Chapter 86 is "A Prayer of David," and in this section of the psalm we arrive at the core of King David's requests: the petition for knowledge and direction, wholehearted thanksgiving, the depiction of the arrogant pursuers, and the plea for a sign for good. We will follow the order of the verses and explore the insights of the Radak and the Malbim, drawing practical lessons for our divine service.
הוֹרֵנִי יְהֹוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ אֲהַלֵּךְ בַּאֲמִתֶּךָ יַחֵד לְבָבִי לְיִרְאָה שְׁמֶךָ׃ - Teach me, Hashem, Your way, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your Name.
The Radak explains: David is saying, though I already know that You alone are God, this knowledge comes through received tradition - this is what I received from my ancestors, this is what I received from my teachers. Therefore, I plead before You that You teach me Your way and grant me deeper insight into the wisdom of Your creation of living beings, for all exist through Your great power. When I understand the wisdom through which Hashem created the world - "that I may walk in Your truth" - I will have a path in which to walk. True, I cannot fully comprehend Your divine intellect, for we cannot fathom the mind of the Creator of the universe, but I will comprehend it little by little according to human intellectual capacity, and through this I will also attain a united heart to fear Your Name.
"Unite my heart to fear Your Name" - the Radak explains: Help me and unite my heart, so that my heart does not turn this way and that. Yached ("unite") comes from the root echad ("one"). When we speak of unifying the Creator, it means declaring "Hashem is our God, Hashem is One," unlike the misconception prevalent among idolaters of old who believed in multiple deities. So too here: a person's heart is a divided, twofold heart. There is a heart inclined toward evil and a heart inclined toward good, which is why it says "to serve Hashem your God with all your heart (levavcha)" - written with two beises, representing two hearts: the yetzer hatov and the yetzer hara. David therefore asks: Unite this divided heart so that it turns solely to fear Your Name, that I not be drawn to or occupied with anything that distances me from Your fear. Furthermore, "to fear Your Name" - that I need not fear any mortal, but shall fear only Your Name, receive help only from You, and place all my trust in You alone.
The Malbim explains that David asks the Holy One, blessed be He, to make known to him three things. The first is "Teach me, Hashem, Your way": the ways of Divine providence, how Hashem governs His world with lovingkindness and mercy, so that I may walk in His ways. After all, we are commanded to walk in His ways, and how can I walk in His ways if I do not know what they are? Therefore, "Teach me, Hashem, Your way," and then I will walk in them - just as He is merciful, so should you be merciful; just as He is gracious, so should you be gracious.
The second request is "that I may walk in Your truth." "Your truth" refers to the true realities hidden from human intellect, the ways and reasons behind the statutes of the Torah and its commandments - matters whose underlying reasons even King Solomon sometimes could not grasp. David asks: Make known to me the true depth of these matters, for when I understand each mitzvah in its full truth - its rectification and its spiritual impact in the upper worlds - I will be able to fulfill it with perfection. When I lack "Your truth," it is difficult for me to walk. When a person does not understand why he must do something, it is hard to fulfill it; but when he knows how it benefits and what it accomplishes, it becomes far easier. Therefore: Reveal to me Your ways and statutes in the Torah, so that I may fulfill them and walk in them with greater ease.
The third request is "Unite my heart to fear Your Name." According to the Malbim, this refers to the true foundational principles of faith and belief: that I grasp through philosophical and contemplative intellect the oneness of Hashem, the providence of Hashem, and the omnipotence of Hashem. Unite my heart so that it is dedicated solely to fearing Your Name, and through this I will fear no one other than the Holy One, blessed be He.
אוֹדְךָ אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהַי בְּכׇל לְבָבִי וַאֲכַבְּדָה שִׁמְךָ לְעוֹלָם׃ - I will thank You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your Name forever.
