Ashrei 3

תהלה לדוד: ארוממך אלוקי המלך – A Psalm of praise by David: I will exalt You, my G-d the King,

ואברכה שמך לעולם ועד – and I will bless Your Name forever and ever.

Perhaps David HaMelech’s name is mentioned here to arouse his merit¹ and to remind us of the midrash² that tells us that all that David said in Tehilim was intended for himself as well as for all of klal Yisrael, for all times. He wrote it with each of us in mind.

There is a certain aura and fear when we say the word “המלך” on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. That same King of Kings, Master of the Universe, Creator of the billions of stars most of which are larger than our earth (המלך) is also my personal G-d (אלוקי).³  He watches over me and is involved in all aspects of my life.

We mentioned in the last pasuk: Fortunate are those who feel that their lives are the absolute best that they can be at this moment.  How do we achieve this lofty state in the face of the challenges, pain, and difficulties in our lives?  We must remember that Hashem loves us and knows exactly what is best for our eternal benefit. We must work on exalting and lifting Hashem up (ארוממך) by realizing that He is above our understanding.⁴ This applies equally to klal and world events (המלך) and to events in our personal lives (אלוקי).

“And I will bless Your Name” (ואברכה שמך) means recognizing that He is the source of all brachah.⁵ “Forever and ever” (לעולם ועד) refers to every day of our lives.⁶

When we recognize and internalize deeply that all of our successes in both ruchniyus and gashmiyus, as well as all of our challenges and difficulties, come directly and lovingly from Hashem for our eternal benefit, then we can truly “bless [His] Name for ever and ever.”  We will also merit to bring down an increase in the flow of brachah, which is another meaning of “blessing His Name.”⁷

May we all merit to increase the flow of brachah.

^{ספר נפשי חולת אהבת 1}

^{2 מדרש שוחר טוב תהלים י"ח}

^{3 רוקח חלק א:קמ"ג}

^{4 ספר נפשי חולת אהבתך מיוסד ע״פ מלבי״ם תהלים קמ״ה}

^{5 רבינו בחיי בכד הקמח, ספר החינוך, אבודרהם, ועוד}

^{6 רוקח, בעל תוספות רי״ד}

⁷