Chapter 13 of Tehillim is a short yet profound psalm. The Radak offers two possibilities: either David recited it when he was in distress from his enemies, or - which in his view is more accurate - it was uttered in the voice of the exile. The Malbim explains that the psalm is a prayer David offers to Hashem, asking that He not forget him nor hide His face from him, corresponding to two forms of abandonment and concealment of the Divine countenance experienced by sinners.
לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד׃ - For the conductor, a psalm of David.
עַד־אָנָה יְהֹוָה תִּשְׁכָּחֵנִי נֶצַח עַד־אָנָה תַּסְתִּיר אֶת־פָּנֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי׃ - How long, Hashem, will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
The Malbim explains: The sin through which a person creates distance between himself and Hashem, blessed be He, sometimes causes a state of forgetfulness, and sometimes a state of concealment of the Divine face toward the sinner. What is the difference between them? Forgetfulness occurs when a person has sinned so severely that the Holy One, blessed be He, seemingly withdraws His providence from him entirely - as though He does not recognize him and takes no interest in him at all. In that state, Hashem does not even watch over him to punish him: whatever happens to you happens; no one is looking. Hashem, as it were, leaves him in the hands of chance.
As discussed previously, such a state indicates great spiritual ruin and corruption, and this was precisely the condition of the Jewish people in the days of Achav. As the Malbim explained there: When Achav questioned whose words were fulfilled - the words of the Master or the words of the disciple? For Moshe Rabbeinu said, "and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain," yet we have rain. The answer is that you are in such a degraded state that the Holy One, blessed be He, has abandoned you and left you to the natural order of the constellations. Everything operates according to nature, according to the weather map: if it is naturally due to rain, it will rain; if not, it will not rain. There is, as it were, no individual providence whatsoever, as though no one takes any interest in you.
This is the state of forgetfulness, and it is a terrible state. A person has sinned so excessively that Hashem completely removes His providence from him, neither doing him good nor inflicting harm. At first glance, on one hand, this seems favorable - Hashem is not causing me harm. But on the other hand, it is horrific, because Hashem no longer takes any interest in you at all. For if Hashem inflicts harm upon me, it is a sign that Someone is still shining His countenance upon me, that someone still cares about me. It is like a child who has gone astray and whose father rebukes or punishes him - not that this is recommended as a model of behavior, but in any event, the father still maintains a connection with him. But when the stage arrives where the father becomes indifferent, as if saying, "You can leave the house; we have severed ties" - that is the worst of all. True, he is not striking him, but it is cold outside; he is alone, cast into the hands of circumstance, and he can reach far worse outcomes, even total ruin. Hashem seemingly does not see you, as though He has forgotten you. Thus, there is an apparent advantage on one side - Hashem does not harm us, and if nature dictates prosperity, it will be good. Yet there is an immense downside: if circumstances turn bleak and danger lurks in the world, a person can perish and be wiped out completely, simply because Hashem is not watching over him.
In contrast, the Malbim explains, there is the dimension of concealment of face (hester panim). This is like a child who is still at his father's table: Hashem watches over him to punish him for his sins, and he is not forgotten by Divine providence. On the contrary, the punishment is guided by providence. What is the catch? The punishment arrives through natural means, and therefore a situation arises where the person fails to see Hashem. For what is the punishment? An enemy approaches. Then we say: we have a problem with the Palestinians, we need to find a solution, we need a barrier wall, we need defense and an air-defense umbrella. There is a natural punishment, and one begins to think, "I have a problem with them, with Hezbollah, and with Iran" - failing to realize that one has a problem with only One. Not with many, only with the Holy One, blessed be He. And if one resolves the issue with Him, all other problems automatically vanish as if they never were. This is a state where Hashem supervises to punish, but through nature - and because it operates naturally, one does not arrive at the correct conclusions; one sees natural events and fails to see the Holy One, blessed be He.
This is what David articulates: "How long will You hide Your face from me?" - Until when, Hashem? You are indeed watching over me and have not forgotten me, but it is a providence of concealed face; You administer punishment through those whom I mistakenly think are my problem, rather than realizing my problem is with You. Regarding the first issue, he prays, "Will You forget me forever?" - do not forget me forever, perpetually; and regarding the second issue, the concealment, he prays, "How long will You hide Your face from me?"
Radak explains that the aspect of "forget me forever" reflects what the nations think: You abandon me into the hands of my enemies, and the nations say - look, you see that Hashem has forgotten him, that Hashem is not saving him. "Hide Your face from me" - and the nations say: look, Hashem is not looking at what is happening to him. And this is what Scripture states: "And it came to pass that, just as He called and they would not hear, so they will call and I will not hear." Radak says: this is measure for measure. Why is there both "forget me" and "hide Your face"? Because you forgot Hashem and you hid your face from Him, and "Hashem is your shadow upon your right hand" - He too treats you with concealment of face, hiding His face from you.
