We are now in chapter 26 of Tehilim where David HaMelech says,
לְדָוִ֨ד שׇׁפְטֵ֤נִי ה׳ כִּֽי־אֲ֭נִי בְּתֻמִּ֣י הָלַ֑כְתִּי וּבַה׳ בָּ֝טַ֗חְתִּי לֹ֣א אֶמְעָֽד
Judge me Hashem, Because I walked on the perfect path with simplicity, and I relied on Hashem. Therefore, I should not falter and go off the path.
On this pasuk, the Sefer Akedah says that in life, person is not supposed to rely on a miracle. And if a person does rely on miracles, miracles don’t happen.
A person should not go into a situation relying on a miracle. He has to do his hishtadlut/ his effort and after he has prepared everything, he relies on Hashem that Hatzlacha/ success should come about.
Then, when he is successful, he doesn’t think that he caused the success. Rather, he realizes that it was Hashem, and then the miracles do happen.
This is a rule that Rav Yerucham Levovitz says: When you put forth your maximum in Derech Eretz, then Hashem comes and finishes it off. But you can’t just sit back and do nothing. You have to put in your full effort. Then, after you’ve covered all your bases, miracles do happen.
This is the test of life. He brings a pasuk from Mishleh that backs this up. The pasuk says,
ס֗וּס מ֭וּכָן לְי֣וֹם מִלְחָמָ֑ה וְ֝לַה׳ הַתְּשׁוּעָֽה
“The horse is prepared for the day of war. To Hashem is the salvation,” which means that you have to prepare the horse, but once you’ve prepare the horse, salvation doesn’t necessarily happen from the horse. Hashem will bring the salvation, and possibly in a totally different way.
Rabbenu Bachye brings this pasuk down when he describes how the Jewish people went into the wilderness. It says, “ The Jewish people went armed.” They were prepared. They worried, when they were leaving Mitzrayim, that the Egyptians might chase them. So even though God was telling him to leave, even in the situation of Yetziat Mitzrayim, they left with arms. They couldn’t just go out into the desert with nothing. They took provisions too.
Once you do the maximum that you are able to do, then Hashem will make miracles. In the end they didn’t even need their arms. The sea split for them.
But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t need to bring their arms.
This is the big test of life, and this is what David HaMelech meant when he tells Hashem, in the words of the Akedah, “You should save me, because I did what I was supposed to do. And with everything that I did, I didn’t rely on my deeds, I relied on You.“
David HaMelech says, according to this, that this is what will bring his success, and he’s going to be judged on it.
לְדָוִ֨דשׇׁפְטֵ֤נִי ה׳ כִּֽי־אֲ֭נִי בְּתֻמִּ֣י הָלַ֑כְתִּי וּבַה׳ בָּ֝טַ֗חְתִּי לֹ֣א אֶמְעָֽד
Judge me, God. Judge me and see if I did my utmost. I went in a simple way. I did everything that I had to do, and at the same time, I only relied on You. Therefore, I should not falter on my path.
There is another explanation to this pasuk, that takes more of a religious approach.
There are many paths to take in religion. There are many possibilities and approaches to life, and not every path works for every person. Different people like to learn different things. Some people like to learn Daf Yomi, whereas other people want to learn more in depth. Some ladies find their Hessed making shidduchim, others find it in visiting the sick.
There are many different paths in life. How do we know which path is the right path? We don’t necessarily know. We need temimut- we need to look for the most simple and perfect path, that seems to be right in our eyes.
David HaMelech says, אֲ֭נִי בְּתֻמִּ֣י הָלַ֑כְתִּי
I went in simple faith, and I chose what looked best to me as the right path. I don’t know for sure. All I have is my eyes.
I went with simplicity in faith and chose a path in life. And at the same time, וּבַה׳ בָּ֝טַ֗חְתִּי
I relied on Hashem, that I shouldn’t falter, and that He should continue to direct me on the true correct path- not just the one that seems right to me, but the one that is truly correct.
This is a rule in life. Very often, there are forks in the road, and we don’t know which choice to make.
We have to use our utmost ability to make those decisions, but ultimately, we have to rely on Hashem to take us on the right path.
So this pasuk is both a lesson in the balance of hishtadlut and Bitachon, vis-à-vis the approach we quoted above from Mishleh
ס֗וּס מ֭וּכָן לְי֣וֹם מִלְחָמָ֑ה וְ֝לַה׳ הַתְּשׁוּעָֽה
The horse is prepared for the day of war….but victory comes from Hashem, and also a lesson in the balance of religion, where we have to choose the path that seems most perfect to us, but at the same time, we have to rely on Hashem to actually direct us on that correct path.
Have a wonderful day.