לַמְנַצֵּחַ אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת לְדָוִד מִכְתָּם בִּשְׁלֹחַ שָׁאוּל וַיִּשְׁמְרוּ אֶת־הַבַּיִת לַהֲמִיתוֹ׃ - For the conductor, Al Tashchet, of David, a Michtam, when Shaul sent, and they watched the house to put him to death.
Rashi explains that "Al Tashchet" ("Do not destroy") is the name of the psalm, named for the fact that David was close to dying and being destroyed - nishchat stemming from destruction (hashchatah) rather than slaughter (shechitah) - and he pleaded for mercy regarding this. And "they watched the house" - this occurred on the occasion when Michal told Shaul's messengers, "He is sick," and helped David escape by night.
To understand the background of these events, let us look at Shmuel I, chapter 19: "Shaul sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David's wife, told him, saying: If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. So Michal let David down through the window, and he went and fled and escaped. Michal took the teraphim and laid them in the bed, and put a quilt of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with a garment" - she placed figures in the bed to look like a person lying there. "Shaul sent messengers to take David, and she said: He is sick. Shaul sent the messengers to see David, saying: Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him" - he was not satisfied with the excuse that he was sick; rather, bring him even while sick. "The messengers came, and behold, the teraphim were in the bed, with the quilt of goats' hair at its head" - the same messengers who had previously seen a sick person lying in bed discovered, when they went to lift him up, that this was not David and these were not his ruddy locks, but goats' hair and teraphim.
The text continues: "Shaul said to Michal: Why have you deceived me like this, and sent away my enemy, so that he escaped? And Michal said to Shaul: He said to me: Let me go, why should I kill you?" - meaning, he threatened my life, Father, and I had no choice. "David fled and escaped, and came to Shmuel at Ramah, and told him all that Shaul had done to him; and he and Shmuel went and dwelt in Nayot." Shaul sent messengers to seize David, but the messengers joined the band of prophets and prophesied; this happened several times, until Shaul went himself and also received prophecy: "He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied as well, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say: Is Shaul also among the prophets?"
We find, then, that the heading of the psalm is a plea for mercy: Master of the Universe, do not destroy me. And when was this? "When Shaul sent, and they watched the house to put him to death" - when the messengers were dispatched to kill David.
The holy Alshich asks: What is meant by "Al Tashchet"? After all, Shaul possessed free choice, and the Holy One, blessed be He, did not withhold his free will from him. We have explained in the past that there is a major dispute regarding this: does an agent with free choice have the power to act contrary to Hashem's will, meaning, does the Holy One, blessed be He, intervene in free choice or not? There are opinions among the Rishonim - such as the Radak and the holy Or HaChaim - that a person endowed with free will can inflict upon someone harm that was not decreed upon him from Above, for that is the very nature of free choice. Others maintain that even an agent of free choice cannot harm a person unless it was decreed against him, and this is the view accepted among us from the Vilna Gaon (Gra).
Here we see something wondrous: Shaul sought to watch the house in order to kill him in the morning. Had he sought to kill him immediately, David would have been put to death. But because he chose merely to keep watch over the house, Michal sensed the danger, and through this she helped David escape through the window. Observe Divine Providence (hashgachah pratit): on the one hand, Shaul's free choice was not obstructed, yet on the other hand, David's death was prevented. For this, David thanks Hashem - that the Holy One, blessed be He, was able, as it were, to break the spear while keeping the barrel and its wine intact; He did not intervene in Shaul's free will, yet still ensured that David escaped.
The Malbim divides the psalm into three parts. Initially, David describes the reality that preceded this event, when he sat playing music before Shaul, and Shaul took his spear once and twice and hurled it at him, and there was but a step between him and death, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, saved him - this extends until verse 7. After that, he describes the salvation that came about through Michal, Shaul's daughter, when he fled from the house. And the final section, from verse 15 onward, is where he curses his enemies.
הַצִּילֵנִי מֵאֹיְבַי אֱלֹהָי מִמִּתְקוֹמְמַי תְּשַׂגְּבֵנִי׃ - Rescue me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who rise up against me.
