There is a well known Medrash quoted by the Tur (forerunner of the Shulchan Aruch) that gives us some insight as to what our state of mind should be as we approach Rosh Hashanah. Despite the fact that we are going to judgement, we get dressed up in our finest clothing and eat a festive meal because "They know that Hashem will do a miracle for them."
Simply understood, the Medrash is telling us that we should approach the Yom Hadin with confidence that Hashem will accept our teshuva, which is nothing short of a miracle had we only realized what damage we do to our neshamos when defying the will of Hashem by sinning. Many commentaries attempt to explain how we can have such confidence, knowing full well that we have a lot to answer for and plenty of work ahead of us to fix what we have broken.
If we look however into another version of this same Medrash, as brought in the Yalkut Shimoni, we may have different understanding of Chazal's message, one than can give us a novel perspective as we enter the Day of Judgement. This other version states that our confidence is due to the fact that Hashem has already performed miracles for us in the past, thereby giving us hope as we beseech Him this year, as opposed to a blind trust that he will perform a miracle this coming year.
The message then is that we are approaching our dearest and most reliable "friend", someone who has gone out of his way for us again and again to upset the laws of nature for our good. We are not coming l'havdil to someone who is out to get us chas v'shalom, rather to our "dodi", as in "Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li". He is our best and closest ally. All we need to do is commit ourselves and pledge our allegiance to Him and His Torah, strengthening our bond with him, not just in our hearts but in genuine actions to match. Knowing that it is Hashem who is in charge of our fate, allows us to come to the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah knowing our great advocate and judge is Avinu Shebashomayim.It is because of this that we are infused with simcha and even a sense of confidence, despite the air of Yom Hadin hanging over our heads.
I was once asked what my favorite part of the davening was when I had the privilege of leading the mussaf tefila on Yamim Noraim. I responded it was the ultra freiliche spirit going into kedusha immediately after the intense emotional tefila of U'nesaneh Tokef where we declare in very graphic terms how our fate is in Hashem's hands, for life and death, affluence and poverty, and any other event that will come our way. We then pivot and declare our ultimate happiness and privilege to praise Hashem like the angels in Heaven as we sing "Ein Kitzva..." , our unwavering belief in the eternity of Hashem and our inability to praise Him sufficiently. This serves to reinforce our confidence and belief that the Ribono shel Olam who has taken care of us until now, will continue to do so, as long as we are His true servants and subjects. Yes, our fate is in His hands, but I can sing with joy that I am in His presence right now, along with our Heavenly advocates, to implore Him for a year of life, prosperity, and good tidings. There is cause for happiness and unrestrained joy. It has been a very challenging year for all of Acheinu Kol Beis Yisrael. We must continue to reinforce our emunah and bitachon that the ultimate yeshua can take place at any minute,as our best and closest friend is pulling all the strings, waiting for our tefilos to reach the Kisei Hakavod and declare for all time that the moment of ge'ula has arrived. May we all merit a shana tova u'mesuka of bracha and success for ourselves and all of Klal Yisrael. Rabbi Plotnik | 
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