We are now discussing chapter 11 in Tehilim. We always need to know the background of Tehilim in order to appreciate what is going on. David HaMelach was being chased by Shaul, and people kept revealing David’s hiding places to Shaul, so he kept having to run from place to place, as his locations were revealed.
He says,
לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָ֫וִ֥ד בַּֽה' חָסִ֗יתִי אֵ֭יךְ תֹּאמְר֣וּ לְנַפְשִׁ֑י נ֝֗וּדִ] הַרְכֶ֥ם צִפּֽוֹר
A song for the conductor,
I find refuge in God. How can you say about my soul, flee to the mountains like a bird?
Even though I am on the run, says David HaMelech, I still feel that I find refuge in Hashem. I don’t feel forsaken.
Malbim asks why David HaMelech compares himself to a bird.
A bird is a creature that goes from branch to branch, and tree to tree, without any seeming rhyme or reason. But although it seems that David HaMelech is going from spot to spot, and location to location without any rhyme or reason, that assumption is a mistake. David HaMelech is finding refuge in Hashem. Every place that he goes is designated by G-d. Although it seems like he is on the run, he isn’t. Hashem is supervising him.
This is an important lesson in life. At times, it seems that people are arbitrarily bounced around, whether from job to job, house to house, school to school, or date to date. They may look like birds with no place of permanence. But David HaMelech says that this is a mistake. When a person seeks refuge in Hashem, there is no such thing as being bounced around a like a bird. Every spot is predetermined and tailor- made.
There’s a famous story in the Navi, where David HaMelech speaks to Yonatan while on the run. They decide to make signals for David, using arrows. If the arrows are shot far away, it means that David should run, because Shaul is chasing him. If not, he should stay.
If the arrow is shot far, he says, “Go because Hashem has sent you.”
A question is asked by Rav Elya Meir Bloch about the wording: Why does it say, “Go because Hashem has sent you,” shouldn’t it say, “Go because Shaul is chasing you?”
The answer is that David HaMelech realizes that he is never running because he’s being chased. He’s running because Hashem is sending him. There might be “causes” that make it seem like he’s being chased, but he is never being “chased.” He is always being “sent.”
This is an important lesson. The man that finds refuge in the Hashem is never like a bird. He is specifically sent from place to place and spot to spot. That is the lesson of this pasuk.
B’ezrat Hashem, we will alway feel that where we are is where we are supposed to be, and not that we are running or being chased, because the place we are in doesn’t seem to work.
Have a wonderful day.