Introduction
In this part of the psalm, King David summarizes the great message of the chapter: true trust is solely in the Holy One, blessed be He. After warning against trusting in human beings and their fleeting vanity, he turns to wealth itself - especially wealth acquired dishonestly - and teaches that it offers neither enduring existence nor protection. From there, he ascends to the fundamental principle: there is justice and there is a Judge, and the Holy One, blessed be He, repays every person according to their deeds.
"Do Not Trust in Extortion and Robbery" - The Difference Between Extortion and Robbery
אַל־תִּבְטְחוּ בְעֹשֶׁק וּבְגָזֵל אַל־תֶּהְבָּלוּ חַיִל כִּי יָנוּב אַל־תָּשִׁיתוּ לֵב׃ - Do not trust in extortion, and do not place futile hope in robbery; if wealth flourishes, set not your heart upon it.
"Oshek" (withholding or extortion) refers to another person's money that came into your possession and you do not return it: a loan you hold back, or a hired worker's wages you fail to pay. This is the language of the Torah: "You shall not withhold the wages of a hired worker." "Gezel" (robbery) means actively going and seizing something by force. In simple terms: oshek is unlawfully holding onto someone else's money, while gezel is going out and taking it from them.
The Radak makes a very sobering statement here: "Most human wealth contains something of these practices." A person might say, God forbid, "What do you mean? I certainly don't go out and steal!" But if one examines his actions meticulously, he will discover numerous instances that carry the concern of robbery or extortion - all sorts of situations where a person is obligated to pay but fails to do so, leaving him with a serious spiritual problem.
One example: buying on credit at the local grocery store. Grocers really dislike this, and they will tell you: "My friend, I am heavily in overdraft at the bank because the neighborhood treats me like a free-loan fund (gemach). One customer buys on store credit, another buys on credit, meanwhile I have to pay my suppliers on time, and their debt has been dragging on for four months!" And who pays the bank interest on the overdraft? The grocer. And what about the prohibition of robbery?
Rav Zilberstein recounted a story about a grocer who was forced to shut down his shop. What happened? When a customer's debt reaches the point where the store owner is finally forced to ask, "Sir, what about your payment?" - you never see him again. The debt remains unpaid, and the customer never returns. And so the grocery store went out of business. Rav Zilberstein cried out from the bottom of his heart: people understand that feeding a child non-kosher food, God forbid, defiles the soul and leads them, Heaven spare us, down harmful paths. Consider this: when you feed your child food purchased with stolen money, it is spiritually equivalent to giving them poison. It is exactly the same as feeding them pork! What is the difference? Eating pork is a biblical prohibition, and robbery is a biblical prohibition. You fed them something tainted by transgression, and anything forbidden damages the soul - both yours and your children's.
Therefore, a person must realize that anyone can stumble into dishonest gain. This is what the verse teaches: human wealth has no permanence; do not rely upon it. "Do not trust in extortion and robbery" - one cannot place trust in wealth that was not acquired honestly. Do not imagine that it will rescue you from trouble, and on its account, "do not place futile hope" - such trust is pure vanity.
Why Robbery Prosecutes First
Our Sages taught that robbery is the foremost accuser among sins, and we must ask: why specifically this sin? Furthermore, it is written: "He who amasses wealth unjustly will leave it in the midst of his days" - why is it stated specifically regarding unjust wealth that he will die in the middle of his days?
We have previously mentioned the story of a man who came to the Chafetz Chaim and said: "Honored Rabbi, you always teach that one should fear the wheel of fortune turning against him. But I have assets in Africa and in Russia; when one market goes down, the other goes up, and vice versa - there is no way the wheel could turn against me." The Chafetz Chaim replied to him: "It is written, 'In the midst of his days it will leave him' (or 'he will leave it'), and the verse does not specify who leaves whom! It is possible that the person will leave the wealth, departing from this world in the prime of his life, Heaven spare us." The man was terrified and pleaded: "God forbid, no! Let no unintended decree proceed from the mouth of the master; please, Rabbi, do not say such things!"
A wonderful explanation is brought by the Acharonim. Consider: when judgment reaches a person, what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? "The Master of souls does not strike souls first"; rather, He first takes his money. This is why money is called damim (literally "bloods"), for blood has touched blood. Money is blood, and a person's body and soul are blood, and Hashem takes this blood in place of that blood. Indeed, with certain people, taking money from them feels like drawing their actual blood, as if you severed their hand.
