Kabbalah Library

808) “A psalm for David: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” What is the difference between “A psalm for David,” and “For David, a psalm”? “A psalm for David” indicates that the Shechina was over him and then he said the psalm. “For David, a psalm” indicates that first he said the psalm, and then the Shechina was over him. Here, in “The Lord is my shepherd,” the Shechina came before and was over him first, for it is written, “A psalm for David.” Why was the Shechina first here? After all, should David have been first, since he asked of the Creator for his food?

809) Certainly, the Shechina came before and was on him, evoking him to praise this praise to the King and to ask the King for food. And so it should be with matters of food, that the Shechina wants and it is her wish that all the people in the world will pray for nourishments, since the Creator wished to bring down food to the world. the Shechina takes first, and thanks to her, food comes down to all the worlds, for the lower ones cannot receive anything if the upper ones do not receive first. For this reason, the Shechina came first in this matter of food, and was over David.