Today we will study Tehilim perek 141, pasuk 8.
But in order to properly understand this pasuk, the Malbim tells us that we have to first look back at pasuk 7, which says:
כְּמוֹ פֹלֵחַ וּבֹקֵעַ בָּאָרֶץ נִפְזְרוּ עֲצָמֵינוּ לְפִי שְׁאוֹל
Like one who chops and splinters wood on the ground, so too have our bones been scattered to the mouth of the pit.
The Malbim explains that David HaMelech and his people were on the side of of a high mountain, and Shaul and his men were coming towards them. David had no place to go. His only option was to jump off the mountain into the great valley below, and run off into the desert.
But when you jump off a mountain into a valley, chances are that your bones will be broken.
Nonetheless, even with all of that, they relied on Hashem that He would save them.
They knew that chances were, if they jumped (about 50 to 60 feet or whatever the height was), their bones would be broken.
And yet, in the words of the Malbim, David HaMelech says,
“We rely on Hashem that our bones will be crushed, and yet we will still remain alive.”
They said this on the top of the mountain, to show that their great reliance on Hashem would keep them alive in all circumstances.”
Each of the 150 chapters of Tehilim tell us about the challenges of David HaMelech’s life, and what he said at each point.
So now that we understand the context of where David HaMelech was, and what he was up to, we can look at our pasuk (8)and understand how he felt so confident:
כִּי אֵלֶיךָ ה׳ אֲדֹנָי עֵינָי בְּכָה חָסִיתִי אַל־תְּעַר נַפְשִׁי
For my eyes are turned to You Hashem,
I have sought refuge in you. Do not cause my soul to be poured out.
Which means that even in a situation in which it seemed like his soul would be removed from his body, nonetheless, David HaMelech was still seeking refuge from Hashem- even in these extreme cases.
It’s mind-boggling, but as bleak as any situation could seem, David Hamelech did not lose his confidence. Even in what seemed like guaranteed death, when David HaMelech saw that his bones might be broken, he knew his soul would remain in his body.
It’s extremely hard to reach these levels of bitachon, but everyone, on their level, should take some inspiration from David HaMelech facing such imminent danger and challenge.
We should use this to try and reconnect to our Bitachon and reliance.
It’s interesting that most of the time in Tehilim, when Hashem’s name is spelled with a yud and a heh and a vav and heh, we pronounce it as A-do- nai; but sometimes (depending on the nekudot) we pronounce it as Elokim, which means Judgement. Why does that happen?
Rav Shamshon Rephael Hirsch says that it is to tell us that even when God is acting with Middat HaDin/ Judgement (which is represented by the name Elokim), the name of yud, heh and vav heh is superimposed upon that, in order to tell us that even when a person is being punished, or finds himself in a trying situation, He has to know that it is really Hashem’s mercy, and feel sure that Hashem will not destroy him. This is what David HaMelech is saying in this pasuk.
Even when he’s at the top of a mountain in a very precarious situation, he still knows that it is coming from Hashem’s mercy and that everything and turn around.
That is why David Hamelech chose to express Hashem’s name in that way.
B’ezrat Hashem, we should get some inkling of these levels of bitachon.