Rabbi Yitzchak said: Measure for measure. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Because I said "how long" four times - "How long do you refuse," "How long will this people provoke Me," "How long will they not believe in Me," "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation" (for even though it says "how long [ad matai]," it is similar) - so I will deliver you into the hand of four kingdoms, and you will cry out before Me four times: "How long, Hashem, will You forget me forever" in Babylon; "How long will You hide Your face from me" in Media; "How long shall I take counsel in my soul" in Greece; "How long shall my enemy be exalted over me" in Edom. Hashem handed us over to four kingdoms, and in all of them we cry out, "How long." Hashem cried out, "How long," and you did not listen - corresponding to that, you will cry out, "How long," and see that Hashem seemingly forgets you and hides His face from you.
עַד־אָנָה אָשִׁית עֵצוֹת בְּנַפְשִׁי יָגוֹן בִּלְבָבִי יוֹמָם עַד־אָנָה יָרוּם אֹיְבִי עָלָי׃ - How long shall I take counsel in my soul, with grief in my heart day by day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
The Malbim explains that the clauses of the verse are parallel. Corresponding to "How long, Hashem, will You forget me forever," he now says, "How long shall I take counsel in my soul": A person who lacks Hashem's providence, even though he might experience success in possessions and material matters, feels empty and lacking in his soul, disconnected from Hashem. His soul is in grief, anxiety, and sorrow. Therefore David says, "How long shall I take counsel in my soul, with grief in my heart day by day" - the heart is full of grief, even though it is "day by day," meaning there is light shining upon him and he is succeeding commercially and financially; nevertheless, my soul is in grief and distress. Even though fortune smiles upon him, inside he feels empty and burdened, with grief in his heart. And since the soul feels this - "How long shall I take counsel in my soul": the soul does not know what counsel to devise for itself to break free of the grief and pain over the Holy One, blessed be He, not being with it.
And corresponding to "How long will You hide Your face from me," which means that the Holy One, blessed be He, is watching over us but afflicting us through our enemies, he says: "How long shall my enemy be exalted over me." When Hashem supervises and afflicts through enemies - it is by way of concealment. And why do I receive punishment at the hands of enemies and tormentors? Because Hashem hides His face from me.
הַבִּיטָה עֲנֵנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָי הָאִירָה עֵינַי פֶּן־אִישַׁן הַמָּוֶת׃ - Look and answer me, Hashem my God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
Corresponding to that time when David felt forgotten by Hashem, as though there were no divine providence, he pleads: "Look and answer me, Hashem" - look upon me, turn Your providence toward me. The gaze of the Holy One, blessed be He, always denotes divine providence, as in "the eyes of Hashem are toward those who fear Him." "Enlighten my eyes" - the spiritual eyes that were walking in darkness, for the soul was asleep in the slumber of spiritual and intellectual death. This is not referring to a physical matter, but as we explained: the soul feels that Hashem has grown distant from it, feeling disconnected from Him.
The Malbim says: True life is the life of the soul and intellect, wherein a person lives and walks before Hashem, as it is written: "And you who cleave to Hashem your God are all alive today." The wicked person - as discussed previously - only appears alive, but it is merely virtual, for in a single moment the Holy One, blessed be He, will reveal Himself: "Do you cast your glance upon it, and it is gone," "In just a little while, the wicked will be no more." He appears to exist, yet his soul has already been severed from its supernal source; and once he is disconnected from his supernal source - transgressing a sin of karet even once suffices to sever him completely. Thus, he only seems alive, like a severed lizard's tail that twitches: it appears active, but it has no lasting existence; it is fleeting.
Therefore, one should never be perturbed. You hear that one person insults, another blasphemes, this one wants to run public transit on Shabbat, that one builds a bridge on Shabbat, a third has grievances against the Master of the Universe, and a fourth opposes those who observe the mitzvot. Do not be fazed - we made it through Pharaoh, we will make it through this too. He has no real existence. That person's soul is already severed; he is completely detached, and it is only here that he still dances about virtually and makes an impression, but in truth he is already gone.
It follows, then, says the Malbim, that true life is the spiritual and intellectual life in which one lives walking before Hashem - "And you who cleave to Hashem your God are all alive today" - and anything else is not real life at all, but rather an illusion. As for the life of physical sensation and movement - that is merely the life of an animal. Just because a person gets up, walks, acts, does things, and speaks - an animal moves too, and a donkey brays as well, and sometimes its braying is more pleasant than the braying of that politician. So what is there to be impressed by? The Malbim explains that this is not real life, but the life of an animal, and it is true death for the divine soul. You see him alive - but it is nothing; the divine soul is dead. Concerning this, King David pleads: "Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death": my soul is as though asleep, ceased from its spirituality, severed from its source, and in danger of dying a spiritual death. Please, Hashem, enlighten my eyes, and do not allow a state where You distance Yourself from me - for spiritual distance from a person is death itself, the detachment from the Source of Life, Who is the Holy One, blessed be He.
