David, Boaz, and the Midnight Oath Against the Evil Inclination

Another interpretation of "Awake, my glory" (Psalms 57:9). What is the meaning of "Awake, my glory"? It is on account of the honor of my Creator. For his inclination would say to him: "David, are you not a king? It is the way of kings to rise at the third hour of the day. Why, then, do you rise at midnight?" And he would answer it: "Awake, my glory" — my own honor is as nothing before the honor of my Creator. Therefore it is said, "Awake, my glory." And he would rise at midnight and praise the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "At midnight I rise to give thanks to You for Your righteous judgments" (Psalms 119:62). David said: I am obligated to rise at midnight and to praise You for the wonders You performed with my ancestress at midnight, as it is said, "And it came to pass at midnight that the man was startled and turned about, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, 'Who are you?' And she said, 'I am Ruth your handmaid.'" He said to her: "Stay the night, and it shall be in the morning, if he will redeem you, well" (Ruth 3:8-9,13). Rabbi Judah the Levite bar Shallum said: She said to him, "Are you dismissing me with mere words?" He said to her, "As the Lord lives" (Ruth 3:13) — I am not dismissing you with mere words. Another interpretation: "As the Lord lives." This teaches that he imposed an oath upon his inclination, which was accusing him and saying to him, "You are unmarried and she is unmarried; this is the hour for you to couple with her." Immediately that righteous man swore, "As the Lord lives, I will not touch her this night." And not Boaz alone, but all the righteous impose an oath upon their inclination. So you find with David, that when Saul fell into his hand, what did David say? "And David said: As the Lord lives, either the Lord shall strike him down, or his day shall come and he shall die" (I Samuel 26:10). Why did he swear two times? Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman said: His inclination came and said to him, "Had you fallen into his hand, he would have shown you no mercy and would have killed you. And by the Torah it is permitted to kill him, for he is a pursuer." Therefore he hastened and swore two times: "As the Lord lives, I will not kill him." Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the Universe, You know the strength of the evil inclination, how harsh it is." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: "Remove it little by little, and I will pass it away," as it is said, "Cast up, cast up the highway" (Isaiah 62:10), and it says, "Clear, clear the way" (Isaiah 57:14). "And in the world to come I will uproot it from you," as it says, "And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). Thus did Rabbi Tanhuma bar Abba expound.