This seems to be the answer to the question. The attribute of mercy is so powerful that it comes into play even with someone the Torah calls an enemy of Hashem and who deserves to be eliminated. The middah still calls out in his defense. For that reason, if it could be, Hashem feels obligated to at least pay back this wicked person in this world, as if to say, “Pay him back for whatever good he did so that I can be rid of him.”
This concept has great relevance in our lives. Many times a person may feel, “What right do I have to ask Hashem for help? After everything Hashem has showered upon me, do I serve Him as I should? Most of the time, I don’t even feel grateful for what was given to me. How can I now have the audacity to ask Hashem to intervene on my behalf?”
The answer to this dilemma can be found by asking one revealing question: What did I do to merit being created?
By definition, the answer is nothing. I didn’t exist; therefore, I couldn’t merit anything. Once I come to grips with that concept, I now have a starting point to understand my relationship with Hashem.
I am the recipient of good not because I am entitled, not because it is coming to me, but because Hashem gives freely, without holding back and without expecting anything in return.
I may have sullied myself and am therefore not deserving of anything from Hashem, but very little has changed since my birth. Before I was created, I wasn’t worthy of anything. Yet Hashem created me because He is giving. So too now, I am surely not deserving, but I can trust in Hashem to have mercy and to provide for me. Much like a rebellious child who knows his father will always love him and that he can always turn to him, so too we are called children of Hashem. We can always rely on that mercy.
For that reason, provided we follow the Torah’s system and sincerely attempt to serve Hashem and improve ourselves, we can always rely on Him, even if it is true that we aren’t deserving.
To view Rabbi Shafier’s parsha video click here.