Another thing, a letter to David. David said, "I am a stain." This is similar to someone who was passing by and had two coins in his hand. He saw a certain inn, one of which served fish and the other served meat.
He said, "What should I do if I tell him to bring me food?" Immediately, he brings me plates and I only have two coins. He went and said to the innkeeper, "Give me food for two coins." The innkeeper asked, "What will I give you for two coins?"
He replied, "Haven't you heard what the parable teaches? 'According to my purse, I dance.' " Similarly, King David said, "I cannot sit with the great ones, I will wait with the little ones. Let Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob be in the small room, and Moses and Aaron be in the antechamber, and I will stand on the threshold (Psalms 131:1-2). I have chosen to huddle in the house of God.
And if I cannot sit on the threshold, I will not leave the inn (ibid). Within the walls of Jerusalem, hallelujah. A prayer of David: "Hear, O Lord, my righteousness" (Psalms 17:1). This is as the scripture says (Proverbs 21:27), "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination."
Rabbi Yehoshua said in the name of Rabbi Chanina, "Because Balaam said to Balak (Numbers 23:1), 'Build me here seven altars,' meaning that the Lord desires sacrifices. But He says to Job's friends (Job 42:8), 'Now take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams.' The Lord said to them, 'I do not desire your sacrifices; the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Me.' So what do I desire from the prayers of Israel? As it is said (Proverbs 15:8), 'The prayer of the upright is His delight.'