I'm Not a Failure | Rabbi Bentzion Shafier

If you read the words of Tachnun, יגעתי באנחתי my groans, my tears filled my bedding. Dovid Hamelech bemoaned the fact that he failed the biggest Nisayon of his life. He said to Hashem, ‘Test me!’ He knew that potentially he could be on the level of the Avos. And Hashem said, ‘I'm going to test you.’ And in front of עם ועדה, Dovid Hamelech failed the test, the biggest test of his life. Dovid Hamelech lived with Bat Sheva, an Eishes Ish. Okay, Chazal tell us it wasn't as bad as we think, Lemafre’a, she was divorced, but at the end of the day, he failed the biggest Nisayon of his life, and for the rest of his life, he suffered the embarrassment, the pain and the understanding that he failed. And he recognized that everyone knew it. And here's the question I'd like to ask you. What bridge did Dovid Hamelech jump off of? Right? I mean, forget it. Moshiach Tzidkeinu, anointed of Hashem, it's all over. No more. It's all over. Which bridge did he jump off of? And the answer is, Dovid Hamelech did not jump off any bridge. Dovid Hamelech did that very difficult thing that we, human beings, have a lot of trouble doing. He looked in the mirror and he said these words, ‘I failed.’ I failed, but that doesn't mean I'm a failure. I failed this Nisayon. I messed up. I blew it. But that doesn't mean I'm a failure. I have many successes, many things I've accomplished. This thing was wrong. This thing I did was a failure, but I as a human being, I as a person, I as an Eved Hashem am not a failure. And that distinction, recognizing that I made a mistake, I did something wrong, but that doesn't make me a failure is one of the most critical concepts that a person needs to have. Because I guarantee if you set your goals high in life, you will fail. You'll fail many, many times. Many, many Nisyonos. An ability to recognize that, yes, I failed, yes, I messed up, doesn't make me a failure is one of the keys to success in all endeavors in life, and especially when a person puts his goal as to really grow, to really become Kadosh. That understanding that I will fail because it's part of the nature of this Nisayon, and yet I'm going to pick myself up, get back in that fight and recognize that ‘I failed’ doesn't mean ‘I'm a failure’ is one of the biggest Yesodos that a person has to have to properly succeed.