Today we will discuss chapter 37 in Tehilim, pasuk מ
This pasuk is said in our Motzei Shabbat prayers, before Baruch Hu.
וַ֥יַּעְזְרֵ֥ם ה׳ וַֽיְפַ֫לְּטֵ֥ם יְפַלְּטֵ֣ם מֵ֭רְשָׁעִים וְיוֹשִׁיעֵ֑ם כִּי־חָ֥סוּ בֽוֹ
Hashem help them,and cause them to escape
He will cause them to escape from the wicked
And He will save them,because they took refuge in Him.
At first glance, it seems that this pasuk is repetitious.
But there is a subtle difference between between the words ׳ וַֽיְפַ֫לְּטֵ֥ם and יְפַלְּטֵ֣ם
the Vav changes the tense from the future “And He will cause them to escape,” to the past “And He did cause them to escape.”
So, based on the past record, we say, יפלטם- He will save them from the wicked, and cause them to escape in the future as well, because they took refuge in Him.
So as we see, in this simple reading of the pasuk, it isn’t really repetitious, it’s referring to the past as an indicator of the future.
This is one of the principles that the Hovot HaLevavot tells us, to strengthen our Bitachon in Hashem. One of the conditions of having Bitachon in somebody is that they have a previous track record. Whenever you relied on them, or counted on them, they were there for you. So you say to yourself, “This is not the first time that my dad pulled me out of a mess,” or, “This is not the first time my mother came down to school to help me, I’m relying on her, she will do it again.”
So our first lesson is that וַ֥יַּעְזְרֵ֥ם ה׳ וַֽיְפַ֫לְּטֵ֥ם
Based on the fact that Hashem helped us in the past, and caused us to escape from our problems in the past,
יְפַלְּטֵ֣ם
He will do so in the future
כִּי־חָ֥סוּ בֽוֹ
Because we took refuge in Him.
I am relying on Him. I am counting on Him. I know He can do it for me, even though He never promised me
(that is what חסיון/refuge is)
The Alshech makes another point about this pasuk.
He says that there is a difference between וַ֥יַּעְזְרֵ֥ם He helped us and
וַֽיְפַ֫לְּטֵ֥ם
He caused us to escape.
He bases this on a famous story in Masechet Shabbat: When Rabbi Akiva’s daughter was getting married, Rabbi Akiva was told by the star gazers that she would die on the night of her wedding. He knew that there was nothing to do, other than rely on Hashem.
Then, the morning after her wedding, when she took her tiara (which had been pinned to the wall) out of the wall, she saw that a snake had been pierced by the pin.
When he told her father what had happened, he asked her what good deed she had done. She told him that there was a poor man at the wedding, with nothing to eat, so she gave her portion of food to him.
Rabbi Akiva said “ Sedaka Tatzil M’Mavet. Charity saves one from death.” But not just from a strange death (which we all hear stories of), but also from a natural death, such as when a person dies in their bed after 120 years.
So although the stargazer said she would die, the charity saved her, not only from a strange death, but from death altogether. She didn’t die at all.
On this, the Alshech says that ויעזרם is the first level of help, Sedaka saves from, but not just from a tragic death. It’s more than that.
יפלטם
They will totally escape.
Charity has the ability to cause a person to totally escape a problem. This doesn’t only apply to charity. We are discussing reliance. כי חסו
בו They relied on Him
Relying on Hashem has the same power as Sedaka (when we give Sedaka, we are showing that we rely on Hashem- we give our money away, and rely on Him to take care of us)
There is an extra power that we have, not only to get help, but to totally escape from our troubles.
These words give us an added nuance to the Pasuk. There is וַ֥יַּעְזְרֵ֥ם helping and there is יפלטם escaping.
He continues, regarding the words
יְפַלְּטֵ֣ם מֵ֭רְשָׁעִים
escape from the wicked
It’s brought down that one needs a greater zechut to be saved from a person (who has freedom of choice) such as a man with a gun, as opposed to an animal, such as a snake. Of course, a person can’t go against God’s decree, but it’s a more dangerous situation.
Therefore, the pasuk says, “Not only will I save you from forces of nature, but I will save you from the Rasha. Even though he may choose to do something, it won’t stop Hashem. I’ll save you from him, even if you are already in his clutches. If you start relying on Hashem, even if he has already started bothering you וְיוֹשִׁיעֵ֑ם
I will save you.”
All of this hinges on the the last three words-
כִּי־חָ֥סוּ בֽוֹ
Because they seek refuge in Him.
This is yet another powerful pasuk, and since we say this every single Motzei Shabbat, I wanted to discuss this simple explanation, so that we know what we are saying.
ויפלטם, יפלטם
For all of those men that say this pasuk, have you ever wondered why we say this word twice, and did you ever realize that one is the past tense and one is the future tense?
This is a little push to help us understand it better.
Have a wonderful day.