The Radak explains: When You unify my heart toward You, then I will thank You with all my heart. As we explained, levavi indicates two hearts - the good inclination and the evil inclination - and when You unify my heart to You, both hearts will be dedicated solely to Your service. This is what we find regarding Avraham Avinu, who harnessed even the evil inclination in the service of the Creator, meaning he succeeded in completely refining even the evil within him. Then, "none of my heart and thoughts will be devoted to matters other than You." And notice the precision: "Matters other than You" does not necessarily mean idolatry. Anything a person engages in other than the service of Hashem means that his heart is divided, that his heart is occupied with something else.
When the midrasha was founded in Psagot, one student asked an astonishing question: "What do you mean a religious Jew doesn't have hobbies? One person goes fishing, another goes to car races, another participates in sports - people have hobbies!" The answer given to her was: When would he have time for hobbies? We are not speaking of what people happen to do in practice, but of the Torah's perspective. According to the Torah, a person has a mission that runs from morning to night. True, one is permitted to do things that provide rest and rejuvenation - taking a vacation or a short trip to settle one's mind and return with renewed energy. And of course earning a livelihood; certainly, a person must earn a living. If not, how will he raise his children for Torah study, and how will he support his household and family? After all, a husband obligates himself in the ketubah - these are binding responsibilities.
However, for a person to simply take up a hobby - entering a studio to sculpt in clay, only for it to be thrown in the trash in the end - and say, "This is my hobby," a Jew has no hobbies. That is to say, there is no room for one's heart to drift toward another pursuit, no room for adding things that do not lead to the service of Hashem. And if someone argues, "I need this once in a while; it relaxes me and afterwards I learn better," in most cases these are self-delusions, for we see that those who learn best are not the ones occupied with hobbies. Yet if it is truly not a delusion, very well, that already qualifies as something leading to the service of Hashem. But something completely detached from serving Hashem is the very antithesis of "Unify my heart to fear Your Name." A person asks of the Master of the Universe: Let no part of my heart and thoughts be given to anything other than You; rather, with all my heart I will thank You, "and I will glorify Your Name forever" - my entire heart is full of gratitude to You, and all my pursuits in this world are for the honor of Hashem: How can I increase the honor of Heaven, and how can I bring contentment before Him?
The Malbim explains that the thanksgiving spoken of here is for the good things he has already attained. Notice his words: Gratitude expressed merely as a preamble to asking for something else is not complete gratitude. Often, when someone approaches you and thanks you effusively for something in the past - sometimes from long ago - the first question you ask yourself is: What does he want now? When thanks are offered with an eye toward asking for more, it is an inferior, diminished gratitude. Therefore David says: "I will thank You, Hashem my God, with all my heart" - gratitude that is not for the sake of making a request. I am not giving thanks so that You will grant me more. One who asks reveals that his gratitude was not wholehearted, but merely intended to soften you up to give him more. For David, that is not the case: My entire heart thanks You, with nothing inside it other than pure thanksgiving, free of any hidden agenda. Furthermore, "and I will glorify Your Name forever" - by recounting Your praises and mighty deeds, through this I glorify Your Name forever.
כִּי חַסְדְּךָ גָּדוֹל עָלָי וְהִצַּלְתָּ נַפְשִׁי מִשְּׁאוֹל תַּחְתִּיָּה׃ - For great is Your lovingkindness toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the lowest depths of Sheol.
The Radak explains: It is only right and just that I thank You and honor Your Name, for You have multiplied and magnified Your kindness toward me. In other words, there is no need to convince me to give thanks; I feel how much kindness You have bestowed upon me, and therefore, without question, "I will thank You, Hashem my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your Name forever." This can also be explained in reference to the past: how many times the Holy One, blessed be He, rescued David from the hands of his enemies and from the grip of the grave.
"And You have delivered my soul from the lowest depths of Sheol" - homiletically, this can be interpreted as deliverance from the grave that sought to bring me to its very bottom; were it not that You rescued my soul from Sheol, I would long ago have been laid beneath ten tefachim. In the plain sense (peshat): Sheol refers to the grave, and tachtiyyah ("lowest") might seem redundant, as every grave is low and sunken. Rather, tachtiyyah comes to add depth, as in "her guests are in the depths of Sheol" (Mishlei 9:18): there is Sheol, and there is its deepest bottom, which emphasizes just how deep the peril was.
