Blessing Over Trouble and the Harp That Played at Midnight

Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, who chose you, Israel, out of seventy nations, and placed in you wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and discernment, that you should trust in Him at all times and at every hour. Another interpretation of "Arise, cry out in the night": "crying out" here means nothing but the acknowledgment that comes with afflictions. How so? When a person does all that he does and afflictions come upon him, let him rise at midnight and praise and bless and exalt and magnify and sanctify the Name of Him who spoke and the world came into being, blessed is He, as it is said, "At midnight I rise to give thanks to You" (Psalms 119:62). And how did David know how to fix the exact moment of midnight? Thus the sages said: A harp hung above David's bed, and when midnight arrived a north wind would blow upon it and the harp would begin to play by itself; therefore it is said "midnight." And it says, "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper" (Proverbs 28:13) - rather, when afflictions come upon a person for his good, they come to rescue from his hand all that he has done. Let him not say in his heart, "I am righteous, I am upright, I perform acts of lovingkindness; why should afflictions come upon me?" Let a person look into himself and make known to himself that the Holy One shows favoritism to no one, as it is said, "Israel is My firstborn son" (Exodus 4:22), and elsewhere it says, "You are children of the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 14:1). When He chastises them, He chastises them only for their good, as it is said, "Know in your heart that as a man chastises his son, so the LORD your God chastises you" (Deuteronomy 8:5). And is there a person in the world who wishes that his son should sin? God forbid. Another interpretation of "Arise, cry out in the night": "crying out" here means nothing but joy, as it is said, "Sing with joy for Jacob" (Jeremiah 31:7), and "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion" (Zechariah 2:14) - sing with much singing and rejoice with much joy. Why? "For behold, I come and will dwell in your midst." And it says, "The LORD has revealed to me four craftsmen" (Zechariah 2:3), and these are: the son of David, the son of Joseph, Elijah, and the priest of righteousness. Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, who chose the sages and their students. They told a parable: To what is this like? To a king who had a grove of trees near his house, and he soaked the garden and hoed it and watered it from the channel and gave it manure in its corners, so that every tree in it - its days of old age are better than its days of youth, as it is said, "They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat, for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people" (Isaiah 65:22). And it says, "Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). This thing is destined to be in the end, and part of it is fulfilled today. Therefore I said: A person is obligated to bless and praise and glorify and exalt and magnify and sanctify the Name of the Holy One for all that comes upon him, whether good or evil. How so? If a lion met him and did not eat him, let him bless and praise the Name of the Holy One, for perhaps he was destined for the lion and the Holy One had pity on him and it did not eat him. If a bear met him and did not eat him, let him bless and praise the Name of the Holy One. If a dog met him and did not eat him, let him bless. If a wolf met him and did not eat him, let him bless. If a snake or scorpion met him and did not sting him, let him bless and praise, for perhaps he was destined for them and the Holy One had pity on him. If a thorn struck him in the flesh and did not strike him in the sinews and bones, let him bless and praise the Name of the Holy One that it did not strike him in sinew and bone. And whoever prays and gives thanks over the light things, it is as though he prayed and gave thanks over the weighty things, as it is said, "For this let every pious one pray to You at a time of finding" (Psalms 32:6).