Chapter 107 in Tehillim is a psalm of Pesach. The Radak writes that this psalm was composed regarding four categories of people who emerged from distress to relief, all four of whom are obligated to offer thanksgiving to Hashem, blessed be He. Hashem saved them, and they are required to give thanks. This thanksgiving is the root and foundation for the words of Chazal that these four must recite Birkat HaGomel - this is the thanksgiving they offer to Hashem for bringing them out from distress to relief.
The Radak adds: This is not by chance, as the mistaken philosophers believe, who claim that man is subject to blind fate and do not believe in Hashem. These philosophers claim, so to speak: What is there to thank for? It happened on its own; he just got lucky. To this the psalm responds: No. They must thank Hashem, for it was as punishment for their sins that they were in distress, and through the kindness of God they were saved from that distress when they cried out to Him. Indeed, later in the psalm it is made explicit that the trouble came because of iniquity, and salvation came because they cried out to Hashem - proving that things do not happen on their own, but everything is directed by Him, blessed be He. These four are: those who traverse deserts, one who was imprisoned, a sick person who recovered, and those who go down to the sea.
The Radak further adds that later in the psalm we will see that even someone who was not in one of these situations - neither in the desert nor in prison - is also addressed by its message: A person sitting comfortably in his home should not feel overly secure in his situation, for the Holy One, blessed be He, can turn it upside down in an instant to misfortune and loss. And likewise, vice versa: someone in a dire and negative state should not despair, for the Holy One, blessed be He, can lift him out of poverty, save him from his trouble, and grant him great goodness. All of this comes to teach us that everything is from Him, blessed be He, both the bad and the good.
הֹדוּ לַיהֹוָה כִּי־טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ׃ - Give thanks to Hashem for He is good, for His kindness endures forever.
The Malbim explains that after mentioning the ingathering of the exiles, those returning from exile will offer thanksgiving sacrifices for all the matters for which one must thank Hashem, blessed be He - and as we will see later, all of these things also occurred during the Exodus from Egypt. And what is the essence of chesed (loving-kindness)? The Malbim defines it: Chesed is what one does without obligation and without a prior promise, even when the recipient is not worthy of it according to his deeds. If I am obligated to give to you, that is not chesed, but a salary or repayment of a debt. If I promised you, that too is not chesed, for I am giving because of the promise. And if you received it based on your merits, you received it by right of judgment and not out of chesed. Chesed means: even if you have no merits, I give to you. And so it is with the Holy One, blessed be He, says the Malbim: chesed refers to a miracle that is beyond the natural order - something you are not worthy of and do not deserve, for which there was no prior promise, and which the Holy One, blessed be He, is under no obligation to provide, yet nevertheless He bestows goodness upon us in a manner that transcends nature.
In the book Tehilot Maharitz, it is explained wonderfully what "Give thanks to Hashem for He is good" means. When a person does you a favor, you wait until it is over to thank him and shower him with warm words. You do not thank him in the middle of the ride; you wait until the end, and then say: Thank you very much, that helped me so much, yasher koach. We always wait for the conclusion of the favor before expressing full gratitude. But all of this applies to flesh and blood. With the Holy One, blessed be He, the goodness never ends; there is no concluding point; He is always bestowing good and continues to do good. If so, how long will you wait? Until the final moment? But "in Sheol, who will give thanks to You?", and once a person is already below ten tefachim (in the grave), there is no longer any possibility of giving thanks. "I will praise Hashem while I live; I will sing to my God while I exist" - one must give thanks while still alive. Therefore, the verse says, "Give thanks to Hashem for He is good": His goodness is continuous, it is good all the time, and therefore do not wait for the goodness to conclude, but thank Hashem, blessed be He, at every single moment.
יֹאמְרוּ גְּאוּלֵי יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר גְּאָלָם מִיַּד־צָר׃ וּמֵאֲרָצוֹת קִבְּצָם מִמִּזְרָח וּמִמַּעֲרָב מִצָּפוֹן וּמִיָּם׃ - Let the redeemed of Hashem say [it], whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered them from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the sea.