Parenthetically, the Radak wrote in his time, when burial took place solely in the ground, so every grave was below. In our day, there is multistory burial - an "elevated Sheol," so to speak. May it be Hashem's will that Mashiach come and the resurrection of the dead take place so that no one will ever need this; but if someone, Heaven forbid, does need it, one should keep five hundred parsah away from such burials and seek burial in sheol tachtiyyah - in the lower depths of the earth. Even if it costs money, one should pay and insist on burial directly in the ground. There are very serious halachic issues with multistory burial, and the leading Torah authorities of Israel strongly opposed it. Even among those who permitted it, specific conditions were set for how it must be carried out, and those conditions are often not upheld. It is as if one packages a person up, places him into a building structure, and thinks he has buried him - but that is not true burial. A true grave must be connected directly to the earth.
The Radak further notes that this verse can be explained as referring to the future: it is a petition asking that the Master of the World rescue my soul from the lowest depths of She'ol. Some commentators explain that "the lowest depths of She'ol" refers to the judgment of Gehinnom, and Rashi explains accordingly: it is the way of adulterers to be cast into the depths of She'ol, and from there You saved me, for Natan the Prophet said to me, "Hashem also has remitted your sin." Thus, "You saved my soul from the lowest depths of She'ol" refers to Hashem sending Natan the Prophet to rebuke me and save me from my sin.
The Malbim explains: "For Your kindness is great toward me" - You have done double kindness with me, both for the body and for the soul. Regarding the goodness done for the body, it says, "Your kindness is great toward me" - that You saved my physical body from enemies; and regarding the soul, it says, "and You saved my soul from the lowest depths of She'ol" - that You saved my soul from the yetzer hara and from the forces that lead it to sin. Therefore, I must give thanks to You for saving both my body and my soul.
אֱלֹהִים זֵדִים קָמוּ עָלַי וַעֲדַת עָרִיצִים בִּקְשׁוּ נַפְשִׁי וְלֹא שָׂמוּךָ לְנֶגְדָּם׃ - O God, arrogant men have risen against me, and a band of ruthless men has sought my soul, and they have not set You before them.
Note the correct reading: "zedim QAMU alai" - stressed on the penultimate syllable (mil'el), with a meteg under the kuf, not "qamu" stressed on the final syllable (milra). Likewise, "va'adat aritzim" - the vav here is the conjunctive vav, meaning it is not a "va'adah" (committee), but "va'adat aritzim" (a congregation of tyrants). While in modern Hebrew one might apply the verse humorously: whenever someone wants to harm the observant public, they establish a committee (va'adah) - a draft committee, a committee here, a committee there - and suddenly you find yourself in the hands of a committee of tyrants seeking your soul. But in our context, the plain meaning is va'adat aritzim, a band of ruthless men.
The Radak explains: "O God, arrogant men have risen against me" - those who pursue me do so with willful malice, meaning they are not compelled to do so. Some pursued me under duress, because King Shaul demanded and commanded it of them, and they could not avoid going with him. But my grievance is against the wanton ones (zedim), those who rose against me out of the malice of their own hearts and of their own free will, not because of the king's command. And Chazal teach who this refers to: "Zedim" - these are Doeg and Achitophel, who acted out of the wickedness of their hearts, as we see in Scripture on several occasions.
"And they have not set You before them" - they rose against me and sought my soul, failing to remember that there is a Creator of the world and that there is One who will demand accountability for my honor; they did not see You, as it were, before their eyes. Rashi explains: they did not remember what they saw with their very own eyes, that Shmuel anointed me at Your word. They forgot that Hashem commanded that I be anointed king. In other words, they failed to consider that what I am doing here is not because I elbowed my way forward or seized power through political maneuvering - a prophet of Hashem came and anointed me king, and whoever rises against me rebels against the Holy One, Blessed be He, who commanded that I be anointed.