It emerges from this that our money serves as an atonement for us and can lengthen a person's days: here he suffers damage, there a loss, and through this he gains long life. But all this is on condition that the money is yours! Then the Holy One, blessed be He, can take your money in exchange for your life. But if the money belongs to someone else, if there is stolen property in your hand - Hashem says: What shall I take? Shall I take Reuven's money from Shimon, and that will be an atonement for Shimon? It is not your money; it is Reuven's money, which you stole from him! This money cannot serve as an atonement. And this is the meaning of "He who amasses wealth unjustly" - there is no alternative: "in the midst of his days it shall leave him"; the person departs this world in the prime of his life, because that money cannot be taken in exchange for his soul.
This is also the reason robbery prosecutes first: when robbery makes its claim, a person cannot pay through the loss of his money, since the money is not his. Therefore, robbery exacts retribution from the person immediately. And this is "Do not trust in oppression, and do not put vain hope in robbery" - do not think: "I will trust in the money I extorted and stole, for through it I will be saved from trouble; I will give tzedakah from it and it will shield me." Scripture states: Do not trust in it; it is futility, it is not your money, and such trust is a futile trust.
"Though wealth flourish, do not set your heart upon it"
"Though wealth flourish (yanuv)" - even if you see that the wealth is multiplying, yanuv being from the root of tenuvah (yield or produce), meaning it is growing - do not pay it any mind. Why? Because, as we explained, this wealth will not endure; it stems from robbery and has no lasting existence.
The Malbim explains: Robbery, which is futility (hevel), is worse than oppression, as we explained - for in oppression I merely withhold your money in my possession, while in robbery I go and seize it from you. He continues: Even if you see a person who stole and prospered in his business - look at the yield he has, he is profiting from the stolen money - "do not set your heart upon it." Do not pay it any attention, for this wealth does not endure and has no future.
"Once did God speak, twice have I heard this"
אַחַת דִּבֶּר אֱלֹהִים שְׁתַּיִם־זוּ שָׁמָעְתִּי כִּי עֹז לֵאלֹהִים׃ - Once did God speak, twice have I heard this: that strength belongs to God.
וּלְךָ־אֲדֹנָי חָסֶד כִּי־אַתָּה תְשַׁלֵּם לְאִישׁ כְּמַעֲשֵׂהוּ׃ - And Yours, my Lord, is lovingkindness, for You reward each man according to his deeds.
Rashi explains: "Once did God speak" - one utterance was spoken, and from it I heard two. And what are these two? First: "that strength belongs to God" - You, Hashem, have the strength, power, and might to repay a person according to his deed, meaning his negative deed. When a person does evil, You, Hashem, possess the power to exact retribution from him, which is why the name Elokim is used, signifying strict judgment. And second: "and Yours, my Lord, is lovingkindness" - You show lovingkindness and bestow good; this is the reward. Thus we have two: punishment and reward.
And from where did we hear both from a single utterance? Rashi explains: from the second commandment of the Ten Commandments, in which it is said, "visiting the iniquity of fathers" alongside "and showing lovingkindness to thousands." "Visiting the iniquity" - to exact retribution from a person and reckon his sin against him, which corresponds to "that strength belongs to God." And "showing lovingkindness" - this corresponds to "and Yours, my Lord, is lovingkindness," in that You bestow kindness upon man and grant him his reward for the mitzvos he performed. Therefore, says King David, I am confident that Hashem will grant good reward to the righteous and retribution to the wicked - because "once did God speak," a single utterance, the second commandment, yet "twice have I heard this," as we heard two concepts from it: exacting retribution from the wicked and granting good reward to the righteous. And this, Rashi notes, he learned from the teachings of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan. Our Sages also expounded this in reference to Zachor and Shamor, as will be mentioned in the commentary of the Radak.
