One who says Tehillim should not think in his heart that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will answer his request because he read and prayed with kavanah.
Sources and Explanations
Now, we find conflicting passages on whether lengthening one’s tefillah and concentrating in it is praiseworthy or, on the contrary, improper. In the Gemara (Shabbat 127a) we learn that one who concentrates in his tefillah is praiseworthy: “Six things a person eats their fruits in this world, and the principal remains for him for the World to Come. And they are: hospitality to guests, visiting the sick, and iyun tefillah (concentration in prayer).” But from the Gemara in Bava Batra (164b) it emerges that this is not praiseworthy: “Rav Amram said in the name of Rav: Three transgressions a person is not saved from every day: thoughts of sin, iyun tefillah, and lashon hara.”
The answer to this contradiction is found in the Gemara itself. In the Gemara, Berachot (32b), it is stated: “Rabbi Chanin said in the name of Rabbi Chanina: Whoever lengthens his tefillah, his tefillah does not return empty. From where do we know this? From Moshe Rabbeinu, as it says: ‘And I prayed to Hashem,’ and it is written after it: ‘And Hashem listened to me that time as well.’” The Gemara asks that, on the contrary, one who lengthens is not praiseworthy: “Is that so? But Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Whoever lengthens his tefillah and contemplates it will ultimately come to heartache, as it says: ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick.’ What is his remedy? He should engage in Torah, as it says: ‘But a desire fulfilled is a tree of life,’ and ‘tree of life’ refers only to Torah, as it says: ‘It is a tree of life to those who grasp it.’” The Gemara answers: “This is not difficult; this refers to one who lengthens and contemplates it, and that refers to one who lengthens and does not contemplate it.” In explaining the difference between one who contemplates and one who does not, Rashi writes: “For one who expects that his request will be fulfilled through his lengthening, in the end it is not fulfilled, and it turns out to be hope deferred for nothing, and that is heartache, when a person hopes and his desire does not come.” End quote. That is, a person certainly should pray with kavanah, but he should not expect that his request will be answered, for then this brings him to heartache.
The Gemara again addressed this matter in Berachot (54b): “Rav Yehudah said: Three things, one who prolongs them, his days and years are prolonged: one who prolongs his tefillah, one who prolongs his meal at his table, and one who prolongs his time in the restroom.” The Gemara asked: Is prolonging one’s tefillah a virtue? But Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Whoever lengthens his tefillah and contemplates it will ultimately come to heartache, as it says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Mishlei 13:12). And Rabbi Yitzchak likewise said: “Three things bring a person’s sins to mind, and they are: a leaning wall, iyun tefillah, and one who hands over judgment against his fellow to Heaven.” The Gemara answered: “This is not difficult; this refers to one who contemplates it, and this refers to one who does not contemplate it. And what does he do? He increases his pleas for mercy.”
Rashi explained that “contemplating one’s tefillah” means that one says in his heart that his request will be fulfilled because he prayed with kavanah. This brings him to heartache, since his request is not answered; moreover, such contemplation of his tefillah brings his sins to mind — “for through them his deeds are scrutinized Above, saying: This one is confident in his merits; let us see what they are.” End quote. Thus Rashi gives an additional explanation for why one should not expect in his heart that his request will be answered: for then his deeds are scrutinized in Heaven, and who can be found righteous before Him? But kavanah in tefillah without this expectation is certainly proper.
Tosafot (Berachot 32b) likewise asked: “It is puzzling, for here it implies that iyun tefillah is not a virtue, and so it is implied in Perek HaRo’eh (55b): ‘Three things bring a person’s sins to mind,’ and it lists iyun tefillah. But this is not what is implied in Perek Mefanin (Shabbat 127a), which says ‘a person eats their fruits in this world’ and counts iyun tefillah, which indicates that it is a virtue. One may answer that there are two kinds of iyun tefillah: the iyun tefillah here is one who expects that his request will come about, and the iyun tefillah there is one who directs his heart to the tefillah.” End quote. We learn from all the above that a person should indeed have kavanah in his tefillah, as the Shulchan Aruch writes (Orach Chaim 98:1): “One who prays must have in mind the meaning of the words he utters with his lips, and he should think as if the Shechinah is opposite him, and he should remove all the thoughts that disturb him until his thought and kavanah remain pure in his tefillah. He should think: if he were speaking before a king of flesh and blood, he would arrange his words and concentrate on them well so as not to stumble; how much more so before the King, the King of kings, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Who searches all thoughts. And so did the pious and men of deeds do: they would seclude themselves and concentrate in their tefillah until they reached a divestment of physicality and a strengthening of the intellectual faculty, until they reached close to the level of prophecy. If another thought comes to him during the tefillah, he should be silent until the thought ceases. He must think of matters that humble the heart and direct it to his Father in Heaven, and he should not think of matters that contain levity.”
On the other hand, the Shulchan Aruch warned (ibid. 98:5): “He should not think: it is fitting that Hakadosh Baruch Hu fulfill my request since I had kavanah in my tefillah, for on the contrary, this brings a person’s sins to mind. (Gloss: For through this his deeds are scrutinized, saying: he is confident in his merits.) Rather, he should think that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will do it in His kindness, and he should say in his heart: Who am I, poor and lowly, coming to make a request of the King, the King of kings, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, if not for the abundance of His kindness with which He conducts Himself with His creations.”
In truth, although all these matters were stated regarding tefillah and not regarding saying Tehillim and the like, there is no difference between them, for why should they differ? If a person says Tehillim and thinks in his heart that it is fitting that Hakadosh Baruch Hu answer his request, this brings him to heartache, and it also causes the Heavenly court to scrutinize his deeds.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 6: Intention (Kavanah) While Saying Tehillim, Halacha 8 (p. 91 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
