Psalm 71 opens in an unusual way: "In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge." Most psalms typically open with "To the chief musician" (Lamnatzei'ach), "A song of ascents" (Shir Hama'alot), "A prayer of David" (Tefillah LeDavid), or "A prayer of Moshe" - yet here, the psalm suddenly begins straight with the subject matter itself, without any title. Radak explains: It appears that David recited this psalm immediately contiguous to the preceding psalm, and therefore gave it no opening heading - it effectively serves as a direct continuation of the previous psalm.
Radak further notes that David recited this psalm while fleeing from Avshalom, as mentioned regarding the previous psalm. His proof comes from what is written later in the chapter: "Do not cast me off in old age." When David fled from Shaul, he was not old at all; he was thirty years old, and a thirty-year-old is not old. Therefore, this cannot be referring to his flight from Shaul. Perforce, it refers to his flight from Avshalom, at which point he was indeed in his old age.
בְּךָ־יְהֹוָה חָסִיתִי אַל־אֵבוֹשָׁה לְעוֹלָם׃ - In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
David says: Since I have taken refuge in You, I know that I will never be shamed. When a person takes refuge under flesh and blood, they might save him or they might not; when one has a promise from flesh and blood, they might fulfill it or they might not. But when one takes refuge under the Holy One, blessed be He - it is an absolute guarantee.
We have previously explained the distinction between "trust" (livto'ach) and "taking refuge" (lachasot), based on the Vilna Gaon. The verse states: "It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to trust in man; it is better to take refuge in Hashem than to trust in nobles." What is "trust"? The Vilna Gaon explains: You received a promise. You approached an influential benefactor to take care of a matter for you, and he told you: "Consider it done, you have my word." That is called trust - having received an assurance. By contrast, "taking refuge" is without any promise at all: like a person seeking shelter during a tornado or a missile attack, who enters a fortified space and shelters in its protection. Taking refuge means: I place myself under His protective wings. And the verse teaches: It is better to take refuge in Hashem even without a prior promise than to rely on an explicit promise from flesh and blood. Even when the one making the promise lacks no capability - "nobles," individuals of vast wealth and influence - it is still far better to say: Master of the Universe, I take refuge in You even without You having promised me anything. This is what David means: "In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge," and therefore I know that I will never be shamed, for You will never let me down.
The Malbim demonstrates that our psalm serves as a continuation of Psalm 31. Just as the previous psalm continued Psalm 40, our chapter continues Psalm 31. There it is written: "In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge, let me never be put to shame; through Your righteousness rescue me. Incline Your ear to me, quickly deliver me; be for me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me... for You are my rock and my fortress" - and here in our psalm: "In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge, let me never be put to shame; in Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline Your ear to me and save me... for You are my rock and my fortress." That psalm spoke of the flight from Shaul, and here David pleads: Master of the Universe, just as You saved me then during my flight from Shaul, so too deliver me now during my flight from Avshalom.
בְּצִדְקָתְךָ תַּצִּילֵנִי וּתְפַלְּטֵנִי הַטֵּה־אֵלַי אׇזְנְךָ וְהוֹשִׁיעֵנִי׃ - In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline Your ear to me and save me.
Here King David presents three distinct pleas, explains the Malbim. Deliver me today just as You delivered me then, lest people say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is unable to save - and this is the meaning of "let me never be put to shame": if you place your trust in someone who cannot save you, people mock you and say that Hashem lacks the power to help. The first argument is: because I took refuge in You - "In You, Hashem, I have taken refuge" is itself a reason to deliver me. The second argument is: "in Your righteousness" - for the sake of Hashem's own righteousness, for since He is righteous, it is fitting in justice and kindness to save me. And the third argument is: "incline Your ear to me and save me" - it is fitting to save me on account of prayer; the "ear" here expresses attentiveness to my prayer and supplication.
The Radak notes: "In Your righteousness" comes to exclude "in my righteousness." What is David emphasizing? I know that my pursuit at the hands of Avshalom has come upon me justly and by right judgment, following the sin of Batsheva, as the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house." Therefore, I cannot ask "in my righteousness save me," but only "in Your righteousness." David knows that this entire ordeal is a punishment for Uriah and Batsheva, and therefore he does not rely on his own righteousness: On my own merit I am not worthy, but from Your righteousness, it is fitting that You save me.
