Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, points us to King David as the ultimate example of repentance, of teshuvah. It says, "Many will see and be afraid. Whoever wants to do repentance should look at David." Why David? Because even this great king, a man after God's own heart, stumbled. He made mistakes, big ones. But he also turned back. He repented. And through his example, he offers us a path, a reassurance that we too can find our way back from even the deepest of errors.
The Midrash then connects this idea to the Exodus, recalling the moment when the Israelites witnessed the incredible power of God at the Red Sea. "And Israel saw the great hand that the Lord had inflicted upon the Egyptians," it says, quoting Exodus 14:31. Immediately then, Moses sang… It's a reminder that witnessing redemption, seeing the possibility of change, can inspire us to our own song of repentance and praise. It’s like Isaiah 55:4 says, "I have given him as a witness to peoples."
But what about the really, really big picture? What about the suffering of exile, the long, hard journey of the Jewish people through history? Psalm 92 speaks of God's "many things," His wonders and thoughts towards us. The Midrash connects this to the idea of clarifying the exile, understanding its purpose.
Rabbi Yudan, Rabbi Addi, and Rabbi Hama, citing Rabbi Levi, tell us that even Abraham, our patriarch, didn't initially grasp the meaning of exile. He only understood it through divine revelation. As we find in Psalms 66:12, "You made us ride through fire and water." This, the Midrash explains, refers to the exile. "We entered fire and water" – to Gehenna, which is often translated as hell, but here is understood more as a place of fiery trial and purification, a place of both fire and water.
Rabbi Berachiah even adds that Abraham stood silent all day, overwhelmed by the vision. God then prompts him, leading to the covenant described in Genesis 15:18: "On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham." It’s as if God is saying, "I see your confusion, your pain. But trust that even in this, there is a purpose. These trials, these exiles, are not meaningless. They are part of a larger plan."
The passage closes with a powerful thought: "Your wonders and thoughts towards us are amazing, for our sake, so that we will not be subjugated to Gehenna." The idea here is that God's interventions, His "wonders and thoughts," are ultimately for our benefit, to prevent us from being completely consumed by suffering and despair. Even in the midst of fire and water, there is a divine hand guiding us, a covenant protecting us.
So, what does all this mean for us today? Perhaps it's a reminder that even when we face our own personal "exiles," our own moments of intense struggle and pain, we are not alone. That just as God made a covenant with Abraham, promising redemption even in the face of exile, we too can find hope and meaning in our own journeys through fire and water. Maybe, just maybe, the very things that feel like our undoing are actually part of a larger plan, a path leading us towards greater understanding and a deeper connection with the divine. And like David, we can always turn back.