In this week’s Psalm, King David explores the topic of sin and how it entices man by luring him in. “Neum pesha larasha, bkerev libi, ein pachad … leneged einav- The speech of transgression to the wicked is in my heart.. there should be no dread of G-d before his eyes.” Man does not care about Hashem when he sins and as the next verse goes on to say, “ki hechelik eilav beinav, – it is smoothed before his eyes,” and we are easily persuaded not to worry about the after effects.

The Satan, is exemplified here as “transgression,” and indeed Judaism teaches us that he processed three forms- the Yetzer Harah, the evil inclination who urges man to sin during his lifetime; the Malach Hamavet, angle of death, who kills a man at the end of a lifetime, and the Satan who accuses man at his trial in the afterlife.

We must realise that the very angel that is tempting us to sin, is the very same angel who will take our life and advocate against us in the next world! It is realisations such as this that make us realise the folly of sin, and that the way to defeat it is to think clearly with our chochma, our superior logic. This will easily show us that temporary gain is not worth more the long term hurt.