Today we will study Tehilim, perek ט, pasuk יא
וְיִבְטְח֣וּ בְ֭ךָ יוֹדְעֵ֣י שְׁמֶ֑ךָ כִּ֤י לֹֽא־עָזַ֖בְתָּ דֹרְשֶׁ֣יךָ ה׳
They will rely on You, those that know Your name, because You have not forsaken those that seek You out, Hashem
What is our lesson from this pasuk?
Many of the commentaries explain that in order to rely on Hashem, you have to know Him. What does, “know Him,” mean?
The Orchot Sadikim says that to know Him means that without Emunah, there is no Bitachon. You have to know that He is all powerful, that He is the greatest Being that can be. The Malbim says that “know Him,” means that you know that He can perform miracles and that He supervises you at all times.
Rabbenu Yonah says that to, “know Him,” is to know of His tremendous kindness and goodness; that you have analyzed the wonders that have happened over history; that you have looked into creation. And when you know the greatness of God, then you will rely on Him, as it says, “I will put him in a fortress because he knows My name.”
Knowing His name means you know about Hashem.
The Hovot HaLevavot says that one of the prerequisites of Bitachon is to know God’s kindness and to know God’s greatness.
I would also like to share a deeper explanation, given by the Bnei Yissaschar, who explains what “knowing Hashem’s name” means. What is Hashem’s name?
Moshe Rabbenu asked Hashem to tell him His name, and Hashem said the name with the yud and heh, then vav and heh. (We can’t pronounce it)
This four- letter name of Hashem means two things:
1-
,היה, הוה,יהוה
Is, was, and will be
2- מהוה כל הויות He brings everything into existence.
Knowing God’s name means that you know this concept:
A fundamental that we have mentioned many times is that there is a difference between a Creator, who is only G-d, and a craftsman. The craftsman takes existing materials and forms them into something else. But once he leaves that formation, there is no longer a need for the craftsman.
On the other hand, the Creator creates the material itself, something from nothing, which is what God did. Therefore, if He were to leave for even a moment, God forbid, the whole world would cease to exist.
In order for our hearts to beat, God has to will it every single second. God’s supervision does not stop for a second. If he didn’t want something to be, it wouldn’t be. That’s what it means that He brings everything into existence.
So when a person realizes how involved God is in his life, every second of the day, of course he’ll do his hishtadlut to cover the miracle, but he realizes that every drop of anything in his life, every breath, is controlled by God’s will, as David HaMelech says.
If that’s the case, he never gets angry or upset. He understands that everything he has is how he needs it, when he needs it. When a person has that understanding of God’s name, and he realizes it (this is the full beauty of the Pasuk),
וְיִבְטְח֣וּ בְ֭ךָ יוֹדְעֵ֣י שְׁמֶ֑ךָ
Those who know Hashem’s name rely on Him.
Why?
כִּ֤י לֹֽא־עָזַ֖בְתָּ דֹרְשֶׁ֣יךָ ה׳
Because they realize that God never left them
It is impossible for God to leave anybody, because if God were to leave us, we would not be here anymore. That is the full depth of this pasuk.
A fundamental of Bitachon is to understand how integral God is in our existence.
The Avudarham says that we say this in our Amidah every day.
ותן שכר טוב לכל הבטחים בשמך באמת
Give good reward to all the those that rely on Your name, in truth.
Why does it say, “ those that rely on Your name?”
He says that it means they know the Emet: Truth of Your name. What does that mean?
This is another fundamental. Hashem Elokochem Emet- God is true. What does that mean?
The Rambam says that this is the fundamental of our belief: that God is the only true existence because all other existences are dependent on God‘s existence. We can’t say that a table is a true existence, because it is only there because God wills it to be there. The only true existence is God. That means that everything exists because of Him, and His involvement in the existence, and in the events, of every creature in the world.
Now apply this to your Amidah.
ותן שכר טוב לכל הבטחים בשמך באמת
Give good reward to all the those that rely on Your name, (the name of G-d that means, “Is, Was, and Will be,” and Who constantly brings everything into existence) in truth- The person understands that the existence of that name is not dependent on anything else. When we ask God, in the Amidah, to reward those that rely on Him, that is based on this pasuk:
וְיִבְטְח֣וּ בְ֭ךָ יוֹדְעֵ֣י שְׁמֶ֑ךָ כִּ֤י לֹֽא־עָזַ֖בְתָּ דֹרְשֶׁ֣יךָ ה׳
They will rely on You, those that know Your name, because You never forsake those that are constantly searching for and finding You, in creation and in their lives.