we say them. Hope is forever. That is what David HaMelech is saying. We should never give up. We should never say that we can’t hope anymore. Hoping is forever.
There is an Arab saying, “ A head without a headache is a head in the grave.” But a head without hope, is not a head in the grave, because even in the grave you can still be hoping. Hoping is never over.
Have a wonderful day.