Maintain Your Spiritual Equilibrium \ King David
“A song of David, when he fled from Avshalom his son” (Tehillim 3).
King David’s son, Avshalom tried to usurp his throne. In order to avoid conflict, King David fled from him. As King David was fleeing he was “crying and laughing.” The Midrash asks, “King David, are you sad or happy?”
On one hand, he was “crying” because he realized that the severe trouble that he had with his son, reflected that he must have committed a misdeed that seriously “troubled” HaShem. That realization caused him intense remorse and repentance.
On the other hand, he was “happy” because he recognized the kindness of HaShem in his judgement. Even though he was “on the run,” his situation was better than Moshe Rabenu, who had to flee from Pharaoh as a lone fugitive. He was also in a better place than Yaacov Avinu, who fled alone from his brother, Esev, who intended to kill him. King David was thankful to HaShem that he was not alone. He had the support of his beloved family, his faithful subjects, and his loyal army.
King David teaches us how to balance our lives. He took responsibility for his actions and accepted the consequences, but he also was highly aware of HaShem’s great compassion in granting him so much good!
Not only did he look for HaShem’s kindness, he rejoiced and — even sang to HaShem — as the verse says, “A song of David, when he fled from Avshalom his son.”
Let us be inspired by King David to learn to look for HaShem’s kindness when trouble hits us. The more we focus on the compassion of HaShem, the happier we will be and the more wisdom we will have to maintain our spiritual equilibrium.
