Saying Shira Even in Hard Times:
The Medrash Rabbah (14:1) states: “This is as is stated (Tehillim 139:5): ‘Achor v’kadim tzartani. Back and forth, you shaped me.’ Reish Lakish said: ‘Back’ is the final day, ‘and front,’ this is the first day. If a person merits, they say to him: ‘You preceded the entire act of Creation.’ If not, they say to him: ‘The gnat preceded you, the worm preceded you.’” Rav Menachem Mendel of Amshinov zy”a explained, “Even a gnat or a worm will completely confuse and frighten such a person.”
His intent is that there are people who only are calm and collected when they can see the light of success. They only are able to praise Hashem, daven to Him and learn Torah in easy times. When they face any discomfort, even if it is merely a gnat buzzing near them, they become completely disconcerted and they are unable to daven or learn.
This is the defining trait of a person. If he can say shira to Hashem at any time, even when things are hard, it is a sign that his intentions are l’sheim shomayim. If one only praises Hashem when times are easy, however, it is a sign that his intentions are not l’sheim shomayim and he only serves for his own benefit.
In this vein, the Kotzker Rebbe explained the Gemara (Sanhedrin 92B) that says that Nevuchadnetzar, king of Bavel, wanted to say shira to Hashem for granting him success in conquering Eretz Yisroel but the Malach Gavriel came and slapped him on the mouth. Rav Yitzchok says that Gavriel poured boiling gold into his mouth. The Gemara adds that if the angel had not slapped him, he would have said so many praises to Hashem that he would have put to shame all of the shiros that Dovid Hamelech said in Tehillim. The Kotzker Rebbe zy”a asks how it was acceptable for him to be slapped on the mouth. If he wanted to praise Hashem, why wasn’t he given the opportunity to do so?
He answers that Nevuchadnetzar only wanted to say shira “with his crown on his head” and while he experienced no discomfort. That is not so hard as it’s easy to praise Hashem when everything is going well. Therefore, the angel struck him in the face in order to determine if he would praise Hashem even when he was in a bit of pain, and it was determined that he would not do so. Dovid Hamelech, on the other hand, praised Hashem even when times were difficult. Many of the chaptes of Tehillim were composed while he was fleeing his enemies and suffering greatly, which proves that even in such times, he devoted himself to serving and praising Hashem.
