Today we discuss pasuk in tehilim 37,3
בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהֹוָה וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב שְׁכׇן־אֶ֝֗רֶץ וּרְעֵ֥ה אֱמוּנָֽה׃
Rely on Hashem and do good. Dwell in the land and graze Emunah.
In his commentary on this pasuk, the Chida says, based on the Zohar, that when a person comes to give Sedaka, he could say, “Hold on, if I give Sedaka, what am I going to eat tomorrow?” Therefore, we tell him, Rely on Hashem, he’ll give you tomorrow. And today, do what you have to do.
In Shaar Bitachon, the Hovot Halevavot talks about the 8 advantages of the Baal Bitachon over the alchemist. The alchemist was the man that was able to create gold out of silver and silver out of copper. It was believed, at the time, to be a kind of magical moneymaking technique, and seemingly, that man was guaranteed his income.
Advantage number eight of the Baal Bitachon is that this alchemist could not spend a long period of time in any given place, because he was afraid that his secret would get out. On the other hand, the one who relies on Hashem is safe and serene in his land. He's calm and relaxed in his place.
He quotes this pasuk and gives a beautiful explanation.
בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהֹוָה וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב שְׁכׇן־אֶ֝֗רֶץ וּרְעֵ֥ה אֱמוּנָֽה׃
It says, Rely on Hashem and do good, and Dwell in the land. That is one of the advantages of bitachon.
You'll dwell in the land. What are you going to live off? וּרְעֵ֥ה אֱמוּנָֽה׃ You will graze Emuna. That means Emunah is your pasture. What if there’s no food left in the land? Don’t worry about it. I always have pasture. My grazing is on Emunah. This is an extremely pashut/simple way of reading the pasuk.
The Hovot Halevavot does this with another pasuk as well, in the introduction to Shaar Bitachon. It says, Yirshu Sadikim Eretz/ the righteous inherit the land…and will forever dwell on it. This land could be understood as Olam Haba, or other such meanings. But the Hovot Halevavot’s explanation is simply, Sadikim (which in this case, and a lot of cases, refer to the Baalei Bitachon), are capable of staying in the land. Another explanation that the Hovot Halevavot says on this pasuk is,
בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהֹוָה וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב
You have to do good.
That doesn't mean that only righteous people can rely on Hashem and someone that's wicked cannot. We know that there are sources that say otherwise. But the Hovot Halevavot explains, “If you rely on Hashem but you’re a rebel, that’s foolish. Because if you ask
someone to do something and the person doesn't do what you ask him, do you think he's going to come back to you and ask you to help him out? Well, Hashem asks us to do things and we rebel against Him. We ignore Him. So how can we possibly rely on Him? The key word over here is mamrei. He's a rebel. There is a certain level of Asei Tov that you need for your bitachon. The midrash Tehilim Mizmor 37 has an interesting way of reading this pasuk. בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהֹוָה וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב
Rely on Hashem and Do goodmeans that sometimes you're doing good, and you don't see anything coming out of it. You're doing good, you're doing good, you're doing good, and you're waiting for the wonderful fruits of your labor. On that we say,
בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהֹוָה
Rely on Hashem.
He will pay you back very well.
וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב
And Do good.
David Hamelech says that if I really believe Hashem and I rely on Him, that he's a good boss and He’s going to take care of me, when I see those people that are not as good, those wicked people being paid off, that makes me happy. Why? Because I say to myself, if this is what's happening to them, imagine what's going to happen to me.
In Tehilim 4,8 David Hamelech says,
נָתַ֣תָּה שִׂמְחָ֣ה בְלִבִּ֑י מֵעֵ֬ת דְּגָנָ֖ם וְתִירוֹשָׁ֣ם רָֽבּוּ
“You put happiness in my heart.
When I see their grain and their wine multiply, that makes me happy.”
When am I happy? When I see what you do to the wicked, that makes me happy. This is a beautiful reframe. We have a similar thing at the end of Masechet Makot, when Rabbi Akiva sees all the negative things happening. Akiva Nichamtanu. Akiva sees all the negative things happening and says, “If that's what happens to the wicked, imagine what happens to the good people!” That's what David Hamelech says,
בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהֹוָה וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב שְׁכׇן־אֶ֝֗רֶץ
Rely on Hashem, Keep doing good. And Dwell on the land.
And what are you living off of? What's going keep you going?
וּרְעֵ֥ה אֱמוּנָֽה׃ Graze on your Emunah. That's going to keep you going, that's going to keep you feeding until the time comes when Hashem pays you back in full.
Have a wonderful day.