Today we will study Tehilim Perek מ (chapter 40) pasuk ד, where David HaMelech says,
וַיִּתֵּ֬ן בְּפִ֨י ׀ שִׁ֥יר חָדָשׁ֮ תְּהִלָּ֢ה לֵאלֹ֫הֵ֥ינוּ יִרְא֣וּ רַבִּ֣ים וְיִירָ֑או וְ֝יִבְטְח֗וּ בַּה׳
Hashem put a new song into my mouth, a praise to our God
The multitudes will see, and be awed, and they will rely on Hashem
There are many lessons in this pasuk.
Firstly, David HaMelech says,
וַיִּתֵּ֬ן בְּפִ֨י ׀ שִׁ֥יר חָדָשׁ֮
“Hashem put a new song into my mouth.” David HaMelech does not say, “I have a new song to sing,” but rather, that Hashem put a new song in his mouth.
David HaMelech is the master composer, and yet he says that it’s Hashem that puts the song in his mouth. That is our first lesson.
Our second lesson discusses this “new”song.
Both the Malbim and Sefer Tefilot David explain that there are two kinds of songs- old and new. The old song is the song of nature. It is a constant. When you recognize God in the day-to-day functions of life, whether it’s the sunrise, the sunset, or the wonders of your body, these wonders are old songs- shir yashan
The Shir Hadash/ the new song is the song of miracles. When something changes in nature, that is called a new song. David HaMelech wants to sing a new song. And what happens when we have a
שִׁ֥יר חָדָשׁ֮ new song?
תְּהִלָּ֢ה לֵאלֹ֫הֵ֥ינוּ
Praise to Hashem Elokenu- to Hashem, our God.
This is the praise that the Jewish people give when they realize how Hashem deals with us in miraculous ways, with the miracles that happen every single day.
וַיִּתֵּ֬ן בְּפִ֨י ׀ שִׁ֥יר חָדָשׁ֮ תְּהִלָּ֢ה לֵאלֹ֫הֵ֥ינוּ
Hashem puts into my mouth a new song, a praise to the God that supervises us, specifically.
What comes from this?
Three things:
Firstly,
יִרְא֣וּ רַבִּ֣ים
The masses will see.
The masses don’t usually recognize everyday events as miracles. When a baby is born, they don’t regard that as a miracle.
Recently, someone I know had a child, and the doctors initially gave them very bad news.
They didn’t think the baby would make it, Lo Alenu.
Then the doctors said that the baby would be brain dead.
And then, a few days ago, the baby came home healthy! When they took the baby to the pediatrician for the first time, they chose a very high ranking pediatrician, in order to make sure, after all those scares about a possible lack of oxygen at birth, that everything was fine.
This high ranking pediatrician told them that young doctors don’t understand that there are miracles.
Sometimes, everything looks bad medically, and yet things happen.
That is when the people that don’t normally see these things begin to see them. יִרְא֣וּ רַבִּ֣ים
And then,
2- וְיִירָ֑או They’ll be awed
Why? Because once we realize that Hashem is involved in our lives in miraculous ways, and that He is watching and looking, we start getting nervous that we should start to behave. No longer can we just say that we’ll somehow get through life, and make it safely. We have to be afraid, because God is watching , and we have done things wrong.
This is the second thing that is accomplished when there are miraculous events.
The third thing is that,
וְ֝יִבְטְח֗וּ בַּה
People will rely on Hashem, because they see what Hashem is able to do.
So the theme that runs through this pasuk is that David HaMelech talks about miraculous events. It’s a Shir Hadash/ a new song,
It’s אלוהנו תהילה Praise to the God that supervise the Jewish people.
When such an event happens,
1-everyone notices it,
2- they become afraid,
3- They rely on Hashem.
The Kedushat Levi, and Nefesh Chaim both say, as we’ve mentioned in the past, that in order for a person to merit a miraculous event, he has to realize that miracles and nature are one in the same to God.
Just like a baby is typically born healthy, a baby that is born with a little less oxygen can also make it.
What is the difference to Hashem?
Is a baby being conceived something from nothing “easy” for Hashem, whereas a making baby born with a lack of oxygen healthy “hard” for Hashem?
As Rav Hananya ben Dosa famously said, “The One that said oil will light can say that vinegar will light.”
Once a person realizes that there is no difference to Hashem between nature and miracle, when miracles seem simple, that is when miracles happen.
May we all merit miracles for the situations that we need. Have a wonderful day.