Today we will study chapter 64 of Tehilim, pasuk יא
יִשְׂמַח צַדִּיק בַּה׳ וְחָסָה בוֹ וְיִתְהַלְלוּ כׇּל־יִשְׁרֵי־לֵב
The righteous man is happy in Hashem and finds refuge in Him.
They will feel praiseworthy, all those that are upright of heart
The Hasid Yavetz explains this with a rule
(aside from help explaining the pasuk, these rules are stand-alone concepts as well):
At times Hashem brings challenges and suffering on the righteous, for the purpose that they strengthen themselves more in their Emunah once they get through the difficulty.
If someone, Lo Alenu, had to wait for a shidduch, or for children, or for a house, or for any Yeshua/salvation, and they strengthened themselves in Emunah, not only during the problem, but after, and rejoiced upon leaving the darkness and finding the great light, in the future, they will have better, stronger Bitachon.
So we can read the pasuk as:
יִשְׂמַח צַדִּיק בַּה׳
The righteous man is happy in Hashem
וְחָסָה בוֹ
When he sought refuge in Him
וְיִתְהַלְלוּ כׇּל־יִשְׁרֵי־לֵב
And then afterwards, he feels praise worthy (and proud) that he made it through with stronger Emunah.
This is an important principle.
It says, “Hashem tests the heart of those that are upright.”
He tests those that He knows can make it.
Therefore, they are happy when they pass the test and come out strong.
That is one explanation.
The Alshech says, on this same theme, that those people that didn’t doubt God throughout the process,
וְיִתְהַלְלוּ כׇּל־יִשְׁרֵי־לֵב
will praise themselves. They will say, “How fortunate we are, that we did not doubt God, that we were able to carry the difficulties, because our merit is tremendously great.”
Therefore, they celebrate, and are happy after they get through a challenge and come out stronger.
The Hovot HaLevavot explains this pasuk with a different theme; which is another stand alone concept that can be applied to this pasuk:
He says that the person who relies on Hashem‘s kindness and compassion and tremendous mercy, and doesn’t think about anybody else, and is not worried about anybody else, and is solely focused on God at all times, he rejoices in being alone with God.
He can be in a desert or in a room full of people, and it doesn’t make a difference, because he’s not focused on the people.
As the Hovot Halevavot says, “A full room can be like an empty one, and an empty room can be like a full one. He is never alone, and he never feels abandoned, because he is always with Hashem.
He doesn’t worry if he’s lacking. He is always only happy with his God.
He is always rejoicing in God’s will.
That’s what it means,
יִשְׂמַח צַדִּיק בַּה׳
The righteous man is happy in God.
I know a special man who is in his 80s. A year and a half ago, during Covid, Pesach time, he was alone in his house. No one was allowed to be with him. How long could his seder have taken, with no one else there? An hour or two?
Yet, at the end of the night, his children walked over to check on him, after they finished their Seder with their family. It was One in the morning, but when they looked through the window and saw him sitting in his dining room, alone, he was singing songs of Hallel from the Hagadah, at that wee hour of the morning !
He was all alone, with no one there. But he was rejoicing with Hashem. That is the great level, of great people, that are happy in the accompaniment of God.
The Pele Yoetz, when discussing the topic of Hitbodedut/being alone, quotes from the Ibn Ezra’s famous (in the Sephardic world) song Agadelcha/ I will uplift you, in which he says, “When I stand amongst your congregation, Oh Rock, to uplift, to You, I will bow my head, and humble myself.”
In other words,
Even in a group of people, I don’t focus on them, I focus on You
That’s what it means to be some שמח בה
Happy with Hashem.
Regardless of who or what is around him, his rejoicing is in Hashem.
So we have two beautiful lessons from this pasuk:
1- The Sadik is happy because he made it through the test and came out stronger
2- The Sadik is happy in God’s presence.
And both of them feel happy and delighted that they have that Zechut/Merit.