This psalm, as the Malbim explains, was said in contrast to the idolaters who lived in David's time. King David comes to show the distinction between a servant of Hashem - one who observes Hashem's Torah - and those who follow after vanity and become vain. David thanks Hashem, blessed is He, for separating him from those who err, so that he does not follow their corrupted path, but rather cleaves to the Creator, blessed is He.
מִכְתָּם לְדָוִד שָׁמְרֵנִי אֵל כִּי־חָסִיתִי בָךְ׃ - A Michtam of David: Guard me, O God, for in You I have taken refuge.
Let us begin with grammar. The letter shin here has a kamatz, and this kamatz is a kamatz katan: it is not read "Shamereni" [with an "a" sound], but rather "Shomreni", pronounced like a cholam. A further nuance: does the shin take a meteg (a ga'ya) or not? The practical difference is this: when the vowel is a long vowel, the following sheva is a sheva na (vocal), meaning the letter mem would receive a slight tzeirei sound. But because the vowel here is short - for it is a kamatz katan and not a kamatz gadol - the following sheva is a sheva nach (quiescent), and it is read "Shomreni". The grammatical rule is: a sheva following a short vowel is quiescent, while a sheva following a long vowel is vocal.
All of this applies when there is no ga'ya on the short vowel. If there is a ga'ya under the shin, we read it with a vocal sheva, sounding the mem with an echo of a tzeirei; and if there is no ga'ya, we read it "Shomreni". The Radak maintains that the shin should have a ga'ya, as noted by other grammatical authorities as well. Even so, the Yemenite custom is well known to read it without a ga'ya, leaving the mem silent, and thus they recite: "Shomreni Kel ki chasiti vach."
Our Sages say: "Michtam le-David - for David, who was mach (humble) and tam (whole), whose wound (makato) was whole (tamah)." That is, every person sustains a wound eight days after birth at his circumcision, whereas David was born circumcised; there was no room for a wound, and thus his wound was whole and complete.
Rashi does not adopt this interpretation here. There is another psalm where the phrase appears as "Le-David michtam", and there one could perhaps explain it this way, since you are describing David as one whose wound was whole; but here the order is inverted, "Michtam le-David", making it difficult to fit that reading. Therefore, Rashi takes the view that the more widely accepted explanation is that it is the name of a musical melody, a distinct style of chant, which was called a michtam.
Ibn Ezra explains that michtam refers to a distinguished, precious psalm, from the expression "kethem paz" (fine gold). Another interpretation he cites: a poetic hymn that opens with a michtam, meaning that the beginning of the poem had a unique melody, along the lines of Rashi's explanation.
Rashi also addresses the explanation of michtam as related to kethem paz, a precious and exquisite jewel, and adds yet another interpretation: michtam in the sense of a crown. And what was David's crown? The continuation of the verse: "Guard me, O God, for in You I have taken refuge." This was David's motto in life; it was a crown upon his head, the phrase he was accustomed to repeat constantly and through which he prayed, in the spirit of the verse, "You will crown him with favor like a shield."
David opens by saying: Please, Hashem, protect me, and only You. Not Your angels and not Your emissaries; rather, I want Hashem Himself to watch over me. I do not take refuge under any of the celestial powers, but rather "the eyes of Hashem your God are upon me"; in Him alone do I take refuge: "Protect me, O God, for I have taken refuge in You."
אָמַרְתְּ לַיהֹוָה אֲדֹנָי אָתָּה טוֹבָתִי בַּל־עָלֶיךָ׃ - You have said to Hashem, "You are my Lord; my well-being is not incumbent upon You."
Who is this "you" who "has said"? We will examine three explanations, beginning with the Malbim. In his view, David is turning here to challenge the nations, those who believe in idolatry. David says to them: You idolaters think you can find shelter and refuge under your idols. The Malbim explains that idols are called atzabbim because they bring sorrow (ma'atzivim) to those who worship them: a person cries out to his idol and receives no answer; the god he dialed is currently unavailable, which leaves him filled with grief.
