We continue in chapter 142
Pasuk ו
זָעַקְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ ה׳ אָמַרְתִּי אַתָּה מַחְסִי חֶלְקִי בְּאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים׃
I cried out to You Hashem
I have said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.
The Malbim explains that this pasuk refers back to a pasuk, which we studied at the beginning of the week
קוֹלִי אֶל
ה׳ אֶזְעָק קוֹלִי אֶל ה׳ אֶתְחַנָּן
I cried out to God and I had supplications to God.
He explains that now David HaMelech is telling us what his Tahanunim/supplications actually were.
Supplication in Hebrew is tahanun, which has the same root as hinam-free, like when Moshe Rabbenu asked Hashem for a Matnat Hinam, a free gift.
David HaMelech enumerates the reason for his free gift.
1- אַתָּה מַחְסִי
You have always been my Refuge in the past, so there is no reason for this to change now.
As the Hovot HaLevavot says, one of the reasons that we have Bitachon is based on God’s past history. God has saved us in the past. That’s God’s way.
2- חֶלְקִי בְּאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים
You gave me life.
If you gave me life, it’s befitting that you should guard and protect my life.
As it says, The one that gives life gives mezonot/sustenance. He doesn’t give life for nothing. If you get up in the morning, that means that God gave you life. And there’s a reason for that. So this is another reason to ask that God to save me. Because if You gave me life, even if I don’t deserve to live, You have to continue to take care of me.
The Sefer Bet Elohim, one of the early Aharonim comments on this pasuk, where it says,
זָעַקְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ which literally means, I cried out/screamed
Normally, we pray quietly. When do we see that it’s the time to raise our voice? He explains that when we have our regular, daily prayers they are supposed to be said quietly. But when it comes to a time of difficulty, and a person is having a problem, he can’t just pray quietly and calmly. You have to scream in order to show that you realize the challenge that you are in, that no one will help you but Hashem. That is why, in the case of Moshe Rabbenu, with the frogs, when Paroah said “Pray for me and I will send them out,” Moshe Rabbenu felt that the deliverance of the Jewish people was dependent upon this. He cried out because he was concerned.
In any case where this word אֶזְעָק /cry out shows up, it’s in a time of trouble.
This is because the only way a person can arouse himself is with a loud scream, by raising his voice. When a person is in a difficulty it is hard to have kavana.
Sometimes, people say that it is harder to pray when they are having a challenge. The Bet Elohim validates that point, and says that when a person is having a difficult time, he has to raise his voice and use that to arouse concentration..
I have experienced this myself. Sometimes in Eretz Yisrael, in Yeshiva, when praying for someone that is sick, they scream out the Tehilim. When there are a few hundred people screaming out together, it is a very powerful feeling and it arouses your kavana. It’s not just a custom. This is well sourced. David HaMelech himself cried out and raised his voice to arouse his kavana in times of problems.
He adds that when they cry out to Hashem in a difficult time, it shows that they recognize that the problem comes from Him, and then they’re saved.
That is an added points on this pasuk. David HaMelech is looking for ways to be saved, even if, so to say, he doesn’t deserve it. He gives us these techniques of
אַתָּה מַחְסִי
seeking refuge in Hashem,
זָעַקְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ ה׳
and crying out to God.. This is what a person does when he is in a difficult time, when he needs more kavana.
He cries out to God.