Synagogue Sermon
The Royal Reach (1964)
One of the most moving of all the Psalms in the whole Book of Tehillim is Psalm 27, which we read twice every day during the entire High Holiday season. The most significant and characteristic verses in this deeply religious passage are the ones beginning ahat sha’alti me’et ha-Shem, otah avakesh – “One thing I ask of the Lord, that do I seek: that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the graciousness of the Lord and seek Him in His Temple.” Here is a deeply spiritual prayer of a sensitive, devout soul. And yet when we turn to the Rabbis for their comment, we find one statement that, at first glance, is almost shocking. Rabbi Abba bar Kahanah said, malkhut sha’al, what David had in mind when he said ahat sha’alti, I ask for one thing from the Lord, was malkhut, the kingdom of Israel. Imagine! David clearly says that the one thing he asks is to dwell in the House of the Lord – and Rabbi Abba accuses him of political designs on the Israelite throne! David explains his prayer as the hope to behold God’s graciousness – and a Rabbi interprets his desire as one for power and influence! Are not the Rabbis being unfair to the memory of the “Sweet Singer of Israel?”Of course, they are being fair. On the contrary, if we understand their remarks properly, they are not only being fair, but they are paying David a handsome compliment. For this is what Rabbi Abba meant. Look at David. He is throughout most of his life, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Here are Philistines, there is Saul, and then his own son Absalom – all scheming to kill him, to do away with him once and for all. He is forced to flee for his life, to act insane lest he be trapped, hounded, and hunted like a wild animal, hungry, cold, and tired.What would you imagine should be the first prayer of such a man? “O Lord, destroy my enemies.” “God, let me have my revenge against them.” “Bread, O Lord, bread to sustain me.” “One good victory, God, and I shall be happy.”Yet these a…