Now, those idol worshippers were not complete deniers of divine providence. They believed that God exists, and that Hashem is the Prime Cause and the Source of all causes, "the God of gods" as Nebuchadnezzar defined Him. However, in their view He is distant and detached, a supreme God, high and exalted, Who does not intervene in what happens down here. Everything that occurs in this world was handed over, in their view, to idols, to lower forces; therefore, they would worship them in order to draw down divine bounty through them. Praying to Hashem alone, and exclusively to Hashem - that they could not accept: Why would you bother the Holy One, blessed be He, with your personal problems? He is high and exalted, He created the world, He is the God of all gods.
To what may this be compared? A country has a president who is in charge of everything. Even so, a citizen whose trash was not collected will not pick up the phone to call the president, nor even the minister of health. To be sure, he is the one running affairs, but he is high and exalted, and his attention is devoted to broader and more urgent matters, not to your private difficulties. Such a mindset sounds very logical, and this was indeed the worldview of the astrologers and the idol worshippers.
Judaism says: That is not so. The Holy One, blessed be He, is high and exalted, and despite all that, He is intimately involved with the lower realms; He cares about them and provides for them. Furthermore, one may not turn to anyone else, not even to an "official" of the Creator, blessed be He. If you wish to turn to someone, it must be to Hashem alone. Anyone who turns to an additional power besides Him is considered to be worshipping through association (shituf), joining another power alongside the Creator. "You shall not make with Me gods of silver or gods of gold," which the Sages expounded: even to serve Me. Even for the sake of serving Hashem, it is forbidden to set up any celestial intermediary; one must pray to Hashem alone.
We have already discussed the absurdity of those who claim that Hashem is high and exalted, and therefore, according to them, we Jews diminish the Creator when we pray to Him over a hole in our shoe. First, this argument is convenient for them: if there is a Creator but He does not involve Himself in what happens down here, then a person may do whatever he pleases. Second, the claim itself is the exact opposite of the truth. We have noted this on several occasions, as well as in the Kuzari that we studied, and to recap briefly: if someone asks what the distance is from here to infinity, the answer is infinity. If I advance one hundred thousand kilometers, does "infinity minus one hundred thousand" remain? There is no such thing. Advance a billion kilometers, and the distance is still infinity.
Now understand: when you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, deals with big things and not with small things, you are describing a limited deity. Relative to his size, a matter of eighty thousand kilometers is important and worthy of attention, while a matter of four centimeters does not concern him. But we say: our God is infinite, and since He is infinite, there is no "large" and "small" before Him. Even the greatest matter you could imagine Him attending to is nothingness and void before Him, exactly like the hole in your shoe. And if He nevertheless created His world and fashioned us, it proves that Someone wanted us to be here, which means He cares about us. And if He cares about us, He also says: Turn to Me when you have a problem, and do not seek out idols and lower powers.
As noted, the nations believed that the Holy One, blessed be He, is high and exalted, and therefore they occupied themselves only with idols, which they believed were present here. And where were they? Not above, but right here, in the mountains where they dwelt and in known locations. Each idol was appointed over a specific domain: one over life, one over favor, one over wealth; each had its role, and they believed in multiple deities.
Regarding this, David says to the idol-worshipping nation: "You said to Hashem, 'You are my Lord'" - I know that You are my Master, and it is clear to me that You are the Prime Cause of everything; "My good is not upon You" - but the good things I receive here in this world do not belong to You, for You do not deal directly with me, and they come only from those lower intermediaries.
Rashi explains that "amart" is addressed to Keneset Yisrael (the Congregation of Israel), which is why it is in the feminine form. Keneset Yisrael refers to Klal Yisrael, as in the expression of Chazal. David says to Keneset Yisrael: You must say to Hashem, "You are my Lord," You are my Master, "and my good is not upon You" - meaning, Your hand has the upper hand in everything that comes upon me, and everything that happens to me is entirely from You, Blessed be He.
The Radak cites a third explanation: this is addressed neither to the nations nor to Keneset Yisrael; rather, David is speaking to his own soul. You, my soul, have said and acknowledged that Hashem is your God and your Master, and so you shall also say to Him, "My good is not upon You." And what does this mean? In the name of Rashi and Rabbi Moshe ibn Gikatilla: The good that You do for me is not something You are obligated to perform; You do it out of pure chesed. Thus my soul says to Hashem: All the good things You bestow upon me, You do not owe me. I owe You absolute gratitude, while You owe me nothing, for my good is not incumbent upon You to benefit me.
