Midot Hayom 5770 Day 43: Chesed in Malchut

While David was tending the sheep in the desert, he would gaze upon the desert, serve God, and sing praises: “When I behold your heavens, the work of Your fingers . . .” (Psalm 8:4). At night, when all were asleep in their beds, he would sit

in the desert and gaze at the heavens, at the moon, stars, and constellations, the host of the heavens, and he would praise and extol the Holy One, Blessed is He (Zohar Chadash, Shir HaShirim 67b).

[God] tested David by means of sheep and found him to be a good shepherd. He would take the little sheep out to graze [first] so that they could eat the tender grass. Afterwards, he took out the old ones so that they could eat the medium grass. Finally, he took the young adults out to chew the tough grass. Furthermore, he led them only in the desert, to avoid stealing. Said the Holy One, Blessed is He, “You have been found faithful with sheep. Now come and tend my flock” (Shocher Tov 118:21).

The King, especially King David, is considered the grand incorporator. He must be able to relate to each individual member of the nation as if he were actually sharing their lives with them. David was constantly focused on all of creation, “The heavens, at the moon, stars, and constellations, the host of the heavens,” both the physical and spiritual worlds.  He began as a young man, a shepherd,  to relate to every aspect of creation.

His first test was “by means of sheep.” God tested David’s ability to use his sense of Malchut to nurture the life force of, to practice Chesed with, each individual sheep under his care. He was tested on his ability to express the Chesed in Malchut.

Hopefully, we are able to use our Service of God, our Torah study, prayers and Mitzvot, to develop a sense of the Unity of creation as an expression of God’s Light. The first test of our sense of Malchut is our ability to use that sense of the connection of all existence, to nurture others and help them discover their place in the grand scheme.

Tools:

1. Focus on the effect of our Free Choice on all of creation. (Malchut)
2. Emphasize all prayers that speak of our praise of God as being joined with the praises of all creations, physical and spiritual.
3. Practice speaking to others, especially children and students, with a sense of their being connected with all of existence.
4. Speak to others in a manner that directs them to appreciate their unique place in creation.
5. (See Strangers In The World)