267) “I will thank the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright.” King David delved in the work of the Creator all his days. He would rise at midnight and praise and thank with songs and praises, to correct his place in Malchut above.
268) And when a Northern wind awoke at midnight, he knew that then the Creator was awakening to amuse Himself with the righteous in the Garden of Eden. This is why he would rise at that time and prevail in song and praise until the morning came.
269) When the Creator is in the Garden of Eden, all the righteous in the garden listen to His voice. Moreover, a thread of grace is drawn upon Him in the day, as it is written, “By day the Lord will command His loving kindness, and in the night His song shall be with me.” Also, all those words of Torah that he had said at night rise and crown before the Creator. And this is why King David engaged in the work of his Master during the night.
270) Of all the songs and praises that David said, the highest of all is Halleluiah [Praise the Lord]. This is because it includes both name and praise. And what are name and praise? They name is Yod-Hey [Koh], and the praise is the assembly of Israel, the Nukva, called “Praise” [Hallel]. This is so because she always praises the Creator and never rests, as it is written, “O God, keep not Thou silence; hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God.” It is so because she establishes the orders of the praise and always praises Him. This is why the name and praise are implied in the word “Halleluiah,” together, for the name is Yod-Hey and the praise is His praise, the Shechina, which always praises Him.
271) “I will thank the Lord with all my heart,” with the good inclination and with the evil inclination. This is because they both exist within man, as it is written, “with all thy heart,” for the good inclination dwells in the right hemisphere of the heart and the evil inclination in its left hemisphere.
272) The upright are Israel, since all the degrees are crowned in them: priests, Levis, righteous, and adherent, because they are straight. And the evidence is that the Creator crowns Himself in them.
The nature of the midnight coupling is primarily to draw Hochma, and the nature of the daytime coupling is primarily to draw Hassadim. Without them, the Hochma in the Nukva does not shine, and she is darkness and not light. And ZA, too, is not crowned in illumination of Hochma, except through the Nukva during the nighttime coupling. It is written, “I will thank the Lord with all my heart,” in which these two illuminations and ZON’s completion from each other are explained.
It is said that King David engaged in serving the Creator all his days, for as it is written in Ecclesiastes, there are fourteen good times and there are fourteen bad times. It is possible to serve the Creator only on those days when the fourteen good times govern, and not on the days when the fourteen bad times govern. But one who is rewarded with illumination of Hochma corrects the fourteen bad times along with them, and they become great merits for him, and then he can serve the Creator in all his days, missing none of them.
King David engaged in serving the Creator all his days. Even on the days when the fourteen bad times governed, David would rise at midnight, which is the time for receiving those Mochin of illumination of Hochma, and praise and thank in song and praises. It is so because these illuminations of Mochin are drawn by songs and praises, in illumination of the left.
In all the song and praises that King David said, the highest of all is Halleluyah, since it incorporates the name and the praise together, meaning Yod-Hey, Mochin of ZA, the light of Hassadim. And the praise is Nukva, in Mochin of illumination of Hochma. She is called Hallel [praise] because she always praises the Creator, both on the fourteen good times and on the fourteen bad times.
However, it is impossible for it to always praise in Mochin of light of Hassadim, since on the fourteen bad times there is no praise except through illumination of Hochma. Hence, “I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart,” with the good inclination and with the evil inclination—with the right line, the good inclination, from which the fourteen good times come, and in the left line, the evil inclination, from which the fourteen bad times come.
“In the council of the upright,” these are Israel, the middle line, containing the two lines within it, and hence including all the degrees.
Upright and congregation: The congregation is the Nukva, “…upright, and in the congregation” is ZON, since upright are Israel, ZA. And the text tells us that the Creator, ZA, is crowned with illumination of Hochma from the Nukva, called “congregation,” since it does not receive Hochma but only during the coupling with the Nukva. This is why it is written, “..upright, and in the congregation.”
273) For this reason, one needs to always praise the Creator, because He desires songs and praises, for He wishes to be crowned in Hochma [wisdom]. And one who knows how to always praise the Creator, which is done through the Mochin of illumination of Hochma, the Creator receives his prayer and saves him. First, a nighttime coupling is required, and then a daytime coupling, for extension of Hassadim during the morning prayer.