You are all standing today before G-d, your G-d:
the leaders of your tribes, your elders, your
sheriffs, every man of Israel.
Deuteronomy 29:9
Our sages tell us that these words mean that the survival of the Jewish people (our “standing”) depends directly on G-d’s will (i.e., is “before G-d”), rather than on the laws of cause and effect that He has embedded within nature. All other nations are subject to the laws and processes of nature, and therefore must master the natural arts of survival – including diplomacy and self-defense. The survival of the Jewish people, in contrast, depends solely on their loyalty to their covenant with G-d. If we remain true to G-d, our use of the natural avenues of survival will work, even in situations where they normally would not. If we abrogate the covenant, however, the natural avenues will not succeed, no matter how much effort we pour into them.
Therefore, no matter how dire the Jewish people’s situation may seem, we can remain optimistic. Even if it seems as though, in the words of our sages, we are “a lone sheep surrounded by seventy wolves,” we should renew and strengthen our commitment to our covenant with G-d. G-d will then crown our natural efforts with supernatural success.
--Daily Wisdom Volume 3