The Radak's Explanation: The Simple Meaning of the Text
The Radak explains according to the plain meaning (peshat): Hashem spoke once and twice, meaning time and again, on numerous occasions. It does not literally mean exactly twice, but rather the way someone might say, "I spoke with him once or twice," meaning three or four times. And so we have heard from the prophets as well. And what is this message repeated again and again? "For power belongs to God" - power belongs solely to Hashem, blessed be He. This is a direct continuation of what was said earlier, "Do not trust in oppression and robbery," and what was said before that, "Trust in Him at all times": trust only in Hashem, blessed be He, because strength and power belong to Him alone, and there is no power besides Him. This is what we have heard from the mouths of the prophets more than once or twice. And the Radak adds: there are other interpretations along the lines of Derash, but they do not belong to the primary context of the psalm.
The Homiletic Interpretations (Derash)
Now the Radak cites the Midrashic interpretations. "One thing God has spoken" - this is the Torah; "two things have I heard" - for we heard it twice: from the Almighty (HaGevurah) and from Moshe Rabbeinu.
Furthermore, Chazal expounded: "One thing God has spoken" - this refers to Zachor ("Remember") and Shamor ("Observe"), a single utterance that we heard as two, as "Zachor and Shamor were uttered in a single declaration." What is the proof? The Giving of the Torah took place on a single occasion, in the month of Sivan, where the Divine revelation of "I am Hashem your God" was given (and some say the second Luchot were like another Giving of the Torah, but in the straightforward understanding it was a single occasion). If so, how is it that in the Ten Commandments in Parashat Yitro it is written, "Remember the Sabbath day," while in the Ten Commandments in Parashat Va'etchanan it is written, "Observe the Sabbath day"? It must be that Zachor and Shamor were uttered in a single declaration.
And what is their meaning? "Shamor" - do not commit sins, in the sense of "beware," "lest," and "do not," which denote negative commandments; and on Shabbat, these are the thirty-nine forbidden Melachot. "Zachor" - fulfill a positive commandment, which is the mitzvah to "remember it over words recited with wine," the mitzvah of Kiddush, which is the only positive mitzvah specific to Shabbat itself. Hashem uttered one utterance, and we heard two things - something a human mouth cannot say and a human ear cannot hear. This is "One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard." And how is such a thing possible? "For power belongs to God" - the power and ability to do so belong to God alone. Yet, as the Radak notes, these are interpretations along the lines of Derash, for they are not the central theme of this psalm; after all, what does the Giving of the Torah and Shabbat have to do with the subject here?
The Malbim's Explanation
The Malbim explains: "One thing God has spoken" - Hashem stated one principle: do not place your trust in oppression and robbery, and do not think they will bring you success. And even though He stated one thing, I understood two things from it. The first: "For power belongs to God." Why will oppression not succeed? Because Hashem has the power to punish the wicked; therefore, whatever you imagine gaining through the power of oppression and robbery will yield you nothing. And "Elohim" signifies the attribute of strict justice, through which the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution from the wicked.
And the second: "And Yours, my Lord, is kindness, for You will repay a person according to his deeds" - You rescue the oppressed and watch over the righteous person who was robbed. "A person according to his deeds" - each according to his desert: rewarding the righteous, showing mercy to the pursued, and punishing the wicked who perpetrated the evil deed. The Holy One, blessed be He, holds everyone appropriately accountable. Therefore, do not place your trust in wealth: "Do not trust in oppression and do not put vain hope in robbery," and also, "when wealth bears fruit, do not set your heart upon it." For "one thing God has spoken" - Hashem has the power to exact retribution from those who do evil, and to You, Hashem, belongs kindness to grant a good reward to those who do good. This realization awakens a person not to trust in oppression and robbery, for there is justice and there is a Judge.
The Righteous Prosper - But Over the Long Haul
In the final accounting, the righteous person receives what is due to him for good, and the wicked receives what is due to him for bad. A whole lesson was once dedicated to the fact that even in this world, ultimately, it is good for the righteous and bad for the wicked. But what is required? It takes time and patience to be able to see it. The Chafetz Chaim would always point out: Do you think this happened to him for no reason? Such and such time ago he did such and such, and look now at the price he is paying! And when something good happened to a person, he would say: Do you think that is just a coincidence? Look at the deed he performed; the Holy One, blessed be He, preserved it and remembered it for him, and thirty years later you see how he came out ahead.
