182. And David made himself poor, pious and a servant, as it is written: "A prayer of David. Incline Your ear, Hashem, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am pious: O You, my Elohim, save Your servant, who trusts in You" (Tehilim 86:1-2). He became poor at the gate of the King, WHICH IS MALCHUT, about which it is said: "Adonai, open my lips" (Tehilim 51:17). Adonai is the palace, and he became poor at the gate of the king's palace, WHICH IS ADONAI, namely MALCHUT. And what does it say? "Incline Your ear, Hashem, hear me." And this is the lower Shechinah, WHICH IS MALCHUT, which is an ear to receive and listen to prayers, as it is written: "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hid His face from him: but when he cried to Him, He heard" (Tehilim 22:25).

183. For he became "poor and needy" in respect of the letter Dalet of (the word) 'Echad' (Aleph-Chet-Dalet) (= 1), WHICH IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT, IN THE FIRST STATE, WHEN SHE IS RECEIVING FROM THE LEFT COLUMN, FOR SHE IS THEN NEEDY, AS THE LETTER 'DALET' TEACHES US OF HER POVERTY (HEB. DALAH). Then he requests HELP from Aleph-Chet OF ECHAD. AND THIS IS THE SECRET OF ZEIR ANPIN WHICH, IN THIS STATE IS MALCHUT, IS CALLED 'BROTHER' (ALEPH- CHET), AND MALCHUT SISTER, BEING THEN AT THE SAME LEVEL EVOLVING FROM BINAH, AS A BROTHER AND SISTER. This is the Central Column, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN, with which to fulfill the verse: "I was brought low, and He saved me" (Tehilim 116:6), so that Messiah son of Ephraim should not die. FOR MESSIAH SON OF EPHRAIM IS DRAWN FROM MALCHUT WHEN THE LATTER IS FEEDING FROM THE LEFT, AND IS FULL OF JUDGMENT. And DAVID FURTHER requested of Him at this gate on behalf of Yisrael, who are poor, that the verse "And the afflicted people You will save" (II Shmuel 22:28) be fulfilled in them, AND THIS IS WHY HE MADE HIMSELF POOR, FOR IT IS THE SECRET OF THE LEFT COLUMN.

184. And afterwards he requested for the sake of the priests, THE SECRET OF THE RIGHT COLUMN, CHESED, that the worship be returned to its place, and he made himself a servant. And later He gave them the Torah from the side of Chesed, to give a reward (Heb. gemul) to the letter 'Dalet' of the Torah. IN OTHER WORDS, THE TORAH, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF ZEIR ANPIN, THE CENTRAL COLUMN, UNITES THE CHESED OF THE RIGHT COLUMN WITH THE GVURAH OF THE LEFT COLUMN, AND THEN GIVES A REWARD TO THE DALET, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT RECEIVING CHASSADIM AND BECOMING RICH, IN THE SECRET OF THE TWO LETTERS 'GIMEL' AND 'DALET' THAT FOLLOW EACH OTHER IN THE ORDER OF THE ALPHABET. And this is why he became pious. HE THEREBY CORRECTED THE SECRET OF THE THREE COLUMNS, CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET. HE MADE HIMSELF POOR TO CORRECT THE LEFT COLUMN. HE MADE HIMSELF A SERVANT TO CORRECT THE WORSHIP OF THE PRIESTS, WHICH ARE THE RIGHT COLUMN, AND HE MADE HIMSELF PIOUS TO CORRECT THE CENTRAL COLUMN, SO IT WOULD BESTOW CHESED UPON MALCHUT. SUBSEQUENTLY HE CORRECTED THE THREE COLUMNS CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET, and when he reached the three upper Sfirot, CHOCHMAH, BINAH AND DA'AT, he began to say: "Hashem, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty: nor do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me" (Tehilim 131:1), NAMELY HE DID NOT TOUCH THEM.

185. Solomon said, Since Binah belongs to Moses, I shall ask for upper Chochmah, which is above the level OF MOSES. It is written: "I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me" (Kohelet 7:23), FOR UPPER CHOCHMAH WAS NOT GIVEN TO HIM. HE ASKS, but what about the verse: "And Hashem gave Solomon wisdom" (I Melachim 5:26)? HE ANSWERS, this refers to lower wisdom, WHICH IS MALCHUT. And he wanted to ascend upwards from below, NAMELY FROM LOWER CHOCHMAH HE WANTED TO ATTAIN UPPER CHOCHMAH, but it drew away from him. This is because there is no man in the world, apart from Moses, who can ascend to Binah, and how much truer is this for upper Chochmah, which is above BINAH. In its terms, 'a wise man is better than a prophet.' And even though THE VERSE "I SAID: I WILL BE WISE, BUT IT WAS FAR FROM ME" was applied homiletically to a red heifer, WHOSE REASON HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND, 'there are seventy possible interpretations of Torah,' THIS, TOO, BEING A TERM IN THE SECRET OF SCRIPTURE.