"Protect me" (tesagveni) - place me in an elevated, exalted place (nisgav) where they cannot reach me. And what is the difference between "my enemies" (oyevai) and "those who rise up against me" (mitkomemai)? The Malbim explains: "my enemies" are those who wish me harm in their hearts, their hatred buried deep within. "Those who rise up against me" are those who are not content with mere hatred, but actively rise up against me. Regarding both, David asks for God's help to overcome them.
הַצִּילֵנִי מִפֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן וּמֵאַנְשֵׁי דָמִים הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי׃ - Rescue me from workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men.
The Radak explains: "workers of iniquity" refers to the ambushing guards, those who searched and waited for David to exit the house. And they are called "bloodthirsty men" (literally "men of bloods") because they sought to kill him and shed his blood. Why is "blood" in the plural (damim)? The holy Alshich explains: his blood and the blood of his potential descendants; for the moment David is killed, the descendants he was destined to father would never be born into the world. This is similar to what was said regarding Kayin: "The voice of your brother's bloods (demei achicha) cries out to Me from the ground" - not "your brother's blood," but his blood and the blood of his potential descendants.
The Malbim explains: "Rescue me from workers of iniquity" corresponds to the enemies who torment David covertly - those mentioned earlier whose enmity is in their hearts, who slander him with lashon hara but do not actively pursue him. "And save me from bloodthirsty men" corresponds to those who rise up against him, who actively seek to murder him. The Malbim is precise with the terminology: salvation (yeshuah) applies in times of open war, during battle, when one is in desperate need of salvation; whereas rescue (hatzalah) applies to one who plots evil covertly, where a person prays that the schemer's plot will never be brought to fruition.
כִּי הִנֵּה אָרְבוּ לְנַפְשִׁי יָגוּרוּ עָלַי עַזִּים לֹא־פִשְׁעִי וְלֹא־חַטָּאתִי יְהֹוָה׃ - For behold, they lie in wait for my life; brazen men gather against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, Hashem.
"They lie in wait for my life" is clear, but what does "yaguru alai" mean? Rashi explains: "yaguru alai - to flee into my house to guard me" (lanus beveiti leshomreni), which on the surface seems difficult to understand. Yet when examining accurate manuscripts (indeed, whenever one encounters a puzzling phrasing in Rashi, consulting the "Keter" edition - which printed the texts of Rashi and Radak with great precision - often resolves everything), it becomes clear that it does not say "to flee" (lanus), but rather "sleep" (lanim). The letters are very similar: the yod lengthened into a vav, and the final mem in Rashi script closely resembles a samech. The intended meaning is: they lodge by my house to watch me - sleeping at the entrance of my home to keep watch and wait for me to emerge.
By the way, Rashi himself did not write in "Rashi script." This script is Sephardic semicursive, and early printers and typesetters of Chumash editions chose it to distinguish between the biblical text and the commentary; hence it became known as "Rashi script." Anyone who has seen the handwriting of Rav Kaduri, for example, will recognize this Sephardic script - it is identical to Rashi script.
And what does yaguru mean? Some explain it as an expression of gathering and assembling, like grain in a storehouse (megurah) - the place where it is gathered; and like "Do not hold back before any man" (lo taguru mipnei ish), which Chazal interpret as: do not hold back (gather inward) your words out of fear of anyone, where one wishes to speak but out of fear restrains and stores up his words, as in "He who gathers (oger) in summer is a wise son" - gathering. According to this, "brazen men gather (yaguru) against me" means they assemble and band together. Others interpret it from the root of dwelling (megurim), which seems to be Rashi's approach: they lodge around my house, dwelling and encamping outside the home to watch me.
"Not for my transgression nor for my sin, Hashem" - the Radak explains: they do not lie in ambush for me because of any transgression or sin I committed, for I have neither transgressed nor sinned against them in any way. And why is "Hashem" at the end of the verse? It is an exclamation, as though he cries out: Master of the Universe! I have neither transgressed nor sinned.
The Malbim explains: the reason they lie in wait for my life and assemble against me is that they are "brazen" - it stems purely from their audacity. It is not my transgressions or my sins that pursue me, as the verse says, "Your wickedness shall chastise you," where a person is typically pursued by his own transgressions and sins; rather, what ambushes and torments me is their own insolence. Consequently, they ambush me unjustly and not because I deserve it. The Malbim further notes that an inadvertent sin (chet) is less severe than a willful transgression (pesha); therefore David says first, "not for my transgression" - I have committed no rebellion, nor even a minor sin - "nor for my sin."
