Tehilim Perek 67

Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll be discussing Tehilim, Chapter 67, which is said every morning during Shachris.

The chapter gives thanks to God for all the goodness that He’s done for us. It asks that we receive His blessings, emphatically stating that all people on earth will eventually feel grateful to Him. Mankind will sing, thanking God for all the good that He’s done for them. They will recognize that He is the source of all parnassa, livelihood, and In return, God will bless us and all of the people in on earth will fear Him.

Verse 6 and 7 say:

יוֹד֖וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים ׀ אֱלֹהִ֑ים י֝וֹד֗וּךָ עַמִּ֥ים כֻּלָּֽם׃ אֶ֭רֶץ נָתְנָ֣ה יְבוּלָ֑הּ יְ֝בָרְכֵ֗נוּ אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃

The peoples will praise You, O God; all peoples will praise You. May the earth yield its produce; may God, our God, bless us.

Radak and others explain that this refers to the times of the finial redemption, when all people on earth will know and experience His Oneness.

In exile, we don’t see God clearly, as if there’s an iron curtain concealing His amazing, exalted light from shining down from Heaven. In the times of the final redemption, however, God will remove the veil and shine down His blessing for all to see and feel.

This is what Yeshaya Hanavi prophesied, that the knowledge of God will fill the earth like the waters that cover the sea.

The word Hebrew word for knowledge, both in our passuk and in Yeshaya, is “daas.” Daas is a very specific form of knowledge.

There are deep things in the Kabbala that are way beyond us, but I would like to share a short explanation of how it works. The Kabbalah teaches that there are ten sefiros, levels. The first three are Chochma, Bina and Daas, loosely translated as Wisdom, Intuition, and Knowledge. Chochma is essentially rarified, an initial flash of wisdom. Bina is thinking about that piece of information and developing it further. Daas is considered the integration of the knowledge that you developed,

the union of Chochma and Bina. If Chochma is the father and Bina the mother, Daas would be considered the child.

This is what our passuk says. “Yoducha amim, the nations will know,” using the world daas. They will have true knowledge and experience of God. This is also what Yeshaya Hanavi predicted, that the world will be filled with this knowledge. People will truly understand the Oneness behind life.

There’s also a great psychological and spiritual truth in this. Many people think that God is outside of them. They envision God as separate from reality, that there is someplace they need to get to in order to reach Him. They see their experience of life as coming at them and not through them. When we understand that God is everywhere, we can see that we are not separate either from creation or from God.

The true paradigm in which the world works is inside-out, not outside in. Little children sing that Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is truly everywhere. This includes our thinking, because the power of thought is divine in nature. We must remember that there is really nothing but Hashem.

When we see past the illusion of our thinking, we’re able to see that God really is everywhere! We’ll be able to see the true Godly paradigm in which the world was, is, and always will be functioning!

May we merit seeing the time of the final redemption, when all people on earth will praise Him. As the chapter ends, “God will bless us and all ends of the earth will fear Him.”

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.