We continue our series on explaining the Pesukim (verses) of Tehillim. Today we will discuss a Pasuk (verse) in Perek (chapter) Kuf Mem Alef, Pasuk Bet. David HaMelech says, “Tikon tefillati ketoret lefanecha, Mas'at kapay minchat erev”: Let my prayer stand before you like the incense offering, like the ketoret offering they would bring in the Beit HaMikdash. Let the lifting of my hands be considered like the afternoon offering that was brought in the Beit HaMikdash.
David HaMelech, in this Pasuk of Tehillim, is praying to Hashem that his tefillah, his prayers, should be so powerful that they should be considered before Hashem like the service in the Beit HaMikdash. He says, “Tikon tefillati”: Let my prayer stand before you, Hashem, like the ketoret, like the burning of the incense that was done in the Beit HaMikdash, which the rabbis tell us was one of the most powerful services performed there. The ketoret contained a miraculous power. It had the ability to create miracles and do wonders for Am Yisrael (the people of Israel). At the same time, David HaMelech says, “Borei Olam” (Creator of the world), allow “Mas'at kapay”—allow the lifting of my hands, the movements that I make with my hands during prayer—to be considered as if I am performing with my hands the service of the afternoon offerings in the Beit HaMikdash. Meaning, David HaMelech is asking Borei Olam that his prayers should be so strong, so powerful, so penetrating, that they should be as great as the service in the Beit HaMikdash. The question we ask is: How can a person merit that his prayers are so powerful that they are considered before Hashem like the service of the Beit HaMikdash?
The answer lies in the first word of this Pasuk: Tikon. The Malbim, in his commentary on Tehillim, tells us that the definition of this word is preparation, preparing. You see, we have a similar word in the Navi (prophet) Amos. The Pasuk there says, “Hikon likrat Elohecha Yisrael.” The Navi cries out to the people, telling them, “Yisrael, Am Yisrael, Hikon likrat Elohecha. Prepare yourself.” The word Hikon comes from the word Hachana, preparation. Hikon means “Prepare yourself”; likrat Elohecha means “before you call out to Hashem your God.” Before you pray to Hashem, prepare yourself. The Malbim reads the Pasuk this way: “Tikon tefillati”—if my prayer has within it Tikon, if it has the proper preparation before I begin my prayer, that will make my tefillah so powerful that it will be as strong as the incense offering that was brought in the Beit HaMikdash. The movement of my hands will be considered before Hashem like the minchat erev, like the bringing of the afternoon offering in the Beit HaMikdash.
The Rabbis tell us that the most important part of prayer, believe it or not, is the preparation for prayer. It is when a person sits down a few moments before beginning to pray, just to clear his head, settle himself, cleanse his mind of the busy day he is having, clear out his thoughts, and focus on the prayer. Focus on what he is about to do: talk with his Creator. You are about to sit down and talk to Hashem. You are about to talk to the King of the world, who has the ability to provide you with anything and everything that you need. Borei Olam is there listening to our prayers, and therefore, the Rabbis say, a person needs a few moments of preparation. If a person gives himself just a few minutes to sit down and use that time to prepare himself before he prays, those few minutes will make all the difference for his tefillah. Those few minutes can fuel and empower your tefillah with tremendous strength, because you gave it a few minutes of thinking about what you are about to do, which is to talk to Hashem.
You know, they say there was once a great rabbi by the name of Rav Zundel Kroizer. He was known to always pray Shacharit (morning prayer) in Vatikin, the early minyan (prayer quorum) in the morning. He did this from the time he was seven years old, praying only in the Vatikin minyan in the morning. Many years later, when he was older and walking in the street early in the morning on his way to his Vatikin minyan, he tripped on the floor, and the student who was with him helped him up. Because of the fall, they were delayed. The rabbi asked the student, “What time is it? We may make it to the Vatikin minyan.” The student said, “Rabbi, we’ll make it there exactly on time. The moment we get there, they’ll start. We’re good.” The rabbi told the student, “If that’s the case, I will not be praying Vatikin today. I’m going to pray in the later minyan.” The student asked, “Why, Rabbi? The second we get there, they’re going to start. We’ll make it perfectly on time.” The rabbi told his student, “I always like to prepare myself before I begin praying. I like to sit there a few minutes before I begin my prayer to prepare myself, to think about what I’m about to do. If I don’t have those few minutes to prepare myself, then I’m not interested in praying in that minyan.” The student said, “But, Rabbi, you’ve been praying Vatikin since you were seven years old. You have not yet missed one day of Vatikin since you were seven, and you’re going to miss it now? We could get there. You could pray on time. We’ll get there exactly when they start. Why would you miss it?” The rabbi said, “If I don’t have those few minutes, it’s not worth it to pray, even in Vatikin. And yes, I’m willing to give up Vatikin, which I haven’t missed since I was seven years old, in order to be able to pray in a minyan where I could sit down and prepare myself just for a few minutes before I talk to Hashem.”
This story is unbelievable: how this great rabbi, Rav Zundel Kroizer, viewed the importance of giving ourselves a few minutes before we talk to Hashem. We cannot even begin to understand what those few minutes of preparation for Tefillah will do for ourselves, what they will do for Tefillah, and what they will do for our entire day. These few minutes are a game changer in a person’s life. This is what David HaMelech is telling us here: “Tikon tefillati.” If my prayer has Tikon, if it has the preparation before we call out to Hashem, our God, then it will be “ketoret lefanecha.” Then it will have the power and significance of the prayer—the significance of the ketoret offering, of the incense offering that was brought in the Beit HaMikdash.
Let us take this tremendous lesson from David HaMelech: before we pray, give ourselves just a few minutes before we begin talking to Hashem. Utilize those few minutes to sit down and think about what we are about to do. If we could even just utilize those few minutes to sit down and think about what we are about to do—to sit and read maybe a chapter of Tehillim to get ourselves in the mode of talking to Hashem, of conversing with Hashem—we will see that our Tefillah is a completely different Tefillah. It will truly be a Tefillah tantamount to the service of the Beit HaMikdash. Have a wonderful day.