Another matter, “He gave to Moses,” that is what is written: “You gave me the shield of Your salvation” (Psalms 18:36). It is speaking of Israel, who place their trust in the Holy One blessed be He, and He shields them, as it is written: “He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him” (Psalms 18:31). “Your right hand assists me” (Psalms 18:36), this is Torah, as it is written: “From His right, a fiery law to them” (Deuteronomy 33:2).
“Your humility makes me grow great” (Psalms 18:36); Is there anyone more humble than the Holy One blessed be He? Rabbi Abba bar Aḥa said: The way of the world is that the disciple sits before his teacher, and when he finishes, the disciple says to the teacher: ‘I have exhausted you,’10The disciple apologizes and thanks the teacher for having devoted so much time and energy to him. When God gave the Torah to Israel, He thanked them for their time, as it were (see Midrash Tehillim 18). and the entire matter as it is written in Bereshit Rabba until: “He lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men” (Genesis 18:2).11God came to visit Abraham after his circumcision, and as it were, Abraham was sitting and God was standing.
This is a sign of God’s great humility (Bereishit Rabba 48:1). Is there anyone more humble than this? That is, “Your humility makes me grow great.” Rabbi Simon said: Come and see what is written: “The men arose from there and looked toward Sodom…” (Genesis 18:16).
It should have said only: The Lord was still standing before Abraham.12The verse a few lines later that continues the story after God speaks states: “Abraham was still standing before the Lord” (Genesis 18:22), but since it was God who was standing and Abraham who was sitting, it would have been more accurate to say: The Lord was still standing before Abraham. It is, rather, a scribal emendation.13The verse is stated in a manner more befitting God’s honor.
That is, “Your humility makes me grow great.” Another matter, “Your humility makes me grow great,” ben Azzai said: Come and see the humility that the Holy One blessed be He possesses. Flesh and blood.14The reference is to Bereshit Rabba 1:12. The midrash there notes that God inserts a reference to Himself in the Torah only after mentioning creation.
Another matter, “Your humility makes me grow great” – the way of the world is that a flesh and blood king, as long as people are completely loyal to him, he attends to them to give them gifts, to distribute stipends to them, and he attends to their lives. But if they, God forbid, rebel against him, he does not attend to them for any matter in the world, and he halts their stipends. Why? Because they denied his kingdom.
But the Holy One blessed be He is not so; rather, they engage in angering Him below, and He engages above in giving them the Torah, which is entirely life, as it is stated: “He gave to Moses, as He concluded.” Is there anyone more humble than this? That is, “Your humility makes me grow great.”