Today we will study chapter 31, pasuk טו in tehilim, where
David HaMelech says,
וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָלֶ֣יךָ בָטַ֣חְתִּי ה׳ אָ֝מַ֗רְתִּי אֱלֹקי אָֽתָּה
And I rely on You Hashem
I said, You are my God.
The Radak says that the previous pesukim talk about how everyone is trying to destroy David HaMelech, but he says, “You are my God,” which means, “You are my Master, my Judge - not them.”
Davis HaMelech knows the principle of the Hovot HaLevavot, that no one is my boss, and no one else can decide what happens to me-only Hashem. Therefore, I don’t care what they say and I don’t care about their predictions.
The Chasid Yavetz has a similar explanation, as does the Sefer Akedat Yitzhak:
David Malach describes how he has no hope on his own, no friend, or anybody outside to help him. All he has to rely on is Hashem’s mercy. In the words of the Akedat Yitzhak,
“When all his abilities of hishtadlut/effort have failed,” (because we have to do our hishdatlut, but sometimes, it seems like we’ve tried everything and there’s nothing left to do) What’s left? Just to cry to Hashem and pray.”
That is what David HaMelech is saying in this pasuk. “After everything else has failed, all I have left is my Bitachon.” The Bet HaLevi says a similar principle.
“Sometimes,” in the words of the Bet HaLevi, “The gates of Hishtadlut are closed.”
When there is nothing else to do, and a person has tried everything else in his ability, sometimes, people despair. But the Bet HaLevi tells us not to despair.
You have done everything else you could do, so now you have full rights to only exercise Bitachon. When there’s something to do, you could worry that maybe you’re being lazy, or that you haven’t done enough.
But when there is nothing else you can do, all you have is your bitachon. That is what David HaMelech is saying in this pasuk, based on previous the pesukim.
The Malbim explains the pasuk, “Even though everything else is failing, You are still watching over me.”
I saw a beautiful point regarding this pasuk:
David HaMelech refers to Hashem as “Hashem” and also as “Elokai”
The word Hashem, spelled with a yud, heh, vav and heh, refers to Hashem as the Is, Was, and Will be.. the Constant, that brings everything into being, and Who is the Master of the universe.
Hashem is all powerful, and therefore, regardless of what is going on, I know that I have the all-powerful Hashem on my side.
As the Rambam says,
Hashem is so powerful that He is constantly controlling
all the galaxies. The worlds are orbiting. What massive power is needed to control all the orbits in all of the galaxies? Hashem Is, Was and Will be. He is a Constant. He never changes. That is the Hashem that we are relying on.
But there are so many things going on! There are so many billions of stars, and billions of people! Don’t I get lost in the shuffle?
To this, David HaMelech says something beautiful:
אָ֝מַ֗רְתִּי אֱלֹקי אָֽתָּה
You are my God.
That means there is only me. David HaMelech says,
I look at it as if there was no one else that God has to watch except me.
Sometimes, there is a class of 25 students, or even 18, so not every student gets called on. Not every student is always recognized. But when it’s one-on-one, the focus is on that student.
David HaMelech is saying,
“I am in this world, and it is one-on-one.
You deal with me individually. The world was created for me.” David HaMelech feels that connection, that Hashem is watching over him only.
So even with all that is going on, and all the super power, it is just me.
That is what we say in Adon Olam, when we describe how powerful Hashem is. One line says, והוא אלי
And He is my God.
He supervises over me. He’s taking care of me.
That is David HaMelech’s feeling of bitachon.
When all else is failing, and crashing down, and there doesn’t seem to be any way out; when there is no hope, when everyone is taunting and threatening him, and he has nowhere to turn, David HaMelech pulls himself out:
וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ עָלֶ֣יךָ בָטַ֣חְתִּי ה׳ אָ֝מַ֗רְתִּי אֱלֹקי אָֽתָּה
I am relying on You, Hashem, the all powerful One
I said, You are my God
All You have to do is look over, and supervise me. There is nothing else to focus on. That is the personalized bitachon that David HaMelech feels.
Have a wonderful day.