Today we will study Tehilim Perek לד pasuk כג,
פֹּדֶ֣ה ה׳ נֶ֣פֶשׁ עֲבָדָ֑יו וְלֹ֥א יֶ֝אְשְׁמ֗וּ כׇּֽל־הַחֹסִ֥ים בּֽוֹ
God redeems the souls of those who serve Him, and they will not be found guilty, all those that seek refuge in Him.
What exactly does this mean? What is redeeming? And what does it mean not to be guilty?
The Hassid Yavetz explains that Hashem sometimes punishes people in this world, so that they won’t suffer in the next world-to the extent that the Midrash Raba says that when the Sadikim see the wicked people suffer in Gehinom, they praise Hashem and thank Him for the suffering that they had in this world. He quotes a pasuk in Yeshaya that says, “I thank You, God, because You got angry at me. Your anger was removed, and You gave me comfort.”
When we see the suffering of those that had a perfect life, we will be comforted, and thank Hashem. After 120 years, we will, B’ezrat Hashem, be basking in the Shechina in Gan Eden, and we will say Thank You to Hashem, for all of the difficulties that we endured in this world. That’s what פֹּדֶ֣ה ה׳ נֶ֣פֶשׁ עֲבָדָ֑יו means God redeems the souls of His servants, so that they won’t be guilty- all of those that rely on Him.
But we see from here that it is not enough that we suffer. When going through a difficulty, part of the purification process is seeking refuge in Hashem. That is what will bring the person to perfection.
That is our first explanation of this pasuk:
God redeems the souls of His servants in this world, in order that they shouldn’t be guilty in the next world.
The Meshech Chochma says a beautiful pshat. What does it mean that God redeems His servants so that they should not be guilty? The Hovot HaLevavot tells us, in Shaar Teshuva, Perek י, that sometimes, it’s difficult to do Teshuva for sins between man and fellow man, because you may not be able to find the man, to fix the sin. But the Hovot HaLevavot says that if a person accepts upon himself to do Teshuva, Hashem will make it easy for him, by helping him in areas that are out of his control- whether related to stealing, insulting someone, etc. God will give him money, or even put into the heart of his friend to forgive. This is the way, the Meshech Chochma explains, that God redeems the people who rely on Him. Sometimes we need Hashem’s help in order to fix our sins, and He is there to redeem us and help us, once we are committed to change.
We are now in the three weeks, and as we prepare for the 9 days, we hear a lot about Sinat Hinam/baseless hatred. A person may want to fix something, but not know how to fix it. Well, Hashem can give you the ability to fix it. If you rely on Him, He will redeem you.
There are many such stories, of people that try, and Hashem helps them out.
There is a famous story like this about the Chazon Ish. During war time, he borrowed money from someone, and planned to repay his debt when he returned. But due to the war conditions, that never happened. The Chazon Ish was forever looking for this man, to repay his debt, but he was never able to find him. It was after WW2, and no one knew if the man was alive or not. Many people knew that this was bothering the Chazon Ish, and that he was looking for the man. Then the Chazon Ish passed away. At his shiva, a man who was not religious walked in. He had seen the notices hanging, about the death of Rav Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz. He remembered him from his youth, so he decided to follow the signs and go pay respects. He introduced himself as such and-such from a certain place.
The brother of the Chazon Ish asked if he was the man that had lent his brother money. The man said he was, so the brother took the money out of his pocket, and paid the man back. In that way, Hashem worked it out that even after his death, his debt was paid off. These things happen all of the time, for the people that are trying to fix their ways.
I once witnessed the story of a man who went to a garage at a gas station to fix his car. When he gave his last name, the man in charge asked if he was the son of so-and-so. He proudly answered, “Yes.”
Another man who was standing nearby suddenly started to berate him. It seemed that this man had some issue with his father, and unbeknownst to the father, the man was truly hurt and never got it off his chest. But due to this “coincidental” meet-up at the gas station, the person that needed to apologize found out that somebody was upset with him, and he was able to fix it.
פֹּדֶ֣ה ה׳ נֶ֣פֶשׁ עֲבָדָ֑יו
God redeems the souls of His servants
וְלֹ֥א יֶ֝אְשְׁמ֗וּ כׇּֽל־הַחֹסִ֥ים בּֽוֹ
And they will not be guilty, Anyone that relies on Him
Regarding this pasuk, Rav Chaim Volozhin says that לא
אליהו ולא החיים כל החוסים בו
You don’t have to be The Gaon of Vilna, whose name was Eliyahu or Rav Chaim Volozhin, (in order for this to apply) but anybody who seeks refuge in Hashem will see these wondrous things.
Have a wonderful day.