The Radak cites another explanation in the name of his father: A person might feel that by performing a mitzvah he has done a favor for the Holy One, Blessed be He, and he walks away with the feeling that Hashem now owes him; here, I put on tefillin, here, I kept Shabbat, and already he expects his paycheck. Regarding this, it says, "My good is not upon You": all the good deeds I perform do not reach You and create no change in You. You were not lacking before my mitzvah, nor were You replenished by it. And whom did I benefit? I benefited myself. When I fulfilled a mitzvah, I did a kindness for myself and earned myself more eternity in the World to Come, but toward Heaven, "If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He take from your hand?"
לִקְדוֹשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־בָּאָרֶץ הֵמָּה וְאַדִּירֵי כׇּל־חֶפְצִי־בָם׃ - As for the holy ones who are in the land, and the mighty ones, in whom is all my delight.
And from whom do they believe their benefit comes? "To the holy ones who are in the land" - from the "holy" idols on earth, which according to their belief dwell on the high mountains and in various locations, on every mount of assembly and high hill ("mount of assembly" as in the verse in Yeshayahu, "and I will sit on the mount of assembly"). Neither those in heaven nor Hashem in heaven, but rather the holy ones on earth are the ones who bestow good upon me.
"And the mighty ones, in whom is all my delight" - the mighty powers who govern all my desires are found in them. The Malbim explains: Idolaters attributed all faculties of the soul and all human desires, character traits, lusts, and wills to the idols. This idol is appointed over love, that one over war, this one over strife and contention, that one over livelihood, each having its own distinct role. Consequently, they believed that man has no personal desires of his own: Why do I hate this person? Because the god of hatred overcame me. Why do I love that person? Because the god of love aroused love within me. Man, in their view, is conditioned in his actions by the force of the idols controlling him.
Notice how convenient this is: if I became angry with you, it was not I who grew angry, but rather the god of anger took control of me; and if I hated someone, it was not I who hated, but rather the god of hatred influenced me. This concept absolves a person of all responsibility for his actions. Therefore, they would worship each idol in order to fulfill their desires in that specific realm, burning incense to it and offering sacrifices, for "the mighty ones, in whom is all my delight," rule over all my desires and passions. But You, Hashem, "my good is not upon You": You are supreme, yet the good things do not come from You, but from them.
יִרְבּוּ עַצְּבוֹתָם אַחֵר מָהָרוּ בַּל־אַסִּיךְ נִסְכֵּיהֶם מִדָּם וּבַל־אֶשָּׂא אֶת־שְׁמוֹתָם עַל־שְׂפָתָי׃ - Let their sorrows multiply, who hasten after another god; I will not pour out their libations of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips.
"Who hasten after another" (acher maharu) - these are those who hasten to worship another god. Others explain that this refers to giving another god a dowry and gifts (mohar u-mattan), as Rashi and Radak explain, and the Malbim also cites this as an additional explanation. They multiply their idols (atzvotam), crafting images (atzabbim) for them: they would make an image to depict the character of that idol, to draw down spiritual influences from it, to gaze upon it, and to connect with it. This is their path.
David says: "I will not pour out their libations of blood" - I will not learn from their deeds to pour out blood before those "holy ones," those idols, in the way they would pour libations of blood upon their altars. Furthermore, "nor will I take up their names upon my lips." Chazal teach that it is forbidden to mention the names of idols, and the Gemara notes that they would use derogatory nicknames for those idols, such as Beit Galya and Beit Karyah, as it says, "And make no mention of the name of other gods" (Shemot 23:13), which they expounded: it shall not be heard from your mouth. David says: I, too, will not take their names upon my lips; rather, I will eradicate their memory.
And why does it say atzvotam rather than atzabeihem? The Malbim explains that Scripture uses a derogatory term, in the feminine form. Atzabeihem is masculine, whereas atzvotam is feminine, as if to say that their god is weak like a female.
יְהֹוָה מְנָת־חֶלְקִי וְכוֹסִי אַתָּה תּוֹמִיךְ גּוֹרָלִי׃ - Hashem is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; You support my lot.
David says: I am not like them. I believe with complete faith that I am not subject to the astrological system, the forces of nature, idols, or celestial ministers; rather, "Hashem is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; You support my lot." And what is the significance of these three terms: portion (chelek), cup (kos), and lot (goral)?
