ספר שמות

It is well known that it is G’d’s intention to confer ‎blessings and benefits on His creatures; however, there ‎are times when the benefits remain in the realm of the ‎celestial regions, never reaching its addressees, ‎whereas on other occasions these benefits are ‎executed so that they become visible and felt by its ‎recipients. The Baal Shem tov of blessed ‎memory dwelled on this when he explained the verse ‎ה' ‏צלך על יד ימינך‎, “the Lord is your shadow, always on your ‎right.” (psalms 121,5) He explained that just as the ‎shadow reflects its owner’s movements, so G’d’s ‎dealings with His creatures reflect these creatures’ ‎deeds. If man emulates G’d’s attribute of Mercy in ‎dealing with his fellow man, G’d can be depended upon ‎to deal similarly with that creature also. The Talmud ‎‎Shabbat 151 phrases it thus: ‎כל המרחם עם הבריות ‏מרחמין עליו‎, “anyone who has shown mercy to the ‎creatures will experience that when called for G’d will ‎deal mercifully with him.” If man practices the advice of ‎the sages to be ‎משמח בחלקו‎, “to accept always with good ‎cheer what fate has in store for him,” he will find that ‎G’d will respond to his virtues in kind. This is what the ‎‎Midrash says on the verse in psalms 121,5. It ‎follows that when man possesses the faith that G’d will ‎help him through some major problem that faces him, ‎he can rest assured that G’d will indeed do so ‎‎[if G’d feels that this is for this person’s ‎benefit. We do not always know what is good for us. ‎Ed.] If a person forever worries about where ‎his parnassah, livelihood, will come from, he is ‎liable to experience that “G’d, acting like a shadow, ‎shares in his worries, rather than provides the ‎solution.”‎‎[The author continues with exegesis of the verse in ‎psalms 121,5 at length. As this is very repetitious and ‎germane primarily to someone writing a commentary ‎on psalms, I have decided to omit this. Ed.]