Today we will begin study Tehilim perek כג
מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר
A song for David: Hashem is my shepherd,I will not lack anything
It is important to know when David HaMelech said this. Rashi tells us that it was when he was in the desert. Imagine someone in the Sahara desert, relying that he will not lack anything! The Midrash says that this refers to an episode in Shemuel א, Perek כב, pasuk ה, where it says,
וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ דָּוִ֔ד וַיָּבֹ֖א יַ֥עַר חָֽרֶת
David came to the forest Haret, which was an extremely dry and barren area.
He could have died of thirst there, yet the Midrash says that Hashem brought upon it, that it became like Olam Habah.
It’s possible that we say Mizmor L’David before we make Kiddush on Shabbat day because Shabbat is also is like Olam Habah, and through our Bitachon, we can have that same feeling of, ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר Hashem is my shepherd, I will not lack anything, which is like Olam Habah.
The Chida quotes from the Maharit, (who quotes from his father, the Mabit, in the Derashot of the Maharit on Parashat Shemot) where he says that the Jewish people are sometimes referred to as God’s banim/children
(this is the highest level), sometimes as Avadim/slaves, and sometimes as His צאן/sheep. Obviously, being called His son is the highest level, because at those times, Hashem is like our Father. At other times, God acts to us like a king, and at other times He acts like our Shepherd.
The Mabit says that David Hamelech is saying, in this pasuk, that even at the lowest level, when God looks at us like sheep, who is our shepherd? In the words of the Mabit,
ודי לי בכבוד הזה
And that’s enough for me.
Just having the title that God is my Shepherd is enough. I’m happy.
The Sefer Ruach Chaim quotes a Midrash that says that actually, to use this term that, “God is my Shepherd,” is almost disgraceful, because being a shepherd is a dirty job- being down there with the sheep. How could he call God a shepherd? But the Midrash says that David HaMelech received permission to do this, so to say, from Yaakov Avinu, who said,
“ה׳ הרועה אותי- God is the One who shepherds me through life. That is what gave David HaMelech permission to say,
ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר Hashem is my shepherd, I will not lack anything
The Ruach Chaim says that when we refer to Hashem as the Shepherd, we are the sheep, and sheep don’t really have a mind of their own. They don’t know what is good for them and what isn’t. They don’t have their own Ratzon/ will. They have to totally trust that the shepherd is guiding them properly. This is what David HaMelech was saying when he said,
ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר
Hashem is my Shepherd I will not lack anything.
There is yet another explanation of how to read this pasuk from the Maharam M’Liska ( this is not the pshat)
He says that ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י
Hashem is my Shepherd,
לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר
I should never lack that understanding (that Hashem is my Shepherd).
There are times in life when we think, Has V’Shalom, that the Shepherd abandoned His sheep. So, David HaMelech was praying that he should never lack the understanding that Hashem is always our Shepherd, shepherding us through life.
The Sefer Panim Yafot says that this pasuk is saying,
ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר
Hashem is my Shepherd, why should I be lacking?
It’s possible that a person gets paid off with his good in this world, , and then, Has V’Shalom, doesn’t get his good in the next world. On that, David HaMelech is saying, When a person relies on Hashem and gets what he gets because of that Bitachon, he doesn’t lose his merits. It’s the Bitachon that gets him what he has. He doesn’t have to cash in, because bitachon, on its own, is a merit to get what you need.
Therefore,
ה׳ רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר
Hashem is my Shepherd,
I won’t lose out when I get what I want,
(because I got it by relying on my Shepherd)
Furthermore, he points out that we say in Birkat Hamazon, לעולם
אל יחסרנו
which means that with all the goodness that we are getting, we don’t want any of it to take away from our reward in the World to Come. This concept comes from this pasuk of רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר
Hashem is my Shepherd...
There are many beautiful explanations here, that we can review and reflect on later.
Have a wonderful day.