The Malbim explains this threefold distress: I cannot escape my enemies through my righteous deeds, because "arrogant men have risen against me." When someone approaches me with grievances, I can confront him on the merits of his claims - you claim I did wrong, I will prove you wrong, and thus remove your hostility. But a malicious, willful person is not interested in facts or in right and wrong; he rises against me out of hatred, and my innocence will not persuade him. Nor can I overcome them by force, for "a band of ruthless men has sought my soul" - an aritz is a powerful oppressor, and these are formidable men seeking my life. And what hope remains? Perhaps they might possess fear of Heaven and fear the Holy One, Blessed be He, who is stronger than they. To this he says: "And they have not set You before them" - they take You into account not at all, so even fear of Heaven will not deter them from pursuing me.
וְאַתָּה אֲדֹנָי אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת׃ - But You, my Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness and truth.
פְּנֵה אֵלַי וְחׇנֵּנִי תְּנָה עֻזְּךָ לְעַבְדֶּךָ וְהוֹשִׁיעָה לְבֶן אֲמָתֶךָ׃ - Turn to me and be gracious to me; give Your strength to Your servant, and save the son of Your handmaid.
The Radak explains: You are a merciful God - I ask that You have mercy on me. You are gracious - I ask that You grant me favor and bestow good upon me. You are slow to anger - and if I have sinned, it is fitting that You be patient and not punish me immediately, until I repent with complete teshuva and You then forgive me, for patience is Your attribute. And You are also abundant in kindness and truth - therefore, even if I am undeserving, extend Your kindness and Your truth abundantly to me. "Kindness" - flowing from Hashem's own benevolence; and "truth" - to fulfill Your word, for You promised me the monarchy, and it is therefore fitting that You verify Your words and let them be fulfilled, and through this, my pursuers will turn away from me.
The Malbim explains the two verses as corresponding to one another: in that You are merciful - "turn to me," to look upon my affliction; in that You are gracious - "and be gracious to me." From the attribute of truth - "grant Your strength to Your servant"; and from the attribute of lovingkindness - "and save the son of Your maidservant."
And what is the difference? Why does "Your servant" pertain to the attribute of truth while "the son of Your maidservant" pertains to the attribute of lovingkindness? The Malbim explains: the fact that I serve Hashem stems from my own choice - I chose to be a servant of Hashem. Therefore, from the perspective of the attribute of truth, which reflects what is earned by right, I am entitled to strength because I serve You: "grant Your strength to Your servant." On the other hand, I also possess the status of "the son of Your maidservant" - meaning, rooted in this service already through my forebears; my mother was a maidservant, and I was born a second-generation servant. And this is Hashem's kindness to me, that He fashioned my nature as the child of servants, so that by my very nature I am drawn close to His service.
For a person who was once free and then subjugated will always want to escape, always yearning to return to his former status and regain his liberty. By contrast, the Jewish people in Egypt, who were born as slaves, the children of slaves for many generations, said, "Leave us alone, and let us serve Egypt" - because a servant born of a maidservant does not yearn for freedom; he does not know what freedom is and cannot fathom it. On the contrary: set him free, and he wanders about lost in the world, having no idea what to do. You get up in the morning - where do you go? Until now the master provided breakfast, the master provided lunch, the master provided shelter; now that you set me free, I do not know what to do. A servant born of a maidservant naturally feels that he is a servant to his master, and feels no urge to run away.
And this is what David is saying: Master of the Universe, I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant - I am not like a person who was once free and became enslaved, who constantly strives to flee; I am a servant born of a maidservant, who knows no other reality. And for this I must give thanks to You, for this is not something I achieved on my own: that I was born to Yishai, who was a true servant of Hashem, one of those few who died solely on account of the serpent's instigation - this is Hashem's kindness. "Your lovingkindness" is that I am the son of Your maidservant, that You brought me into being in such a reality, in the home of a servant of Yours, and therefore I am far more naturally primed for the service of Hashem, feeling no urge or desire to cast off its yoke.
