708 Early Intervention
Today we will study two pesukim from perek עא of tehilim, ה,ו
כִּי־אַתָּה תִקְוָתִי אֲדֹנָי ה׳ מִבְטַחִי מִנְּעוּרָי
You are my hope, Hashem, my reliance since my youth.
עָלֶיךָ ׀ נִסְמַכְתִּי מִבֶּטֶן מִמְּעֵי אִמִּי אַתָּה גוֹזִי
בְּךָ תְהִלָּתִי תָמִיד
I relied on you from birth, You withdrew me from the innards of my mother. Of You is my praise always.
What does it mean that David HaMelech has been relying on Hashem from his youth and from the womb?
1-The Midrash explains that this refers to the early times of the Jewish people, our beginnings in Mitzrayim. We relied on Hashem during the difficult times in Mitzrayim, when they were throwing the babies into the Nile. And Hashem took us out with all of the miracles that He did.
David HaMelech is looking back to our early days as a nation. We relied on Hashem, we prayed to Him, and He saved us. Eventually, we sang Shira at the Yam Suf.
2-According to some, David HaMelech’s reference to the womb refers to Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov and Esav were struggling in the womb, and in the end, Yaakov was holding on to Esav’s heal. Rashi says that it was a sign that when Esav falls, we will take over. So even back in the womb, Hashem was helping Yaakov in his struggle with Esav.
3-On a simple level, the commentaries (amongst them, Hovot Halevavot in Shaar Bitachon) explain that this refers to every human being. Every human, or his parent, had to rely on Hashem while in the womb.
Who takes care of the child in the womb? Hashem. It is the earliest indication of Hashem taking care of us; it’s His first involvement. We were conceived, and then, under wraps, Hashem was developing our very existence. Our kidneys, hearts and brains, were all developing as we lived and grew. Like a car running while changing the tires, the heart beats, the embryo lives, as things happen and change. Food and sustenance get in, an umbilical cord develops…. All of these wonders of fetal development take place, and then birth comes at just the right time. What causes the mother to go into labor?
All of this is Hashem, taking care of us from the days of the womb. Hovot Halevavot says that we are supposed to think of these things. It’s an opportunity to see Hashem’s track record. He has been taking care of us before we even deserved to be, or before we did anything to deserve.
4-The last explanation is that David HaMelech is talking about himself. David HaMelech had a questionable lineage- even regarding who his father was. So he said, “Already from my mother’s womb I needed to rely on You, because it wasn’t clear who I was. I was hated by my brothers, I was distanced. And Hashem came through.”
Those early stages are there to remind us that Hashem has taken care of us in the past, whether the Jewish people at large in Mitzrayim, Yaakov and Esav in the womb, every individual in their mother’s womb or David Hamelech- these are all cases of early intervention, that Hashem has done for us, that remind us that just as He took care of us then, He will continue to take care of us in the future.
Have a wonderful day.