פֶּן־יֹאמַר אֹיְבִי יְכׇלְתִּיו צָרַי יָגִילוּ כִּי אֶמּוֹט׃ - Lest my enemy say, "I have overcome him," and my oppressors rejoice when I falter.
"Lest my enemy say, 'I have overcome him'" corresponds to what was said earlier, "How long will my enemy be exalted over me?" How long will my enemy continue to exalt himself over me and feel that he is prevailing? The enemy will say, "I have overcome him" - look, I succeeded, I subdued him. And in contrast, "my oppressors will rejoice when I falter" - the adversaries who actively oppose me will rejoice when I collapse.
What is the difference between an enemy (oyeiv) and an oppressor (tzar)? The Malbim explains this in several places: the tzar is one who actively torments, while the oyeiv harbors enmity in his heart. The enemy is hostile toward his fellow in his heart; he does not actually go out and cause him trouble, but secretly desires his harm. The oppressor, by contrast, actively torments him and wears him down to the bone. Here David says: See how Hashem has hidden His face from me, leaving me in the hands of my tormentors, to the point that even the enemy - whose way is not to fight openly, but to keep his hatred concealed in his heart - will say, "I have overcome him." Look, I did not even need to fight him; the very hatred in my heart brought about his downfall, and my desires have been fulfilled. Meanwhile, the active oppressor, who is accustomed to waging actual war - "my oppressors will rejoice when I falter" - when they see that I have collapsed on my own through Hashem's providence, they will experience immense joy. Therefore, I plead before the Master of the World: Save me from my enemies and my oppressors, lest they think they have overcome me and have cause to rejoice over my downfall.
וַאֲנִי בְּחַסְדְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי יָגֵל לִבִּי בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ אָשִׁירָה לַיהֹוָה כִּי גָמַל עָלָי׃ - But as for me, I have trusted in Your loving-kindness; my heart shall exult in Your salvation; I will sing to Hashem, for He has dealt bountifully with me.
The Malbim explains - as he notes in several places - the distinction between gilah (exultation) and simchah (joy): simchah is continuous, ongoing joy, whereas gilah arises when something new suddenly arrives. A person rejoices on a Yom Tov even though nothing new has occurred; but if he wins the lottery, he experiences gilah. A momentary occurrence, a surprise, something that catches a person off guard in an instant and gives him cause to rejoice - that is what is called gilah.
On the surface, this presents a difficulty: "But as for me, I have trusted in Your loving-kindness" - if you trusted in Hashem's chesed all along, why are you surprised? Why should "my heart exult in Your salvation"? Something that is expected does not evoke great exultation, just as there is no special thrill when the bus arrives, since you were anticipating it all along. Why, then, is there gilah here?
The Malbim explains: Initially, "I trusted in Your chesed" - I assumed that Hashem would bestow goodness upon me and deliver me purely through His unearned loving-kindness, for I am unworthy and lack merits; Hashem's chesed would save me. But see what happened in the end: "I will sing to Hashem, for He has dealt bountifully with me [gamal alai]." The word gamal is an expression the Malbim mentions in several places, meaning to reciprocate in kind - that is, to reward someone for a deed performed beforehand. Thus, when Hashem brought salvation, it was not merely an act of unearned chesed, but "for He has recompensed me": Hashem regarded me as worthy of it, like a righteous person who is rewarded with good. This is the new gilah, the extraordinary delight: I was certain You would save me out of pure chesed while I remained unworthy, and suddenly I see that You granted it to me as a recompense - as if the Holy One, blessed be He, is saying to me: You are righteous, and you deserve this. Over this, "my heart shall exult" - a burst of joyous surprise that did not exist before. For this, I wish to sing and praise Hashem, as this is something entirely new that was previously unknown.
Let us conclude with an insight brought by the Radak from Midrash Shocher Tov: Corresponding to the four outcries are four consolations. We saw "How long" (Ad anah) repeated four times, corresponding to the four times the Holy One, blessed be He, uttered "How long." The Midrash states: Corresponding to them are four consolations at the end of the chapter - "But as for me, I have trusted in Your chesed" in Babylon, "my heart shall exult in Your salvation" in Media, "I will sing to Hashem" in Greece, and "for He has dealt bountifully with me" in Edom. In other words, in response to our four outcries, Hashem says: You have awakened to cry out - I will send you salvation throughout all four of these exiles.