The Me'am Lo'ez cites another explanation in the name of Rav Mercado: King David comes to exonerate himself - where did all this hatred begin? From "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands," which the singing women declared. David says: "Neither for my transgression nor for my sin" - I did not transgress or sin in anything that aroused Saul's jealousy; it was the singing women who caused it, while I did nothing here. This transgression and sin do not depend on me.
בְּלִי־עָוֺן יְרֻצוּן וְיִכּוֹנָנוּ עוּרָה לִקְרָאתִי וּרְאֵה׃ - Without iniquity they run and prepare themselves; awake toward me and behold.
The Radak explains: I did not transgress or sin against them, yet they run and pursue me, preparing themselves to seize me - this is "they run and prepare themselves [yikonnenu]," like veyitkonnenu; and in the words of Rashi: they ready themselves to kill. Therefore, "awake toward me and behold" - arouse Yourself toward me to rescue me from their hand, and see, Master of the Universe, their evil deeds and my righteousness, and rescue me from them.
And the Malbim adds: Even though there is no transgression or sin here, it seems to them that they run and prepare "without iniquity" - they pursue me and believe there is no sin in this whatsoever. And who thinks this way? One who is convinced his actions are proper: it is a mitzvah to kill David, this is a mission from the king, and it is a mitzvah to obey his voice. Therefore, they have no pangs of conscience, and without any sense of guilt they pursue me to kill me.
And therefore, "awake toward me." And what does "toward me [likrati]" mean? The Malbim explains that likrat means opposite, facing. And who was facing David? When David played music, Saul sat opposite him. David says: Master of the Universe, sit there facing me, opposite me, and stop Saul from casting the spear at me and striking me. And this is as we said, that according to the Malbim, the first part of the psalm deals with the stage when David stood opposite Saul while playing music, and Saul cast the spear at him to kill him.
וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָה־אֱלֹהִים צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הָקִיצָה לִפְקֹד כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם אַל־תָּחֹן כָּל־בֹּגְדֵי אָוֶן סֶלָה׃ - And You, Hashem, God of Hosts, the God of Israel, awaken to visit all the nations; be not gracious to any treacherous workers of iniquity, Selah.
The Radak states: This verse connects neither to what precedes it nor to what follows it, unless we interpret it as referring to the future. Indeed, it is astonishing: David is describing Saul's pursuit, sending men to watch his house and hurling a spear at him - so why are the nations suddenly mentioned here? Is Saul a gentile? Therefore, the Radak explains that these words refer to the ultimate future. David sees that he is being pursued without sin and without iniquity, yet there is no judge to restrain Saul, and no one to rebuke him and tell him that this is improper - except for Jonathan his friend. After all, who would want to get entangled with the king? Everyone flatters Saul, seeking to curry favor with him and approving of his actions.
David therefore says: I see that this generation will not be vindicated, and this will happen only in the future, when Hashem refines the silver and purges the wicked of Israel. At present, the Holy One, blessed be He, extends patience to the wicked, as if asleep and not seeing their evil deeds. Therefore he pleads, "Awaken to visit all the nations" - awaken to reckon with all the nations in the future to come, when "saviors shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau," and the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact retribution from all the nations for all they have done to us. And in the process, the wicked of Israel will also perish, leaving only one from a city and two from a family, those who were among the servants of Hashem: "And you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." Only then will there no longer be treacherous workers of iniquity, and the world will be perfected under the sovereignty of the Almighty. Therefore, "be not gracious to any treacherous workers of iniquity, Selah" - do not grant pardon to the traitors and workers of iniquity, for aven means wickedness, but judge them according to their deeds.
And the Malbim explains differently: David had already resolved in his heart to flee. Until now, he was commander of the armies of Israel, but now he realized that associating with Saul was extremely dangerous - you sit and play music before him, and suddenly you might find yourself, or more accurately, no longer find yourself at all. On the contrary, the very fact that he was commander of the army served as an incentive for Saul to cast him into all sorts of pitfalls and snares: once a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, and another time something else, so long as David would ultimately fall. David understands that he has no choice but to flee, and if so, there will no longer be an army commander to fight the Philistines.
