Giving Thanks for Both the Good and the Bitter

"And the LORD said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the children of Israel" (Exodus 20:19): in the very language in which I speak to you, thus you shall speak to the children of Israel, in the holy tongue. Wherever the words "thus," "so," "answering," or "saying" are used, it is in the holy tongue. "You yourselves have seen": there is a difference between a person seeing for himself and others reporting to him; when others report to him, sometimes his heart is divided, but here, you yourselves have seen. Rabbi Nathan says: Why is "you yourselves have seen" stated? Because it says, "All the kings of the earth shall give You thanks, O LORD, for they have heard the words of Your mouth" (Psalms 138:4). One might think that just as they heard, so they saw; therefore Scripture teaches "you yourselves have seen", and the nations of the world did not see. "For from heaven I have spoken with you" (this is written at the verse "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai"). "You shall not make with Me" (Exodus 20:20): Rabbi Ishmael says, you shall not make the likeness of My ministers who serve before Me on high, nor the likeness of My angels, nor the likeness of the cherubim, nor the likeness of the ophanim. Rabbi Nathan says, "You shall not make with Me", that you should not say, behold I will make a sort of likeness and bow down to it; therefore Scripture teaches "You shall not make with Me", and likewise it says, "Take good heed to yourselves, for you saw no manner of form" (Deuteronomy 4:15). Rabbi Akiva says, "You shall not make with Me", that you should not treat Me the way others treat their gods: when good comes upon them, they honor their gods, as it is said, "Therefore he sacrifices to his net" (Habakkuk 1:16), and when calamity comes upon them, they curse their gods, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass, that when they are hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king" (Isaiah 8:21). But you, if I bring good upon you, give thanks; and if I bring sufferings upon you, give thanks. And so David said, "I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD" (Psalms 116:13); "I found trouble and sorrow, then I called upon the name of the LORD" (Psalms 116:3-4). And so Job said, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21), over the measure of good and over the measure of calamity. And so Job's wife said, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity?" and what does he say to her: "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks" (Job 2:9-10). The men of the generation of the Flood and the men of Sodom, who were ugly in prosperity, when calamity came upon them received it against their will; but we, who were pleasant in prosperity, let us not be unpleasant in calamity. Moreover, let a person rejoice in sufferings more than in the good, for even if a person is in prosperity all his days, he is not pardoned for the transgressions in his hand. And who pardons him? You must say: sufferings. Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob says, behold it says, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD" (Proverbs 3:11), and why? "For whom the LORD loves He corrects" and so on (Proverbs 3:12). You may say: Go out and see what caused the son to find favor with the father. You must say: this is sufferings.