This berachah contains the beautiful words, "Kol zeman sheneshamah bekirbi modah ani lefancha...– As long as my neshamah is within me, I will thank You." This echoes the verse, "The dead cannot praise you...". Only with our neshamah inside our body, we can live and therefore we need to constantly praise Hashem for this priceless opportunity.
Furthermore, the Ramchal notes that the fact we possess a G-dly neshamah makes us more elevated than the Malachim. This is because the Malachim exist only in the spiritual realm, yet our neshamah is placed in our physical body and materialistic world. The fact that when we use our bechirah correctly, we can uplift the physical makes us greater than the malachim who don’t have this ability! (Derech Etz Chaim, hakdamah) So, surely we need to be grateful for this awesome opportunity that can elevate us above the Malachim.
The berachah concludes, "Hamahazir neshamos lifgarim meisim– Who returns souls to 'dead bodies.'" Chazal (Berachos 57b) teach that sleep is a 'sixtieth of death.' So, when we arise, we actually have a form of techiyas hameisim–the resurrection of the dead. Our neshamah is returned to us, allowing us the privilege of another day of life (Rav Schwab on Prayer p.27)
Therefore, if we forget to say this berachah until after Shmoneh Esrei it is a discussion if it can still be said. This is because we have already said Mechayei HaMeisim, referencing the phenomenon of the resurrection of the dead. (Mishnah Berurah 6:7)
As we explained last week, Chazal teach that our neshamah is diametrically opposed to our body and would much rather bask in the upper worlds than be housed in our physical body. So, each second, it tries to fly out yet Hashem miraculously contains them together each second. Therefore, Rav Dessler notes that the fact that the neshamah and body can co-exist is a form of techiyas hameisim (Michtav MiEliyahu Vol. 3 p.76) Really, techiyas hameisim occurs each second, not just when we arise. Therefore, we could also be expressing our gratitude for our constant techiyas hameisim, in addition to the fact that our neshamah was returned to us and our body was revived once more.