הֱיֵה לִי לְצוּר מָעוֹן לָבוֹא תָּמִיד צִוִּיתָ לְהוֹשִׁיעֵנִי כִּי־סַלְעִי וּמְצוּדָתִי אָתָּה׃ - Be to me a rock of habitation, to resort to continually; You have commanded to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.
The Radak explains: Since David fled from his habitation in Yerushalayim, from the royal palace, he now pleads - Master of the Universe, be to me a rock of habitation, be for me a rock that will serve as a dwelling, where I can be saved from the enemy. "To resort to continually" - Rashi explains: to enter continually into that habitation to be saved from the pursuer, so that I will be exalted and protected there from my son's pursuit. And why do I ask that You be a rock of habitation for me? "For You are my rock and my fortress" - You have always been my rock and my fortress, and therefore I ask that You be a rock of habitation for me now as well.
What is the meaning of "You have commanded to save me"? The Radak says: You commanded to save me through the counsel of Chushai HaArki. Avshalom planned to send men to pursue David immediately, and Achitophel advised that this be done that very evening right away. However, Chushai HaArki thwarted his counsel and told him: No, organize a proper army, and only then strike him decisively. Through this, Achitophel's counsel was foiled. When Achitophel realized that his counsel was not accepted, he understood that the rebellion was doomed - the entire enterprise was headed for failure. And in this too, he was right.
It has been noted before that the popular use of the phrase "counsel of Achitophel" to mean poor advice is mistaken, for even his final counsel was strategically sound. Rather, it was wicked advice - evil, yet effective. Had Avshalom followed it, he would have succeeded. That is why Dovid HaMelech had to make a special plea: "Frustrate, please, the counsel of Achitophel." He knew that if Achitophel was with Avshalom, the rebellion would succeed, plain and simple, for "as if a man inquired of the word of God" so was all the counsel of Achitophel. In truth, there was no logical reason for Avshalom to accept the advice of Chushai HaArki over that of Achitophel: before him was an advisor proven one hundred percent, without a single misstep to date, while opposite him was Chushai HaArki, who had been David's close companion until now - how could he be trusted? Rather, it was entirely the result of David's prayer: David pleaded "Frustrate, please," and Avshalom's judgment was confounded, leading him to rely on Chushai HaArki's counsel instead of Achitophel's sound advice.
Rashi explains "You have continually commanded to save me": You have saved me many times in the past, and therefore I ask that You save me in this way now as well. The Radak interprets "You commanded" as "You will command" - past tense used in place of the future: Master of the Universe, please, command that I be saved. And whom do You command? The Radak explains: the angels, as it says, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you." Just as until now You commanded Your angels to save me, so command them now as well to save me.
The Malbim explains: What does this refer back to? In his youth, Hashem was already a rock of habitation for him - as he requested in chapter 31, of which our chapter is a continuation. David therefore asks: I request that I may always enter into that same rock of habitation, and there find protection just as I had back then. "For to come continually You commanded" - Your command was that I should always come to this rock so that You may save me in it. You did not promise me temporary protection, but enduring protection; what You told me then remains valid now. "For You are my rock and my fortress" - You are the rock and fortress wherein I am fortified, and that very deliverance You promised me there, David understands, is in effect now as well. Thus far, says the Malbim, is the introduction to the psalm, in which he reflects back upon what took place in his youth when fleeing from Shaul. From here onward, he prays concerning the present and the future: what I ask and plead of You now during this current pursuit by Avshalom.
אֱלֹהַי פַּלְּטֵנִי מִיַּד רָשָׁע מִכַּף מְעַוֵּל וְחוֹמֵץ׃ - Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.
Who is the "wicked"? The Radak says: this is Avshalom. And who is the "unrighteous and ruthless" [me'avel vechometz]? That is Achitophel. "Me'avel" - one who commits injustice. And what is "chometz"? Rashi explains, and so it is in the Gemara, that "chometz" is akin to "chomes" (robber), as in the verse "relieve the oppressed [ashru chamotz]" - which Chazal expounded: strengthen the robbed person (chamotz) and not the robber (chometz). If so: rescue me from the hand of the unjust and from the grasp of the robber, from one who comes to rob me. This aligns very well with the Yemenite or Iraqi pronunciation, in which the letter Tzadi sounds very similar to Samech, so that when one pronounces "chometz" it already sounds close to "chomes."