Therefore, as it were, he entrusts the armies into the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He: "And You, Hashem, God of Hosts, the God of Israel" - I entrust the armies to You; You shall be the commander of Israel's army and You shall fight their battles, for I am leaving and cannot remain near Saul. "God of Israel" - inasmuch as You supervise them, for wherever "God of" [Elohei] is stated in the construct state, it signifies His unique relationship to them: "God" [Elokim] on its own pertains to the world at large, while "the God of Israel" refers to the special Providence over the Jewish people.
According to this, Radak's question regarding the meaning of "all the nations" is resolved well: If I flee and am no longer the army commander, who will fight the Philistines who attack time and again, and who will deliver us from the nations? Therefore I ask: You, Hashem, God of Hosts, the God of Israel through Divine providence, awaken to visit all the nations - arouse Yourself to protect the Jewish people from those who rise against them, and muster them like a commander reviewing his troops. I am fleeing the land, so You must judge the nations that come upon the people of Israel.
Along with this, he adds a plea: "Show no mercy to any treacherous workers of iniquity, Selah" - do not show mercy even to the men of Shaul who pursue me to kill me. That is, deliver Israel from its enemies, but let those who are my enemies fall in battle. Even as You go out with the armies and act, as it were, as the supreme commander, do not spare Shaul's men who pursue me when they are in war. Indeed, David explicitly requested later: "Hashem will strike him down, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish." Granted, he was taken to task for this, as the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Is this how you speak, "Hashem will strike him down," regarding Hashem's anointed? Yet regarding his men, it was certainly legitimate to pray, "or he will go down into battle and perish." And this is "Selah" - here the matter concludes. Up to this point, he addressed the reality of Shaul's pursuit and David's flight; from here on, in the Malbim's view, he turns to deal with the men sent to watch the house and the rescue orchestrated by Michal, Shaul's daughter. According to the other commentators, this theme begins at the very opening of the psalm, but according to the Malbim, it enters only now.
By way of homiletical allusion (remez), Rav Mazuz notes: "Awaken to visit all the nations" (הָקִיצָה לִפְקֹד כָּל הַגּוֹיִם) forms the acronym Halachah (ה-ל-כ-ה). What is the connection between the nations and Halachah? There is indeed a connection: "It is an established Halachah that Eisav hates Yaakov" - this is one Halachah that all the nations observe scrupulously and meticulously. Therefore, Master of the Universe, awaken to visit all the nations who are so strict in observing this "Halachah"; let Your judgment fall upon them.
יָשׁוּבוּ לָעֶרֶב יֶהֱמוּ כַכָּלֶב וִיסוֹבְבוּ עִיר׃ - They return at evening, growling like dogs, prowling around the city.
הִנֵּה יַבִּיעוּן בְּפִיהֶם חֲרָבוֹת בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֵיהֶם כִּי־מִי שֹׁמֵעַ׃ - Behold, they spew forth with their mouth; swords are in their lips, for "Who hears?"
Rashi connects the two verses: "They return at evening" - it is not enough for them what they do during the day; in the evening they also return to watch and ensure I do not escape the house. And what did they do during the day? "They spew forth with their mouth" - all day long they spy on me and speak against me, "swords are in their lips," constant lashon hara; and in the evening they "growl like dogs," circling my home to prevent my escape.
Ibn Ezra adds that he compares them to dogs because dogs bark at night to guard the city, and similarly, those sent to watch the house growl and prowl to keep me from fleeing. And what is the meaning of "prowling around the city"? Radak explains that they encircled the house on his account. Another possibility: Shaul sent additional men to surround the entire city, taking into account that David was resourceful, and that if he realized he was being watched, he might manage to slip away; he therefore created an outer perimeter of guards around the city, so that if David fled the house and attempted to leave the town, he would be captured.
The Malbim explains that here begins the depiction of Shaul sending guards in the evening to stake out David's house: in the evening they return to murder him, growling like dogs, watching the house and circling the city to strike him down. In the next verse, he shows that they are worse than dogs in two respects: First, a barking dog does not bite, whereas these men "spew forth with their mouth" - as they bark, their mouths pour out damaging words and slander, fabricating tales about me. Second, even when a dog bites, it rarely kills, whereas these men have "swords in their lips" - their speech cuts down and slays. Furthermore, with their lips they speak openly of how Shaul will execute him in the morning, as though David's fate were already sealed. "For 'Who hears?'" - they are confident that no one hears, unaware that I am inside the house, hearing their whispers from outside and realizing they intend to kill me.
