King David is related to the fourth leg of the Divine Throne, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being the first three. Now, in exile, the fourth leg of the Throne - that of King David - is the one which is missing, in keeping with the saying of our Sages, "His throne is not complete…." This is related to another saying of our Sages that at the end of days a cup of blessing will be given to the Patriarchs, but they will not want to bless over it; it will then be passed to King David, who will say, "I will bless, and it is fitting for me to bless" (Pesachim 119b). David…will, in the future, sit on the throne…

This raises a general question of how King David can hold himself superior to the Patriarchs. [We can understand this by looking carefully at] the words "kes" (a Hebrew term meaning an incomplete throne) and "kos" (Hebrew for "cup"), which are spelled the same; furthermore, the word "hakisay" (Hebrew for "the throne") has the same numerical value as that of the word "kos". Therefore, what King David is going to say [at the end of days] is that since the cup and the throne are one thing [per se the above numerical equivalents] and the Divine Throne was incomplete on his account and has become whole, therefore it is fitting for him to bless over their incompleteness having become whole.

King David alluded to this when he said, "It is fitting for me to bless", for the initials of that phrase have the same numerical value as the word "kos" ("cup"), which has the same value as the word "the throne", as mentioned above.

It could be that this is also hinted to in the verse,(Ex. 17:16). "…for a hand is on the throne of G‑d" "Hand" (in Hebrew, "yad") has the same numerical value as the name "David", and this relates to the lack in the Divine Throne referred to by the verse's using the world "kes" rather than the full form "kisei". With these associations, the verse "for a hand ("yad") is on the throne ("kes")…" means that the leg of King David is missing from the throne, which is incomplete due to the exile. Furthermore, he [or Mashiach, his descendent] is the one who will sit on the throne when it is made whole, which provides another meaning for "a hand is on the throne"; that is, David (whose name has the same numerical value as "yad") will, in the future, sit on the throne, though now during the exile it is incomplete. The hand of the forces of evil should be eradicated and that the hand of holiness should reign…

Using these numerical correlations, one also finds that when prayer was instituted because of the "hand which was set against Your sanctuary", it was the hand of the forces of evil eradicating the sanctuary of David whose name is also hand. This is also hinted to in the verse, "And David's place was empty" (Samuel I 20:27). Similarly, we pray in Psalms that the hand of the forces of evil should be eradicated and that the hand of holiness should reign, meaning that King David should return to his place, all of which comes from the verse "With whom My hand will be established" (Psalms 89:22).

Finally, the phrase "Remember this matter for Your servant…" (Psalms 119:40) has the same numerical value (including the value of the words themselves) as "the fourth leg." In other words, King David is saying "You have established me as the fourth leg. Now if You send me away from You, what will be with the fourth leg? From the days of the Patriarchs, when there were three legs, You longed for and looked forward to the day I would come and complete the fourth leg." This longing of G‑d's is alluded to in the conclusion of the verse, "…for which You longed for me". David says, You longed for me and looked forward to my coming and completing the Divine Throne. Since the initials of "for which You longed for me" have the same numerical value as the word "throne" ("kisay"), therefore "remember this matter" in Your servant's favor and do not send me away from You.

[Translated by M. Steinberger and E. Linas from Ma'aglei Tzedek 7, as anthologized in Peninei Avir Ya'akov, p. 131]