The Malbim explains the difference between yad (hand) and kaf (palm, grasp): "Rescue me from the hand of the wicked" - this refers to Avshalom and his faction, whose hand is already outstretched toward me, which is dangerous. But "from the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man" - the grasp is even more than the hand, for I am already placed directly inside his palm, and this is seven times more dangerous. David says: Even though he has already seized me in his grasp, save me from him, for he is unjust and ruthless, a man of iniquity and violence.
כִּי־אַתָּה תִקְוָתִי אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה מִבְטַחִי מִנְּעוּרָי׃ - For You are my hope, O Lord God, my trust from my youth.
The Radak explains: From my youth I recognized and knew that You are God, and therefore I placed my hope in You alone, for salvation comes from You alone. And as the Malbim explains, "from my youth" refers to the period when I was pursued by Shaul: already since then You have been my hope and my trust, and therefore save me now just as You saved me in the past.
עָלֶיךָ נִסְמַכְתִּי מִבֶּטֶן מִמְּעֵי אִמִּי אַתָּה גוֹזִי בְּךָ תְהִלָּתִי תָמִיד׃ - Upon You have I leaned from the womb; from my mother's innards You drew me forth; my praise is continually of You.
The Radak explains: "Upon You have I leaned from the womb" - even though when emerging from the womb I knew nothing, upon You I relied, for You prepared my nourishment through my mother. "You drew me forth (gozi)" - gozi means the One Who brought me forth, as in "and brought across quail (vayagaz slav)", meaning He brought out the quail. "My praise is continually of You" - I continually glorify myself in You for all the good You have done for me, lauding and praising You.
The Malbim identifies two stages here: after having said "my trust from my youth," he adds that it was not only from my youth, but even from the womb - already while I was in my mother's womb. And even more than that: "from my mother's innards You drew me forth (gozi)." The Malbim explains that when speaking of the mother's "innards," it refers to the stage before the fetus separates from the reproductive cells, before it leaves the ovaries. "Womb" (beten) is the stage where the fetus has begun to develop, but in the initial stage it is still in the ovaries, in the reproductive cells. Concerning this it says "gozi" - from the language of severing (gezeizah): the embryonic formation of the fetus by being severed, so to speak, from the ovaries and emerging into existence, and from then on it begins to develop in its mother's womb. Thus: not only from the womb, which is already the stage of gestation, but even prior to that - from there You severed me and separated me into the womb, which marks the beginning of the formation of the embryo.
"My praise is continually of You" - in You alone have I gloried. If so, if You do not save me, God forbid there would be a desecration of the Divine Name (chillul Hashem), for people would say: Look, Hashem was unable, God forbid.
כְּמוֹפֵת הָיִיתִי לְרַבִּים וְאַתָּה מַחֲסִי־עֹז׃ - I have been as a sign to many, but You are my strong refuge.
One interpretation: Many saw the troubles that befell me and feared that the same might happen to them - just as it happened to this one, so it will happen to us. That is, I became a "sign," an example and a byword: people say, "Did you see what happened to David? May Hashem protect us and save us, that what happened to him should not happen to me." According to this, "I have been as a sign to many" is in a negative sense - I became a cautionary example, a hunted man upon whom troubles have come. "But You are my strong refuge" - but You, Master of the Universe, You are the strength in which I take refuge.
Radak explains the opposite: When people see that I was punished for my iniquity, I serve as a portent for them, a sign and symbol that the Holy One, blessed be He, punishes sin. David says: I acted corruptly, and by Your taking retribution from me, many will be disciplined and receive moral rebuke - they will see that David was punished for his iniquity, and they will realize that there is judgment and there is a Judge. "And You are my strong refuge" - and even though I am now fleeing because of the punishment for this iniquity, I take refuge in You, that You will give me the strength to return to my kingdom.
Ibn Ezra interprets this in a positive light: Since I leaned on You and You supported me, and in the end You will restore me to the throne - this serves as a portent to the many who did not rely on You. From me they will learn how to trust in Hashem and how to rely on Him: behold, King David relied and trusted in Hashem, and Hashem restored him to his kingdom. Those who did not believe in You will take an example from me to believe in You and to cleave to You.
The Malbim explains: Many regarded me as a wondrous portent. My valor and success are not natural occurrences, but a sign and a wonder.
