If someone faced many and diverse hardships but was then rescued from them, he must love God—Who redeems and saves, responds and has compassion in all times of trouble and distress. This is all the more so if the Holy One extended kindness to the person such that he did not have to face the evil [in the first place], and was spared experiencing calamities that were destined to fall upon him or those that often befall the world, [for in this case] the kindness of God,] may He be blessed, overwhelms him. About this [the Sages] said: “Let all souls [‘neshama’] praise God (Tehillim 150:6) – this teaches that one must praise Hashem for every single breath [‘nesheema’]” (Bereishis Rabbah 14:9).
The words in the hymn Nishmas kol chai should never drift from one’s thoughts: “Were our mouths as full of song as the sea…. In famine You nourished us and in plenty You sustained us…” etc. And one should think in the greatest detail about the myriad acts of kindness that Hashem performed for him from the moment he was conceived and, conversely,] about all the evils from which Hashem rescued him—both those that are apparent and those that are concealed. The Sages thus said, “The recipient of a miracle does not even recognize the miracle that was done for him” (Pesikta, Chukas), both those that rescue him from events that came upon him and those that were destined to have come upon him but never did. A person must take it to heart and love his Creator with intense love for everything.
