Ashrei 22
תהלת ה' ידבר פי, ויברך כל בשר שם קדשו לעולם ועד – May my mouth declare the praise of Hashem, and may all flesh bless His Holy Name forever and ever.
The sefer Nafshi Cholas Ahavasecha connects the word בשר (“basar”) in our pasuk to the same word written in the pasuk in Parshas Korach (D’varim 16:22): "...א-ל אלקי הרוחות לכל בשר...–…O G-d, G-d of the spirits of all flesh…”
The Ohr HaChaim there, based on the Zohar, describes three levels of n’shamos that praise Hashem, and he lists them in ascending order as desired by Hashem. The first level is made up of praises offered by the Heavenly Hosts. Above that are praises offered by the n’shamos that have not yet come down to this world as well as the n’shamos of tzadikim that have returned from this world. Highest of all are praises offered by the n’shamos of those who are still living in this world. He explains that the levels are based on the degree of challenge and difficulty. We in this world clearly have the greatest challenge to battle our basar (flesh, representing our yeitzer ha’ra, which is trying to prevent us from recognizing Hashem). If we overcome our challenges and manage to recognize and love Hashem, praising and thanking Him, that is the highest level of all in Hashem’s “view.”
The Shem MiShmuel (Naso 5670, Yisro 5674, T’rumah 5678) bases a similar message on the Gemara in Shabbos 88b. When Hashem wanted to give the Torah to B’nei Yisrael, the mal’achim protested. Moshe Rabbeinu was told to respond to them. One of the points Moshe made was asking them if they had a yeitzer ha’ra to overcome. The Shem MiShmuel tells us that in reality the Torah is on such an exalted level that no creation, including mal’achim, were fit to receive it. It is only because we have a yeitzer ha’ra that we constantly battle to uproot, that we were able to merit to receive the Torah. Since the mal’achim do not have these challenges, they were not fit to receive it. In our world of בשר, the Torah is used for its highest purpose.
The Arizal teaches us how precious our mitzvos and Torah are “today” (He lived in the 16th century of the Common Era). He says that, due to the much greater degree of difficulty and challenge that they had then, a “simple” and “small” mitzvah done in his generation was as precious to Hashem as great outstanding mitzvos done in the earlier generations. If this is the case for the Ari’s generation, it is certainly all the more true for our generation.
Once again, we see this concept expressed in the last mishnah in the fifth perek of Avos: “L’fum tzaara agra” – our reward is based on the level of difficulty and challenge each of us has. Everyone has a unique yeitzer ha’ra, and everyone has a unique set of life circumstances. The more we overcome our individual challenges and continue to serve and love Hashem, the greater the reward, and therefore, the more treasured is our tefilah.
The Sefer HaIkarim (maamar 2, perek 26) connects our pasuk to the Gemara in B’rachos (48b, 54a, 60b), which states that the same way that one blesses Hashem (i.e., recognizes that what he has received is from Hashem) for the “good” (sweet), so too one must bless Hashem for the “bad” (bitter). All basar ("כל בשר") blesses Hashem.
In summation, perhaps we can say that this pasuk is teaching us that when we battle to overcome our yeitzer ha’ra and other challenges, and we remain steadfast in our recognition that all is coming from Hashem, and we continue to praise Him throughout, then we will merit being able to praise Hashem continuously for eternity.