Now that we have finished with Purim, Pesach and Sefirat HaOmer, we have some time to start a new project.
Many classes ago, we discussed the concept of Pesukei Bitachon. It is brought down by the Rishonim, that as far back as when Jewish soldiers went to war, there were pesukim of bitachon that were said beforehand, that gave them strength.
There is a list of pesukim brought down by Rav Zundel of Salant that are appropriate to work on.
And as we have mentioned, it’s not just about reading the pesukim, it’s about understanding them and taking lessons from them.
So, B’ezrat Hashem we will work on a pasuk a day, for as long as we can, and hopefully gain some insight.
If you like, you can find these pesukim with translation, listed at the back of the Bet HaLavi Sefer from Artscroll.
Our first pasuk is chapter 3 of tehilim, verse 6
David HaMelech says,
אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי כִּ֖י יְהוָ֣ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי
I lay down and went to sleep, and got up in the morning because G-d gets me up.
Without any knowledge or background, this just seems like a simple Modeh Ani pasuk:
I go to sleep at night, and G-d wakes me up in the morning.
But there’s more to it than that. If you read the full chapter, there is some background to take into account.
David HaMelech was at war; he was being chased by his son Avshalom. He was extremely tired and weary from war.
His enemy’s advisor, Achitofel, saw that David was tired from being on the run, and decided to attack his camp at night. But Chushi HaArchi, another advisor, replied that as David HaMelech was a trained warrior, there was no way he’d be asleep at night. He said that if they did attack, David HaMalach would be waiting to ambush them. He thought that they should wait until they had more people. Avshalom listened to his advice.
It turned out, however, that David HaMelech did sleep that night. Had they listened to Achitofel, and gone to war that night, Avshalom would have won and killed David HaMelech.
Somehow, the information got out that David HaMelech was sleeping that night, and Achitofel ended up committing suicide because his idea had not come to fruition. Later on, Chushi HaArchi met up with David and told him the full story.
So David HaMelech now shares with us what was really going on. He says that he was at a tremendously low point. Yet, as the Radak explains beautifully, when David HaMelech said, “I lay down and went to sleep,” it means that he went to sleep with Bitachon and slept like a man in peace, like a man with no fear.
One of the litmus tests of Bitachon is, How do you sleep at night? Do you toss and turn? Are you all nervous and worried about whatever challenge you’re having in life?
David HaMelech is telling us that he was surrounded, and yet he went to sleep without any fear.
הקוצותי
“And I got up in the morning,”
Not like someone who sleeps in fear and wakes up in a panic, because he had bad dreams. No. David Hamelech got up in the morning without fear. And all of this is,
כי ה׳ יסמכני
because Hashem gets me up.
So David HaMelech gives us his secret, of going to sleep with Bitachon.
And because he went to sleep with Bitachon, Hashem truly did take care of him. Who knows what would have happened if David HaMelech hadn’t gone to sleep with Bitachon!
But he went to sleep with bitachon, and Hashem worked it out that the enemy’s plan did not come to fruition. It was specifically because he went to sleep, that Hashem put in the mind of Avshalom’s second advisor to undo the advice of the first advisor
(which actually was the correct advice!)
David HaMelech is sharing a behind- the-scenes bitachon clip with us, of what happened when he went to sleep with bitachon.
He went to sleep with Bitachon and Hashem took care of everything. David didn’t even know about it, and only found out later. But everything worked out. Hashem undid the plan, and David HaMelech was successful.
And it all started from the secret of this pasuk
אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי כִּ֖י ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִי
I was able to lie down, (at war) and I fell asleep. And when I got up in the morning it was the same calmness, because Hashem supported me.
That’s why the next pasuk says,
לֹֽא־אִ֭ירָא מֵרִבְב֥וֹת עָ֑ם
I have no fear of the myriad forces arrayed against me on every side.
David HaMelech is telling us, “I took this lesson- if I wasn’t afraid of the first plan, which was to attack me at night, then I will not be afraid of the second plan, which is large armies. Because I saw from the first story, how Hashem took care of me.”
Therefore, he ends off this perek with a pasuk,
לַה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֖ בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ סֶּֽלָה
To Hashem is the salvation, and His nation blesses Him.
Rashi has powerful words on
לַה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה- To Hashem is the salvation.
He says,
“It is upon God to save His servants and His nation.” It sounds like these are the servants that rely on Hashem, and
so it’s G-d’s responsibility.
עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֖
And our responsibility is to constantly bless Him and praise Him.
As we have said this in the past, in a class on Modim, Hashem’s job is to save us, and He doesn’t necessarily tell us when He saves us. Our job is to constantly thank Him. We should be saying,
“Thank you G-d, for saving me today- from what? I don’t know! But you saved me from something!”
This is the powerful lesson hiding in the pasuk.
It would be wonderful to memorize this pasuk, so that you could say it at any time.
To recap,
Pasuk #1 on our Hit Parade is:
אֲנִ֥י שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה י
I lie down at night and I fall asleep.
Why? Because I am relying on Hashem. He will figure it out.
הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי כִּ֖י֣ה יִסְמְכֵֽנִ
And I wake up with calmness, because Hashem is going to pick me up. Hashem is what I lean on. And if I rely on Hashem, it’s His responsibility to save me, and He will.
I may not even know about it, so I am constantly saying Thank You.
We must bless Him, and thank Him constantly.
Have a wonderful day.