They tried with all their might to prove his innocence, but the higher court upheld the lower court’s ruling. The man still didn't give up. He made connections and succeeded in securing an audience with the king. The king could grant him clemency. In the king's palace, he argued his innocence and begged for mercy. He cried that his children and elderly parents depended on him and that he couldn’t be executed. The king wasn't impressed and didn't accept his pleas. There were only twenty-four hours left before the execution. But he still had hope. He thought that, against all odds, something outside the rules of nature could still occur, and he would be spared. Then he was brought to the execution station, and the executioner placed his sharpened knife is neck. Now he lost hope. There is no hope of being saved.
But a Yid won't lose hope even then. The sharp sword is on his neck, but he knows he can pour out his heart before Hashem and be saved.
Reb Shimshon Pinkus zt'l (Shaarim b'Tefillah, Rinah, p.52) discusses a person who prays to Hashem and says, "Ribono shel Olam! Woe to me! My life is so bitter. I have lost hope. There are no solutions to my problems." It seems like a beautiful tefillah, but he is speaking kefirah. There is a drop of apikorsus in his tefillah. Reb Shimshon Pinkus writes, "He is standing before his Creator and says there is no hope for him! If he truly believed in Hakadosh Baruch Hu and recognized Hashem's immense strength and kindness, he would think, 'Behold, I am speaking to the One who has all the solutions! He certainly has a solution for me!'"
Reb Shimshon Pinkus tells a mashal to express this point. Someone needed a large loan from the bank, but without credit or assets, the bank refused to give him a loan. One day, as his financial worries weighed heavily on his mind, he was riding on the bus. He yearned to find someone to speak to, if only just to relieve and unload the heavy burden that pressed on his heart. A stranger sat down next to him, and after some small talk, the poor man decided to tell the stranger what he was going through. He added, "All my problems could be resolved if I could meet the bank president. If the bank's president would hear what I am going through, he would certainly have compassion on me and give me a loan. But the bank refuses to arrange this appointment for me." From the way the stranger responded, the poor man realized that the person he was speaking to is none other than the president of the bank himself! He was sitting next to the person who could help him! He was beside himself with joy!
Rav Pinkus explains that this is the joy we should have when we stand in tefillah before Hashem. Behold, we are conversing directly with the One (and only one) Who can help us. How happy we should be! "His heart should burst with joy. 'What siyata dishmaya! The one whom I am speaking to now in the Shemonah Esrei is the one who can save me from all my problems!"
