We continue our series on explaining the Pesukim (verses) of Tehillim. Today, we will study a Pasuk (verse) in Perek (chapter) Kuf Yud Chet (118), Pasuk Kaf Alef (21). David HaMelech says, “Odecha ki anitani, vatehi li lishu'ah.” That means: “Odecha ki anitani”—I thank you, for you have answered me, for you have answered my prayers. “Vatehi li lishu'ah”—and you have become my salvation.
David HaMelech in this Pasuk is praising Hashem for answering his Tefillot, for answering his prayers, and for bringing upon David a redemption and a salvation. David HaMelech is teaching us here that when Hashem does answer one's prayers, it is an obligation on that person to thank Hashem for answering his prayers. It's not just about praying to Hashem in times of need; a person must also thank Hashem when he is answered after that time of need. That's what David HaMelech here is teaching us: Odecha ki anitani, I thank you, Hashem, for you have answered my prayers and brought upon me a salvation.
However, there are those who learn this Pasuk differently. They say that the word anitani in this Pasuk does not mean that you answered me. They say the word anitani means—it comes from the word inuy, meaning to afflict and to bring suffering. They say David HaMelech is saying, following Odecha ki anitani, “I thank you, Hashem, for bringing troubles and suffering upon me. Vatehi li lishu'ah”—for that suffering, for that problem, turned out to be for my best, turned out to be my salvation.
And the Midrash (rabbinic teaching) goes on to explain: What does this mean? How do we understand this interpretation? The Midrash talks about a person who was preparing to travel on a journey in a caravan. Right before he was about to get on the caravan, as the people were waiting to travel, a scorpion poisons him. He is now gripped by a fever. He is unable to travel with the caravan; he feels sick and unwell, and now feels he needs to go back home immediately. As he is going back home, he looks up at Hashem and says, “Borei Olam (Creator of the World), you know how important this trip was to me? You know how much I prepared for this journey? Why, Hashem? Why did this have to happen moments before I went on this caravan? Something like this had to happen to me to hold me back from traveling. Why, Hashem? What is it that I committed to deserve this?”
The Midrash tells us he went home, disappointed. A few days later, the men received word that this caravan, which had left without him, had been destroyed in the wilderness. Everyone in that caravan died and perished. He immediately raises his voice to Hashem and stands up and says, “I thank you, Hashem, for you have caused me the suffering. And thus, because of that, you brought my salvation.” And this is what the Midrash says David HaMelech is telling us here. There are times in life when Borei Olam brings suffering and difficulty upon a person. Then, just a few days later—or sometimes it will take a few weeks, or sometimes even a few years—he will look back and say, “That exact day that Hashem brought that problem or suffering upon me—look how it was for my best today. Look how, years later, I see that what Hashem did was for my best.”
And he stands up and says, “Odecha ki anitani, I thank you, Hashem, that you afflicted me. I thank you, Hashem, for bringing that suffering upon me. I thank you, Hashem, for making me get fired from that job, because look what it brought to me. I thank you, Hashem, for the suffering that you brought upon me. Because in the end I realized, Vatehi li lishu'ah, that exact suffering, that precise problem that I went through, in the end, that was exactly what brought upon me the salvation. In the end I realized that it was for my best.”
So in this Pasuk, David HaMelech taught us two important things. According to the first interpretation, David HaMelech teaches us, “Odecha ki anitani: I thank you, Hashem, for answering my prayers and for bringing my salvation.” This teaches us that just as we pray to Hashem in times of need, we must also remember to thank Hashem after Hashem answers our Tefillot and answers and gives us what we needed. But the second interpretation is that I thank you, Hashem, ki anitani for the actual issue, for the problem, for the suffering. That suffering in the end turned out to be Vatehi li lishu'ah. We many times go through issues in life and through difficulties, just like that person who stood up in the Midrash, raised his voice, and said, “HaKadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, Blessed be He), why do I deserve this? Why did this have to happen to me?” Only a few days later, he was able to see that the answer to that exact question—the question that he asked Hashem—became very clear: Borei Olam—Hashem—was preparing a salvation for you. Odecha ki anitani, I thank you, Hashem, for what you have brought upon me, for the suffering and the affliction, for in the end I saw, Vatehi li lishu'ah, it was for my benefit, it was a salvation. Have a wonderful day.