We are now in chapter 25 of tehilim, pasuk כ, where David HaMelech says,
שׇׁמְרָ֣ה נַ֭פְשִׁי וְהַצִּילֵ֑נִי אַל־אֵ֝ב֗וֹשׁ כִּֽי־חָסִ֥יתִי בָֽךְ
Guard my soul, and save me
I should not be embarrassed, because I found refuge in You
The commentaries explain this pasuk with an interesting Hiddush
David HaMelech is not only asking to save his body, but also to save his soul.
The Alshech explains that when David HaMelech says, “Protect my soul,” it means, “ I don’t want to kill anybody else” Sometimes in war, a person has to kill, but David did not want to have to kill anymore.
Furthermore, he asked to be saved from those that he did not kill- that they should not kill him.
Protect me - that I shouldn’t have to kill them,
Save me- that they shouldn’t kill me.
Although there is a rule that, “If someone comes to kill you, you have a right to kill them first,” David HaMelech did not want to be the one to kill anybody. He is asking of Hashem, “I am relying on You; I am seeking refuge in You, and therefore don’t embarrass me.”
Most of us aren’t fighting wars. We aren’t in hand to hand combat, so we aren’t concerned about killing others. But this concept might come up in a case of business, or any type of interaction where you have a right to take action because somebody is acting improperly to you.
You might have a right to take measures and maybe get a person in trouble. For example, if a person was blocking your driveway, you might be allowed to have his car towed.
But instead of that, you could ask Hashem that you should not have to be involved in such activities, even if they are be permissible.
Therefore, we ask Hashem, “Save me, and don’t embarrass me, because I am seeking refuge in You.” In David HaMelech’s case, it would be an embarrassment if he said he wouldn’t make a move to kill somebody, and put it in Hashem’s hands, and then something happened to him.
This is similar to how David HaMelech started off the chapter, when he prayed that his bitachon should not lead to embarrassment.
Furthermore the Midrash says on this pasuk
שׇׁמְרָ֣ה נַ֭פְשִׁי
If You don’t protect me, no one else will.
Like it says, הנה לא ינום ולא ישן שומר ישראל
The Protector of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers
David HaMelech realizes that there is only one Protector of his soul- Hashem.
Our original lesson from this pasuk, that Hashem can protect a person from sinning, is especially important now, as we head into the summer, where there are many tests and trials in our religion. But we can pray to Hashem that He protects us and saves us.
The rule that
הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים
Everything is in the hands of God, except the fear of God, does not negate this prayer.
This rule just means that God does not get involved, so to say, in our religious choices or tests.
But when we pray to Him for help, that means that we took the initiative, not Him. And when we take the initiative and ask for help from Hashem, then He will help us, even in spiritual matters.
Every day, we pray to be saved from sinning. We saw this in last week’s Parasha, with the sin of the spies. The Torah stresses that it was a test for all of them. The spies were great men, but they failed their test and sinned.
Yehoshua and Calev were saved through prayer. Yehoshua was saved through the prayers of Moshe Rabbenu that “Hashem should save you from the the ideas of the spies.”
And Calev went to Hebron, as Rashi tells us, to pray at the Maarat Hamachpela, that in the merit of Zechut Avot, he would be protected from sin.
So we see that not only can you pray for yourself, but you can even pray for others. And this does not take away from freedom of choice. The Chazon Ish says that just like I have freedom of choice to punch someone, and Hashem will decide what happens after that, I have the right to choose to pray for someone. It’s not Hashem initiating the involvement in somebody else’s religious life. Just like I can teach somebody if I am able to, I can influence someone if I’m able to, and I can pray to Hashem for them. That is just another type of influence.
So one lesson from this pasuk is that sometimes it’s better to be passive, even when you have a right to be aggressive. You can rely on Hashem that you shouldn’t have to be the aggressor, and ask that you shouldn’t be embarrassed that it doesn’t work out.
Our second, very important lesson, is a general lesson ofשמרה נפשי Protect my soul. Save my soul. We can pray for that. We can rely on Hashem for our spirituality. Of course, we have to do our hishtadlut- we can’t just sit back and do nothing. But after you have done everything that you can do, prayer and Bitachon help protect our souls, and our spiritual well-being.
Have a wonderful day.