Lord Get Me High

There’s a mystical Jewish teaching that, in the merit of reciting Psalm 27 every day (some say twice a day), from the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul until after Simchat Torah, a person will have any negative decrees against him or her cancelled.

 

Psalm 27 is commonly referred to as L’David Hashem Ori which comes from the first three words of the chapter of Tehillim (the Book of Psalms). What is it about this chapter of Tehillim that has that kind of power, to annul any Heavenly decrees that are harsh?

 

Understood deeply, Psalm 27 helps us connect to God, which was King David’s primary goal. The most well-known verse (which has been set to music multiple times) is Verse 4, “One [thing] I ask of the Lord, that I seek-that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to see the pleasantness of the Lord and to visit His Temple every morning.”

 

In Psalm 27 in general, and especially in Verse 4, King David, who wrote most of the Book of Psalms, asks to attach himself to God. We refer to Elul as the time when “the King is in the field,” meaning that God is especially close to the Jewish people in the month before Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Indeed, connecting to God, seeing God more and more in your daily life, is the spiritual task of these days preceding the High Holiday period.

 

Rabbi Elchanan Shoff of Los Angeles just published a small book titled Lord, Get Me High! Making the Most of the High Holiday Season by Exploring from Le-Dovid (Psalm 27). The name comes from a song by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (1925-1994) who was known as The Singing Rabbi. Carlebach wrote thousands of songs. Lord, Get Me High is one of his best known works.

 

 

Shoff’s small book is divided into 14 chapters, which correspond to the 14 verses of Psalm 27. The book, with extensive scholarly footnotes and use of Hebrew phrases, is intended for a Jewishly literate reader. However, there is much richness here for anyone who takes the time to delve in.

 

As an example, in Chapter 3, Shoff offers his readers an insight about how to understand the troubles that come into our lives. He says, “One great key that King David is showing us is that we should learn to see that Hashem is the One Who send us our challenges – instead of seeing them as coming directly from our enemies… This verse tells us that even in the actions of the enemy, we are to see Hashem’s presence.”

If you are already saying Psalm 27 daily during this time period, you’ll no doubt learn insights and new thoughts that will add meaning to your daily recitation. Even if you’re not likely to say this, or any, chapter of Tehillim every day, there are messages in this slim volume that will deepen your connection to God.

 

And that makes it worth the short read.