As we have mentioned in the past, there is a benefit to having Pesukei Bitachon on your lips. There are pesukim that David HaMelech wrote, that if you repeat, will strengthen your Bitachon. Of course, the more you understand them, the better.
In the Sefer Bet HaLevi Al HaTorah, recently put out by Artscroll, there are many pesukei Bitachon with commentary (they can found at the back of the book). It’s a worthwhile thing to look at.
I would like to share a thought on one of these pesukei Bitachon.
David HaMelech says
טעמו וראו
Taste and you will see
כי טוב ה׳
That G-d is good.
אשרי הגבר יחסה בו
Fortunate is the man that will find refuge in Him
There are a few things to explain here. Firstly, what does “taste and you will see that G-d is good” mean?
And secondly, why the word אשרי? Fortunate is the one?
Lastly, we have to explain the term “יחסה״” which means find refuge.
We can explain with the following mashal:
Sometimes with a food, what you see on the outside doesn’t really reveal what is inside.
A candy might have three layers, so when you bite into it, there’s a burst of something that you weren’t expecting. Or you might see a nice quiche, but not know what’s inside it. Many times there’s a lot going on a in food, that you can’t really see until you taste it. It might not even look that exciting from the outside, but when you bite in, there’s something inside that surprises you. What’s inside a donut? Custard? Jelly? Who knows? There’s a lot of action inside some of those donuts. You won’t know what it is until you taste it. With this mashal, we can understand the pasuk.
First, the words Ashre Hagever- fortunate is the man”
Rabbenu Bachye, at the beginning of Parashat Bo, points out that the word Ashre never shows up, in any of the pesukim, in singular form ( which would be MeUshar)
This word Ashre indicates somebody that doesn’t have just one good quality. There are multiple qualities that comes along with it.
He gives examples, and points out that pesukim of Bitachon have that word. For example, ה׳ צבאות, אשרי אדם בטח בך
Hashem is the G-d of Hosts, fortunate is the one that relies on Him. This is because within Bitachon, there are many, many great qualities that are hiding, that you won’t discover until you’ve experienced it. With Bitachon comes calmness, strength, courage and generosity. There are many great qualities hidden inside Bitachon. But you have to taste Bitachon first. If you haven’t tasted it, you don’t know what you’re experiencing. It’s like a fussy eater who won’t eat tomatoes or peppers. Sometimes a smart parent will disguise a certain food, and the child later learns that there was eggplant in something he ate, when he had no idea. And he liked it. He now appreciates that new food and will want to eat it forever. This is what David Hamelech is telling us. He’s like the father that wants his son eat something he doesn’t want to eat. The Sefer Amud HaAvadoh, by Rav Baruch of Kassov gives us this explanation. David HaMelech says, “taste once, try Bitachon”... this means relying only on G-d, not on anyone else, putting all your hope and all of your reliance in the fact that Hashem will take care of you.
It’s a little scary sometimes. The Elder of Novardok says that like when you want to learn how to swim: You have to let go of the side of the pool. It’s not that easy to go out in the deep.. to rely on the fact that you can do it, and let go of the side.
So too, here, you have to let go of all of those things that you count on, and throw yourself on Hashem, to take care of all of the things that you can’t take care of on your own, that you need Him for. It’s a little scary. David HaMelech is saying, taste it once, try it out, and you’ll see how good Bitachon really is. We aren’t just talking about Bitachon, however. We are talking about the one who is יחסה בו- who finds refuge in G-d.
The claim can always be that “G-d never spoke to me, and He never told me.” But G-d says, “ I am a rock,” and a rock does not need to be asked permission in order for you to go under it. You seek refuge in the rock. חסיון/ seeking refuge means G-d never told you..
Rabbenu Bachye says, about טוב לחסות בה׳
It is better to seek refuge in G-d than to rely on the promise of human beings, that G-d never promised you.
Try relying on G-d in an area that He never promised. He never said He would pay your mortgage, He never said that He would cure your illness, He never said he would do anything. But if you find refuge in Him,… Try it, taste it, and you will see the multiple goods that are there.
This is a short and powerful lesson that David HaMelech gives us. And it’s a nice thing to remember.
טעמו וראו
Taste and you will see
כי טוב ה׳
That G-d is good.
אשרי הגבר יחסה בו
Fortunate is the man that seeks refuge in Him
Have a wonderful day.