Ibn Ezra explains that "Who hears?" refers to the Holy One, blessed be He: they fail to realize that Hashem hears and marks their words, and that He will deliver me from them. By way of homiletical allusion, one may add: Mi ("Who") alludes to the attribute of Binah, the fifty gates of understanding, and Binah represents the aspect of the sheltering and protecting Mother (Ima). David is saved through the power of Mi who hears. In a similar vein, we find an explanation for the wording of the Mishnah: "Before Whom (lifnei Mi) are you purified, and Who (u-Mi) purifies you? Your Father in Heaven." If a person has sunk to the fiftieth gate of impurity, he can no longer be purified through natural means; only the Holy One, blessed be He, can extract him through a miracle. "Before Mi" - as long as you have not yet reached the fiftieth gate, you can purify yourselves; but once you have reached that fiftieth gate of impurity, "Mi purifies you" - only the level of M"I, Binah, the fifty gates of holiness, your Father in Heaven Himself in all His glory, can pull you out.
Radak interprets "for 'Who hears?'" differently: Had they known that I hear them, they would never have dared to speak this way. After all, they had cause for concern - there was conflict between Shaul and David, and the prevailing sense was that Shaul was on his final stretch, his dynasty ending. Everyone knew what had transpired in the war against Amalek and that he had offered the burnt offering prematurely; it was evident that one star was rising while another was setting. They ought to have feared that tomorrow David might be king, so why speak words that could tomorrow bring upon them the charge of treason and David's vengeance? Rather, they were confident that "Who hears?" - that no one hears; had they suspected that anyone heard, they certainly would not have spoken this way within my hearing.
The Me'am Lo'ez cites a Midrash based on the Gemara's description of a rabid dog: it walks along the edges of the roads, its mouth is open and drooling, its tail is between its thighs, and it barks but its voice is not heard. Accordingly: "They return at evening, growling like dogs" - like a rabid dog; "prowling around the city" - they walk and circle along the edges of the roads just like it, in order to speak lashon hara; "they spew forth with their mouth" - their mouths bubble over like a fountain, drooling like a rabid dog; "swords are in their lips, for 'Who hears?'" - it bares its teeth and thrusts out its tongue, but who hears, for a rabid dog barks hoarsely and its voice is not heard. This reveals a complete correspondence to the characteristics of a rabid dog.
וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָה תִּשְׂחַק־לָמוֹ תִּלְעַג לְכָל־גּוֹיִם׃ - But You, Hashem, will laugh at them; You will mock all the nations.
Rashi explains: You, Hashem, who mock all the nations - You will laugh at them too, at these wicked men, just as You mock all the nations. And the Radak adds: You, Hashem, who hear their words - for they assume that You do not hear, yet in truth You do hear - You will laugh at them. And what is this "laughter"? It is like a person who listens to his fellow making grand plans and says to him: Plan away, plan away - keep spinning your thoughts and fantasies, but you will achieve nothing from them. In the same way, You will laugh at them, and they will have no power to carry out what they planned against me; You will turn their words into an object of laughter and ridicule, like someone scoffing at the threats of an enemy whom he does not fear at all: let him threaten, let him talk - let him threaten and talk, there is no substance to him. And "You will mock all the nations" - just as You mock all the nations that deny You, nullifying their words and schemes, so too will You mock and laugh at these men. This follows the line of Rashi's explanation.
Here the Malbim reveals an original insight: "And You, Hashem, will laugh at them" - for You will thwart their counsel. "And so You will mock all the nations" - this refers to those nations who rejoice that the one who waged Hashem's battles against them is about to die, imagining that the story is over and they can relax. Concerning them, David says: It is not over at all, and You will mock all the nations that anticipate my death.
עֻזּוֹ אֵלֶיךָ אֶשְׁמֹרָה כִּי־אֱלֹהִים מִשְׂגַּבִּי׃ - Because of his strength, I look to You, for God is my stronghold.
