During the period of "Asseret Yemei Teshuva," the "Ten Days of Repentance" from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, we make several additions to our prayer service, among them the inclusion of Psalm 130, or "Shir ha-Maalot mi-Ma'amakim." We add this chapter of Tehillim to our service before the recitation of "borkhu," after "yishtabach."
That forgiveness constitutes a primary theme of this Psalm is clear from the opening verses: "Out of the depths I call You, O Lord. O Lord, listen to my cry… If you keep account of sins, O Lord, Lord, who will survive?" Here we appeal for divine compassion - without which survival on earth would be impossible. The following verse, however, requires some explanation: "For with You is the power to forgive, so that You may be held in awe." How do we explain the cause-and-effect described in this verse, by which God's willingness to forgive causes us to fear Him, to hold Him in awe? Does not the prospect of atonement potentially diminish the fear of divine retribution?
Rashi explains that the first clause of the verse, "For with You is the power to forgive," emphasize God's exclusive right to pardon transgressions; He has not delegated this power to any other agent. This now explains the verse's second clause. Were God to have shared the power of absolution, if He had commissioned some agent to grant atonement on His behalf, people could be misled. They would feel mistakenly confident in the absolution they received and would thus not feel the burden of their wrongdoing on their shoulders. The fact that God alone reserves the right to grant atonement compels us to appeal to Him directly and fear retribution. The Radak cites this same approach from his father.
Ibn Ezra offers a much different explanation. The forgiveness granted to sinners instills within other sinners the desire and confidence they need to turn over a new leaf and repent. If God refuses to forgive, sinners would continue along their iniquitous path with no incentive to return. But God grants atonement in order that He "may be held in awe" by those who have sinned, in order to give them encouragement to perform teshuva. The section of the Yom Kippur ne'iservice that begins, "Ata notein yad la-psha'im" elaborates on this theme, that God affords us the opportunity of teshuva so as to encourage us to return and recommit ourselves to His command.
A third interpretation of this verse, which resembles that of Ibn Ezra, is suggested by Rav Yosef Albo in his Sefer ha-Ikarim 4:26. He explains that human nature is such that man does not fear the inevitable. When faced with any tragedy or hardship from which he cannot escape, a human being naturally resigns himself to the adverse situation and accepts it. Thus, for example, Rav Yosef Albo explains this as the reason why people are generally not overcome by a fear of death. As death is the inevitable end of every human being, people do not dwell on it to the point where they live in constant fear. People experience fear only when the possibility exists of avoiding the given experience. The prospect of teshuva and forgiveness thus gives rise to a fear in divine justice. Once we realize that repentance can indeed earn us expiation, we feel the pressure and impetus to repent. If no such possibility existed, we would resign ourselves to the outcome of our wrongdoing and would have no reason to undergo the grueling process of introspection and repentance. Now that God has granted us the opportunity of teshuva, we experience fear in divine retribution and, hopefully, will make every effort to avoid it.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il