One might ask: If so, how can a person be judged for traits passed down to him by nature, in his DNA? The answer: of course one can be judged, because the nature embedded in one's DNA does not make one's actions inevitable. For example, a father was quick-tempered, a man easily prone to rage, and this trait passed down to his son - not merely because the son observed and mimicked it, but in his very DNA. Do we then say: that settles it, anger is excused because it comes from his father? Certainly not. A person must battle these natural inclinations. After all, Eliezer was under a curse, in his very DNA he was accursed, yet he subsequently shifted from the status of cursed to the status of blessed - proving that one can overcome innate natures as well. It is true that this is far harder, but a person must certainly do everything within his power. One cannot say, "That is simply my nature, that is how I was raised, that is who I am" - that is the talk of people distant from mitzvos. Anyone who understands what the service of Hashem truly is knows that human nature is precisely his field of battle, the broad canvas given to him to work upon. I was presented with the challenge of overcoming such natures; it is neither simple nor easy, but that is what is demanded of me right now.
עֲשֵׂה עִמִּי אוֹת לְטוֹבָה וְיִרְאוּ שֹׂנְאַי וְיֵבֹשׁוּ כִּי אַתָּה יְהֹוָה עֲזַרְתַּנִי וְנִחַמְתָּנִי׃ - Display for me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, for You, Hashem, have helped me and comforted me.
"Display for me a sign for good" - this refers to the kingship, that there be an unmistakable sign to his enemies that he had been chosen long ago: look, see, David is the king. "That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed" - upon seeing that You have helped me and comforted me. And Rashi explains that through this, it would become evident to others that that matter over which they constantly taunted me, the matter of a married woman, was forgiven me; my enemies will see the sign and be humiliated.
And notice: David asks that Hashem perform a sign for good for him during his lifetime, but Rashi notes that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not grant this to him, reserving the sign for good for the days of his son Shlomo. And when did this take place? As related in the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat (30a): David asked that the Holy One, blessed be He, grant him a sign that He had forgiven him for that sin. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: During your lifetime I will not make it known, but during the lifetime of your son I will make it known. When Shlomo built the Beit HaMikdash and sought to bring the Aron into the Holy of Holies, the gates clung to one another. Shlomo recited twenty-four prayers of song and was not answered; once he said, "Remember the lovingkindness of David Your servant," he was answered immediately. At that moment, the faces of all of David's enemies turned black like the bottom of a pot - since the underside of a pot rests upon the coals and becomes blackened, anything black is compared to the bottom of a pot - and the entire nation knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, had forgiven him for that iniquity.
Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian asks: Why indeed did the Holy One, blessed be He, not inform David during his lifetime that He had forgiven him? After all, David prays and pleads for this, yet Hashem does not answer him - which indicates there is a reason for this. He explains: because David's act involved a Chilul Hashem (desecration of God's Name). Everyone said: Look at King David, what sins he committed! And later throughout the generations, anyone who stumbled found justification for himself - "King David did it too." And regarding Chilul Hashem, Chazal taught: repentance, Yom Kippur, and suffering suspend [punishment], but death cleanses. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: It is impossible now; wait until death cleanses it, and only then will I make it known that this sin has been forgiven. For as long as the cleansing of death has not arrived, the sin of Chilul Hashem is not forgiven.
The Malbim explains that this verse corresponds to the attribute of "slow to anger" mentioned earlier: Master of the Universe, even though I have sinned, show me a sign for good, until my enemies see that You have forgiven the iniquity and are put to shame. "For You, Hashem, have helped me" - against the enemies, "and comforted me" - that this should be a comfort to me for all the troubles I suffered; that now the kingship will be his and he will attain greatness, which serves as a comfort for all the hardships he endured.