We are now in Tehilim chapter 62, pasuk ט
בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכׇל־עֵת ׀ עָם שִׁפְכוּ־לְפָנָיו לְבַבְכֶם אֱלֹהִים מַחֲסֶה־לָּנוּ סֶלָה
Trust Him at every moment people
Pour out your hearts before Him,
God is a refuge for us, forever.
There is a beautiful Midrash Tehilim on this pasuk, which says that a person’s neshama wants to leave; it doesn’t want to be in this world. It comes from the heavens above and doesn’t want to stay here.
So how does the soul stay in the body?
The neshama wants to leave this world, but then it sees its Creator, God, who fills the world with His honor. God wants the neshama to stay inside, so the neshama goes back into the body.
The neshama would love to leave, but God’s honor fills the world. Wherever we look, there is God’s creation, and the neshama sees that.
David HaMelech is saying,
God is doing such miracles for us- every second, so put in your mind not to leave Him for a moment.
That’s what בִּטְחוּ בוֹ
בְכׇל־עֵתmeans
Rely on Hashem at every moment.
Rav Wolbe once told us to put an ear to the chest of a young child and listen to the heart beat. What makes it beat?
As the pasuk says,
קוֹל ׀ דּוֹדִי דוֹפֵק
Kol Dodi Dofek
The voice of my beloved is banging
The word Defek means pulse- What causes that in/out, up/down pulsating rhythm of the body, that we can see on a heart monitor? Who is making it pump?
That is God inside us, and God right outside of us, keeping our neshama inside.
Every breath is controlled by God.
Therefore, David HaMelech asks, How can you take your mind off of Him for even a moment?
Lo Alenu, it’s like someone with an oxygen mask on, as many people experienced during Corona. Surely they can recall seeing their low oxygen levels on the monitor. Then when they put the oxygen mask on, it goes up a few percent.
Could that person forget about the mask on his face?
It’s constantly pumping life into you.
But that is God, constantly pumping life into us, every single second.
That’s why David HaMelech says,
בְכׇל־עֵת
Every moment.
Every day we thank Hashem for the miracles that happen every day, and for the the wonders that happen every moment.
בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכׇל־עֵת
Rely on Him every moment.
Are there really miracles every moment?
Yes, says the Midrash:The fact that our soul stays inside of us.
It’s a Mishnah in Pirke Avot
You live against your will.
Sometimes a person doesn’t want to live, but Hashem forces them.
That is God telling the neshama to stay inside.
We must realize that we are getting constant care. And with that constant care should come a constant recognition, and constant reliance.
That is but one of the beautiful lessons from this pasuk of
בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכׇל־עֵת
Rely on Hashem at all times.
B’ezrat Hashem, we will continue on with this pasuk.