The Ibn Ezra explains "His strength" - You are the God whose strength belongs to His very essence. Anyone else who possesses strength does so by virtue of "Ascribe strength to God," from Hashem's strength; if a person has any power at all, he received it from Hashem. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, strength is His very essence, and He receives it from no one. "To You I keep watch" - an expression of longing and anticipation, like "a night of watching [leil shimurim]" and "his father kept the matter in mind [ve'aviv shamar et hadavar]," waiting expectantly for it to come to pass; that is to say, I look forward to this strength that is with Hashem, that You will rescue me from the hand of my pursuers.
The Radak explains differently: "His strength" refers back to Saul - because of Saul's strength, I look to You. Here stands the mighty strength of a king, and David had already lamented several times: He is a king, where can I bring him to court? Where is the beit din that can judge a king and his government? Therefore, Master of the Universe, since the monarchy is in his hand and he is fiercer and stronger than I am - only to You do I look, for You alone I keep watch, that You may save me. "For God is my stronghold" - finding refuge means being sheltered as in a fortress, and I have nowhere to find refuge except with You.
The Malbim connects this to the laughter in the previous verse: it is as though the Holy One, blessed be He, says in amusement to David: "His strength I will keep for you" - Saul's strength I am preserving for you; you will replace him and stand in his place. From this it follows that when he said "You will mock all the nations" who would rejoice at the death of the one fighting Hashem's battles against them, it refers to Saul's death; until now, Saul had been saving Israel from their enemies, and when he dies, the nations will imagine there is no one left to fight Hashem's battles. To this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: That very strength I am preserving for you, David - you will reign in his stead, and you will stand strong against the nations in battle. The Malbim adds: "For God is my stronghold" - You do not tell me this explicitly, but rather through the fact that You are my stronghold and strengthen me against Saul and against the Philistines, as occurred in the battle of Keilah; this proves that "his strength I keep for you," that You are preparing me to receive his strength, and I am primed to reign in his stead.
The Me'am Lo'ez quotes a homiletic interpretation in the name of the Shaarei Chaim: "His strength I will keep for You" - from his boldness and zeal I take an example of how to serve You. When I witness the audacity and determination of my wicked pursuers seeking my life, I learn from them - from their fierce intensity - how one must serve the Creator. "Be bold as a leopard" - a great person is refined through holy audacity.
So too taught the Baal Shem Tov, that from everything in the world a person must learn a lesson and draw a conclusion. This is the meaning of "Walk away from a foolish man": whatever the fool does, do the opposite; or, with the very same enthusiasm with which the fool pursues his vanity, with that same enthusiasm serve the Holy One, blessed be He. This is also "From my enemies You make me wiser" - from the way the enemy conducts himself in evil deeds, I gain wisdom on how to conduct myself in good deeds, in the service of Hashem.
In this light, an explanation was once offered for what Yaakov Avinu said: "I have lived with Lavan and kept the 613 mitzvos, and I did not learn from his evil deeds." Everyone asks: Did Esav really care to hear how righteous you were and how many mitzvos you observed? Some explain that Yaakov was telling him: The blessings rightfully belong to me, for the condition "And it shall come to pass when you grieve, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck" has not yet arrived - you rise only when I fall, and I have not fallen, since I observed the 613 mitzvos. Others explain the exact opposite: Yaakov Avinu was lamenting against himself - I lived with Lavan and kept the 613 mitzvos, yet with all that, "I did not learn from his evil deeds"; look at the devotion, love, and joy with which Lavan served his idols, yet I failed to learn to serve my Creator with that level of devotion, love, and joy.
Indeed, this is what a person must learn, and as the Chofetz Chaim says, the greatest guidance for avodas Hashem can be drawn from a person's business. Someone who has a business - he breathes the business, lives the business, eats and sleeps the business, and if he cannot sleep at night, it is because of the business; he is constantly calculating, checking how much he gained, how much he lost, and where things are heading. It has been said of those who are so deeply attached to their business that their funeral procession departs straight from the store. He stays another half hour because another customer walked in; it is already ten at night and people tell him, "Go home," but he refuses: "It looks like he is about to make a purchase." Yet when you sit in a shiur and the shiur ends at eight, do you say: Let me stay a little longer, perhaps I can gain something more? If only we had a love for Torah like his love for his business! A person must learn from the way people pursue the pleasures and vanities of this world, how thoroughly attached they are to them - and from this, apply it to the service of Hashem.