עַל עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵינוּ

On the willows within it we hung our harps. For there our captors requested words of song from us, with our lyres playing joyous music, "Sing for us of the song of Zion." (Tehillim 137:2-3)

At times, the yetzer hara becomes the captor of your mind. It wants to control the song you sing and humiliate you at the time it has subjugated you.

Here you can benefit from your inherent stubborn nature by turning it against the yetzer hara. Knowing that your yetzer hara doesn’t have your best interest at heart, you must remind yourself that everything that it tells you is wrong - and conversely, everything it tries to dissuade you from is correct.

When the yetzer hara tells you to stay at home and daven Ma’ariv instead of davening with a minyan, you need to force yourself to do the opposite. Tell yourself, “The yetzer hara doesn’t want me to go to shul now!” Hearing yourself say these words will give you the stubborn resolve to do just the opposite! In this way, you will hang up your harp on the willows, and refuse to play the yetzer hara’s song.