יִמָּלֵא פִי תְּהִלָּתֶךָ כׇּל־הַיּוֹם תִּפְאַרְתֶּךָ׃ - My mouth shall be filled with Your praise, all the day with Your glory.
"And You are my strong refuge" - my strength does not stem from myself; my might comes from You, and therefore I have always praised and lauded You, and "my mouth shall be filled with Your praise." I attributed no praise and no acclaim to myself - not to my valor, not to my strength, and not to my wisdom; rather, I attributed everything to You. "All the day with Your glory" - all day long my mouth was full of Your glory, which refers to those extraordinary matters that bring renown and honor to Hashem, may He be blessed.
The Malbim elucidates the distinction: "Your praise" refers to that for which it is fitting to praise Hashem, whereas "Your glory" refers to supernatural wonders that possess true splendor. For example: it is fitting to praise Hashem for bringing down rain and to thank Him for the bounty He bestows upon the world. But Hashem's glory is manifest in the splitting of the Red Sea, in "Sun, stand still at Gibeon" - that is, in occurrences that transcend the natural order. These are the wonders in which Hashem, may He be blessed, takes pride, as they bring majesty and honor to His blessed Name.
In the sefer Tehillot Maharitz, a wonderful explanation is offered. Chazal state: Anyone who says David sinned is merely mistaken, as it says, "And David was successful in all his ways, and Hashem was with him" - is it possible that sin came about through him while the Shechinah was with him? Yet on the other hand, Chazal say: David was not fitting for that deed, except to teach repentance - to teach that if one has sinned, there is room for repentance. And who teaches us this? King David, who stumbled in the incident of Batsheva and repented. Thus, David was not prone to that sin at all; rather, the entire matter was brought about through him so that he might serve as a guide on the path of repentance for the multitude. Although Chazal say "to teach repentance to an individual," the multitude is made up of individuals, and therefore this serves as an instruction for the public as a whole.
What is the connection between these two teachings? Tehillot Maharitz explains: "The Shechinah was with him" means that the halachah follows him everywhere. And whoever merits to align the teaching according to the halachah is preserved from sinning. If so, since David merited that the halachah follows him everywhere, it is impossible to say that he actually sinned. This is what David means by, "I was like a portent to many" - everything that unfolded with me regarding the affair of Batsheva was not because I was prone to sin, but in order to be a portent for the multitude and to teach them the way of teshuvah: if you have sinned, learn from David and repent.
And the proof of this is, "And You are my strong refuge." Chazal say: "Strength" means nothing other than Torah, as it is stated, "Hashem will give strength to His people." That is to say: Master of the Universe, by giving me the power of halachic ruling, such that the halachah follows me everywhere, You served as a refuge for me against my enemies. For the enemies claimed that I was a sinner, etc. - but on the contrary, from the fact that the halachah follows me everywhere, their claims were silenced and my righteousness was proven. If so, how could I have sinned? Rather, as we said: I was a portent to many, and this sin was brought about through me so that it would stand as a symbol and an example that repentance is always possible.
The psalm opens without a superscription because it is a direct continuation of the preceding psalm, and according to Radak, it was composed during David's flight from Avshalom, as evidenced by "Do not cast me off in old age." David begins with "In You, Hashem, have I taken refuge" - taking refuge without any prior guarantee, which is superior to any promise of flesh and blood, and presents three pleas for salvation: by virtue of taking refuge in Hashem, by virtue of Hashem's righteousness (and not his own righteousness, for he knows that the persecution came justly on account of the sin with Batsheva), and through prayer. He recalls that Hashem served as his rock of habitation, his fortress, and his stronghold during his flight from Shaul, and he asks that this protection be enduring and extend to the present time as well - just as "You have commanded to save me" was fulfilled in the thwarting of the counsel of Achitophel through the counsel of Chushai the Archite, which was entirely the fruit of his prayer. From there, he asks for deliverance from the hand of the wicked Avshalom and from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless Achitophel, testifying that his trust in Hashem did not begin today, but has been with him from his youth, from the womb, and from his mother's innards - from the very inception of his creation. Finally, "I was like a portent to many": whether as an example of punishment from which people learn that there is judgment and there is a Judge, whether as an example of bitachon from which people learn to rely on Hashem, or whether as an example to teach the path of teshuvah - and through all these paths, "You are my strong refuge," whereby his mouth will be filled with Hashem's praise and His glory all the day.