“I give thanks unto You, O living and eternal King, for having restored within me my soul,

with mercy; great is Your trust.”

Our Sages have told us that every night when we go to sleep, our Divine soul returns to its heavenly abode and gives an account of the good deeds and bad which the soul, in partnership with the body, had done during the day. Indeed, in the prayer before going to bed we say, ‘Into Your Hand I pledge my soul; You have redeemed me, O God, God of truth.’

A pledge is something that the debtor gives to the creditor as security that the debt would be paid, and usually the creditor will not return the pledge as long as the debtor still owes him money. But God is very merciful, and although every day we are indebted to Him, He returns our soul to us.

When a person gives a pledge, even if it is a new thing, it becomes old and stained by the time it is returned. But God returns our ‘pledge’ new and polished, even though it had been ‘used,’ and so it is written, ‘They are new every morning; great is Your trust’.

How grateful we must be to God.

Modeh ani is said immediately upon our awakening, even before we have washed our hands, because God’s proper Name is not mentioned in this prayer, but only ‘King.’