We continue our study of Pesukim of Bitachon. We are in perek כג, which is unique in that the rabbi who chose these pesukim chose this entire Mizmor, rather than just a pasuk or two, as is the norm.
David HaMelech now says,
תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי שֻׁלְחָן נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי
You prepare a table before me in view of my tormentors,
Hashem will set a beautiful table for me, where I will sit and eat as my enemies watch.
דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה
You anoint my head with oil (referring to Mashiach, the anointed one) My cup overflows with goodness.
We have to remember yesterday’s pasuk, in which David HaMelech talked about walking through the valley of death. He is still in that valley, even while discussing this beautiful table.
He is saying that he has Bitachon that in the future, Hashem will set up a table for him and his enemies will watch him in his honor and glory.
Imagine a person in a concentration camp or Siberia. All he can hope for is to get out of there. Is he thinking that the day will come when he attend the trial of Eichmann, eating his lunch while Eichmann watches from his glass box, wishing he could have some? This seems a little far-fetched, but this was what David HaMelech was thinking as he was being tormented, as he was going through the valley of death. He was convinced that it would all turn around, and that he would soon be eating and enjoying.
Malbim makes another point. When we began to study this pasuk, we discussed that David HaMelech called Hashem his Shepherd, and we quoted the Mabit, who said that there are different levels in our relationship with God, based on our level of being. We could either be the sons of God, the servants of God or the sheep of God.
So even if we are on the level of animals, God would still be our Shepherd.
Here, Malbim says that David HaMelech is saying, “Although, until now, I was merely on the level of sheep, and therefore I was eating grass (i.e. I was surviving on the bare minimum), the time will come when I will upgrade myself. I will no longer be a sheep eating grass and drinking from the waters. You will put me at a table, and I will be on a higher level. And while I sit at that table, all the people that tormented me in the past, saying that I was unfit, (and there were many), will sit by and watch, in shock and amazement, as I am upgraded from the sheep level to the human level.”
This is an interesting point that Malbim makes. We might never have noticed previously, that in this Mizmor, David HaMelech starts off comparing himself to a sheep, but then moves on to talking about sitting at a table.
Our final comment on this pasuk is based on a quote from the Midrash, that says that David HaMelech speaks about the past, the future and the present.
In this case, the Midrash Rabbah, in Shemot, says that when he speaks about the past, it refers to when the Jewish people left Mitzrayim. At that time, all of our enemies thought that the Jews would die in the desert. They never imagined that God could set up a table for them in the desert! So what did God do? He surrounded us with the Clouds of Glory, He fed us the manna, and the nations of the world were able to see what was going on. They saw the piles of manna.
At that time, the Jewish people said,
תַּעֲרֹךְ לְפָנַי שֻׁלְחָן נֶגֶד צֹרְרָי
You prepare a table before me in view of my tormentors
דִּשַּׁנְתָּ בַשֶּׁמֶן רֹאשִׁי
You anoint my head with oil
Refers to the שלו, the quail they are in the desert, And,
כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה my cup overflows
refers to the Well of Miriam, which overflowed and filled their cups.
All of these pesukim refer to the past, when we experienced our enemies watching us in our glory. The Midrash says that the same will happen in the future. We will be sitting and eating in Gan Eden, and the goyim will be watching us.
As the pasuk in Yeshaya says,
הנה עבדי יאכלו ואתם תרעבו וגו
My servants will eat, and you the enemies will be starving.
David HaMelech is describing his own life; he’s describing the Jewish people of the past, and he’s describing the future of the Jewish people.
As we said yesterday, we need to use our past experiences in order to strengthen our belief in a better future.
We have to have that level of Emuna that even if I am in Siberia, I can plan the day that the guard of the Siberian Gulag will be forced to watch as they serve me my delicious dinner, and he won’t be able to eat.
That is David HaMelech’s bitachon, and that is the Jewish people’s bitachon.
Have a wonderful day.