The Malbim explains: "Cup" represents what a person prepares for himself according to his own preparation - that is, according to how much he exerts himself and toils, so shall he receive. "Portion" represents what a person already received from birth, what was granted to him from Heaven. Both of these - the portion and the cup - are measured and proportionate: the portion, in that everyone received that same portion, a portion of God from Above, a soul from On High; and the cup, in that each person receives in proportion to what he achieved and exerted himself for.
In contrast, the "lot" is different from them, because in a lot, a person can receive far more than he actually deserves. Like a lottery winner today, who does not receive based on merit or effort, but rather an exalted, immense prize falls into his lot, far beyond what is due to him.
Therefore, David says: I have a portion and inheritance in Hashem by virtue of my birth, "Hashem is the portion of my inheritance" - this is the allotment I received from Him, a holy soul and a portion of God from Above. And I also have an addition of holiness according to my deeds, and this is "my cup." The Malbim explains that the concept of "cup" (kos) is related to the word miksat, as in "according to the count (bemikhsat) of souls" - namely, the portion one has designated for himself according to an allocated quota: according to how much you exerted yourself, that is the quota you will receive, as in "according to the reckoning (bemikhsat) of your valuation" and "the appointed day (yom hakeseh)," according to what is due to him. Thus, if I exert myself more, I can earn a larger share, and this is the portion of my cup.
And the additional dimension is "You support my lot" - a gift far beyond anything I have earned, like someone who wins a lottery far beyond what is due to him. This is what is meant by "I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My eyes," for there is a reality of finding favor in the eyes of Hashem. Similarly, Chazal said regarding Noach that he too was meant to be wiped out in the waters of the Flood, but he found favor. According to his merits alone, he was not worthy of being saved; rather, "Noach found favor in the eyes of Hashem." They derive this from the verse "And He wiped out all existence," showing that Noach was included in the decree of destruction, yet in the end he was not wiped out because he found favor. Thus we see that there is an aspect of finding favor, a special grace that Hashem bestows upon a person far beyond what he deserves, like someone who won the lottery.
Thus, in contrast to the idolaters who deny Divine Providence and believe that man has no portion of God from Above and no connection to the Holy One, Blessed be He, David declares: Hashem is my portion. In contrast to their disbelief that a person receives in accordance with his actions, he declares: Hashem is my cup. And in contrast to their complete lack of connection to Hashem and their inability to imagine that He would bestow gifts far beyond merit - since in their view, everything depends on idols - he says: You, Hashem, support my lot; You give me far beyond what I deserve.
And what is the meaning of "tomich"? Rashi explains: You placed my hand upon the good portion. This is akin to the verse, "I have set before you life and death... and you shall choose life": the Holy One, blessed be He, could have simply said, "Behold, both are before you; choose whichever you wish." Instead, He instructs us in advance that it is worthwhile to choose life. This is like a man who loves one of his sons, places the son's hand upon the finest portion of the inheritance, and tells him: "Choose this one for yourself; it is best for you to take this portion." In this way, as it were, "You guide my lot" (atah tomich gorali).
From what root does the word "tomich" derive? Rashi explains that it comes from an expression of lowering, as in "the rafters sink" (yimach hamkareh) - like someone who lowers another's hand and places it upon that portion, saying: "Here, take this." Others explain it as coming from the concept of support (temichah), as one who supports my hand to place it upon my lot, saying: "Here is your lot; this is what is best for you to choose, as in 'and you shall choose life.'"
David opens with "Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You," and this is his crowning glory: he takes refuge in Hashem alone and in no other power. In contrast to the idolaters, who acknowledged that Hashem is the Prime Cause of all causes yet claimed "My goodness is not from You" - asserting that blessings do not come directly from Him, but rather from the "holy ones who are in the land" and the "mighty ones" who govern all human affairs - David declares that he will not pour out their libations nor utter their names upon his lips. In direct opposition to them, he firmly establishes his faith: "Hashem is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; You guide my lot" - the portion I received from birth, the cup I merit according to my deeds, and the lot, which is a gift of loving-kindness beyond what I deserve. And the Holy One, blessed be He, even places my hand upon the good portion, instructing me to choose life.