Regarding Rav Shalom Povarsky, Rosh Yeshivah of Kol Torah who passed away recently, his brother Rav Baruch Dov Povarsky, Rosh Yeshivah of Ponevezh, recounted a story from their childhood. They lived in Lyuban in Russia (Rav Moshe Feinstein was also there, about whom a story was once related). One day the child came home without a yarmulke. What happened? The Russian commissars had entered the schools, confiscated everyone's kippot and Chumashim, and declared: "From now on, we determine what is taught; there will be no more religious studies" - for religion was then branded as "the opium of the masses."
Rav Povarsky related that that very day, his father told his mother to pack a suitcase, and that same night, on the first train, they left Russia for Vilna. Consider what this meant: they left behind a home, they left behind possessions; they did not even stay to sell a mattress, not a single household item. Anyone else would have said: Look, one cannot raise children here, but let us give it two months, negotiate a good price, sell the apartment, and manage our affairs. But he took nothing; he left the house just as it was. Life in Vilna was not simple either, until rabbis intervened through various means and they eventually made aliyah to Eretz Yisrael.
Do people raise roshei yeshivah and gedolei Torah just like that, without effort? Understand the sheer self-sacrifice of this father! On the surface, he lost out - you had a house; who among us is ready to get up and uproot himself from his home for the sake of his children? But nobody ever truly loses. You lost a house, you lost a few thousand rubles - but you received pearls that are infinitely greater: sons who are roshei yeshivah, giants of the generation. In the end, the Holy One, blessed be He, repays well to one who does good, but one needs deep breaths and patience. In the immediate moment, we see things that do not make sense to us, and it appears to us as "the righteous suffers," but one who is willing to look into the distance sees that ultimately it is good for the righteous and bad for the wicked. And all those who did evil, even if it currently looks like they are riding waves of success, just a bit of patience and you will see how "they are together lighter than breath," how "should your eyes flutter toward it, it is gone."
The Reckoning of the World - Even Centuries Later
The Gemara says that when the Holy One, blessed be He, punishes a person or rewards him quickly - how long does that take? Eight hundred and fifty years, as it says, "And you will swiftly perish from the good land," and that was the exact amount of time until the exile. That is when the Holy One, blessed be He, works quickly. And what if He works slowly?
During the Spanish Civil War, which claimed over a million lives, the Chofetz Chaim said: Do you think the Holy One, blessed be He, forgot that Spain expelled us? The Chofetz Chaim kept ledger accounts going back centuries. Did Hashem forget? What is happening today in Babylon - is that not "O daughter of Babylon, who is doomed to be devastated, happy is he who seizes and dashes your infants against the rock"? Do you think the Holy One, blessed be He, forgot that they destroyed our Beis HaMikdash? And what is happening in Syria, is it not the exact same thing? Chazal speak of Tadmor and of the evil neighbors of the Land of Israel.
A journalist once wrote an article, observing: Europe expelled enlightenment and received ignorance in return. We expelled the Jews - and here the Jews are today at the forefront of the world, leading major start-ups, innovations, and economic progress; and whom did we receive in their place? A population that does not work, lives at the expense of the state, and brings Islam inside. People are beginning to feel the chokehold, but it is no longer "politically correct" to speak about it, especially when their votes are needed in elections. Europe expelled enlightenment and received ignorance - and that is part of the retribution.
Likewise, where does Ukraine stand today in terms of its global status? There are places in Ukraine that look as though time stood still seventy years ago. Ask people who travel to Uman: there are villages there whose only progress might be that they no longer draw water from a well. Whence this primitiveness? Do you think Hashem forgot the atrocities and suffering they inflicted upon us? One who reflects must take a breath, wait, and see how the Holy One, blessed be He, ultimately repays good to those who do good and evil to those who do evil. Our trouble is that we lack patience; we want to see it immediately. Give it time.
In summary:
King David warns: Do not place your trust in wealth acquired through extortion or theft, and pay no heed even when it flourishes and prospers - for it has no endurance, nor can it serve as an atonement for its owner, which is why theft prosecutes first and foremost. Conversely, "God spoke once, twice have I heard this": from a single utterance of the Holy One, blessed be He, we derive two fundamental truths - "that power belongs to God" to punish the wicked, "and to You, my Lord, belongs lovingkindness" to bestow good reward upon the righteous, "for You repay each man according to his deeds," each according to his judgment. Our test is patience: to look far into the distance and see that the Divine reckoning is always exacting, and to trust solely in Hashem, may He be blessed, for strength belongs only to Him and salvation comes solely from Him.