Today, we will study a pasuk from Tehilim perek 28, pasuk ז
ה׳ עֻזִּי וּמָגִנִּי בּוֹ בָטַח לִבִּי וְנֶעֱזָרְתִּי וַיַּעֲלֹז לִבִּי וּמִשִּׁירִי אֲהוֹדֶנּוּ
Hashem is my strength and my shield, in Him my heart trusted, and I was helped
My heart was happy and with my song, I will praise Him
David HaMelech is teaching us an important rule in this pasuk:
בּוֹ בָטַח לִבִּי
In Him, my heart trusted
The Rambam’s son, Rabbi Avraham, a great gadol and Rishon in his own right, wrote a sefer called Hamaspik L’Ovdeh Hashem. In the Sefer, in the chapter on Bitachon, he says bitachon is המסור ללב, handed over to the heart, which means, in his words: שיהא הלב
נשען ונסמך על ה' יתעלה בהשגת משאלותיו להישמר מן ההיזק או להשיג איזו תועלת
The heart should be leaning, and relying on Hashem, to get what he needs, and to prevent any damage. The Pasuk he brings to prove that bitachon is handed over to the heart is our pasuk- בּוֹ בָטַח לִבִּי
In Him, my heart trusted
Therefore, any time a person’s heart is not relying on Hashem, and it’s just external Bitachon, then it is not real, proper Bitachon.
There are levels of Bitachon. The Bet HaLevi quotes the same pasuk and says,
וּמִגֶּדֶר הַבּוֹטֵחַ הַמְעֻלֶּה
The higher level of Bitachon, the ideal level, is that שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לוֹ הַבִּטָּחוֹן לֹא רַק בְּיָדַיִם
The bitachon is not just in your hands,
( meaning you hold back, and not push so much, while your heart is full of requests and desires)
That is not Bitachon of the heart.
וְעִקַּר הַבִּטָּחוֹן תָּלוּי בַּלֵּב
The main bitachon is dependent on the heart.. and he too, quotes our pasuk-
בּוֹ בָטַח לִבִּי
In Him, my heart trusted
Therefore, he says, the heart has to be calm and serene, without any desires. This means that for the situation that I am in right now, that cannot be changed at the moment (of course I can ask for better later), I have to feel that I am totally relying on Hashem, and therefore this is exactly the way it is supposed to be, the way that I want it to be. That is a high level, and that is what David HaMelech says.
ה׳ עֻזִּי
Hashem is my strength (which means to get what I need) וּמָגִנִּ and he is my shield (to protect me from what I don’t want) and this all comes from,
בו בטח לבי
In Him, my heart trusted
וְנֶעֱזָרְתִּי and I was helped
The Ibn Ezra says, Even though many different forces came to hep me, -
One would think “Wow, I couldn’t pay my mortgage and my uncle sent a check! My cousin offered to help and I had many different people trying to help me
וְנֶעֱזָרְתִּי- I was helped from others
But, says the Ibn Ezra, he realizes it’s ה׳ עֻזִּי וּמָגִנִּ Hashem who is my strength and my shield. There are no others. All the help that came was really from Hashem, my strength and my shield. Of course, as the Hovot HaLevavot says, we have to thank people, because they were chosen to be the vehicle of help. But, says the Ibn Ezra,
כי הוא צוה להם
God commanded these people to come help me.
That is David HaMelech’s full bitachon, on Hashem and no one but Hashem. Hashem is not sending gold bars down from Heaven, so when the people do come to help, we realize that it’s Hashem ה׳ עֻזִּי וּמָגִנִּי
וַיַּעֲלֹז לִבִּי וּמִשִּׁירִי אֲהוֹדֶנּוּ
And my heart is thrilled and I praise Him with my songs.
This may sound like he sings after the problem is solved
But there is a beautiful and explanation for this, for people on a high level of Bitachon, from the Sefer Pardes Yosef, where the author quotes his grandfather, the chief judge of the town of Lehsk, in his commentary Or David, on Megilat Esther
He brings down, from the Baal HaTurim, that the last letters of the words ואלה שמות בני ישראל הבאים (These are the names of the sons of Israel who came…)
spell the word תהלים /Tehilim
Because it says that Yaakov Avinu, for the 22 years that he was in Lavan’s house, said Tehilim. Therefore, it is Yaakov’s tehilim, that he read throughout all of his trials and tribulations, that brought about his success. So the rabbi asks a question “We say tehilim when we are in trouble, so why is it called Tehilim- which means praise and thanks ? Why not call it Tefilot/ Prayers?
He answers based on our pasuk:
When David HaMelech says, “וּמִשִּׁירִי אֲהוֹדֶנּוּ
I praise Him with my song,” that doesn’t mean that he sang after he was saved. David HaMelech was singing these songs even while he was still in trouble. David HaMelech had such a high level bitachon that even when he was in the midst of the problem, he was singing, because he was sure that he would get out it.
The rabbi writes that in Mitzrayim, they sang the songs even before they got out of Galut. That is the powerful bitachon of this pasuk:
ה׳ עֻזִּי וּמָגִנִּי
It’s only Hashem, He is my strength and my shield
בּוֹ בָטַח לִבּי
My bitachon is not external- it’s in heart
In Him, my heart trusted
וְנֶעֱזָרְתִּי
and I will be pulled out of this. And when I am, by the many messengers - I realize it’s only God.
וַיַּעֲלֹז לִבִּי וּמִשִּׁירִי אֲהוֹדֶנּוּ
My heart is happy right now
and I will praise Him right now, even before the Yeshua comes
Yet another beautiful pasuk from our hero of Bitachon, David HaMelech.
Have a wonderful day.