"Let the redeemed of Hashem say" - the Radak explains: Let them speak praise and thanksgiving to God, blessed be He, Who redeemed them from distress. They will reach the realization that the One Who redeemed them is solely the Holy One, blessed be He; there is no redeemer beside You, but only Hashem is the One Who redeemed them. Therefore, they are called "the redeemed of Hashem" - it is evident and clear beyond doubt that Hashem redeemed us, and no one would imagine that anything occurred here on its own.
On the words "from the hand of tzar," the Radak writes: "Tzar is a noun." His intention is to exclude it being a verb. "Meitzar" is a verb: he afflicts me, performing an action. "Tzarah" (distress) is a noun. Just as "ka'as" (anger) is a noun and "ko'es" (angry/angering) is a verb. Therefore, "whom He has redeemed from the hand of tzar" does not mean from the hand of the afflicter performing an action, but as if it were written: whom He redeemed from the hand of trouble (tzarah). It is a noun and not a verb.
The Malbim explains that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed wondrous lovingkindness to the redeemed in two respects. The first is "He redeemed them from the hand of the adversary", the redemption itself. Yet even after redemption, a person can be left uprooted; we all remember that after the Holocaust ended, there were still thousands and millions of refugees in displaced persons camps, people who were no longer in Auschwitz but had no idea where to go. Therefore comes the second aspect: "And gathered them from the lands" - He brought back their outcasts from east and from west, from north and from the sea, and returned them to Eretz Yisrael.
Yet one direction is missing here: east, west, north, and the sea - but where is the south? The Malbim explains that the south was not mentioned because there is no settlement in the south. This does not mean there are no settlements in the south of the land, but rather that the southern part of the globe is scarcely inhabited. And the Radak explains: because it has the least settlement of all directions due to the heat of the sun, and merchants rarely travel in that direction. The south was perceived as deserts and parched land, and therefore was omitted. In fact, this does not necessarily depend on heat, for even today the North Pole is inhabited to some degree while the South Pole is almost completely desolate - even though the South Pole is colder. We see that the south is still far less populated than the northern regions.
Still, a difficulty remains: it says "from east and from west," and then again "and from the sea," yet "sea" often denotes the west - why repeat the west twice? The Radak explains that "from the sea" refers to those who travel by sea from country to country, that Hashem will return them safely to their land. Furthermore, he mentions seafarers, as part of the theme of the psalm is that the Holy One, blessed be He, also rescues those who go down to the sea. This is not merely an enumeration of the cardinal directions, but also a statement that Hashem saves from the perils of the sea, where travel itself demands salvation, and Hashem restores them to their place.
In the sefer Az Yedaber Yehoshua, a story is related concerning the holy Gaon, Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir. It was his holy custom that on every winter night, as he left the beit midrash for his home, he would say: "Master of the Universe, may You have a good night," and with that he would walk home. Today, perhaps inspired by Breslov, this does not sound unusual to us, but in their time it sounded strange: How can one speak to the Holy One, blessed be He, as one speaks to a friend? He told them: In doing this, my intention is to advocate on behalf of the Jewish people, to pray for Klal Yisrael that they should lack nothing.
And this was his intention: The Mishnah in Sanhedrin teaches that when a person suffers, what does the Shechinah say? "My head is heavy, my arm is heavy," meaning: my head aches, my arm aches; as it were, the Shechinah grieves over the suffering of a Jew. Now, during the long nights of Tevet, the cold is intense, and people did not always have enough firewood to heat their stoves. A person comes home, suffers from the cold, perhaps also goes hungry, lacking money for food and wood - and he is in distress. And when he is in distress, the Shechinah is also in distress, for the Holy One, blessed be He, shares in the pain of that Jew. Therefore, I pray and say: Master of the Universe, may You have a good night. And how will You have a good night? If You bestow good upon Your children, ensuring that everyone has sufficient firewood and food, and that all is well with them - then, naturally, the Holy One, blessed be He, will also have a good night. But if a Jew suffers, then, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, has no rest: "My head is heavy, my arm is heavy."
According to this, the verse is illuminated: "Give thanks to Hashem for He is good" - we must thank Hashem that we have such a Creator Who is pleased, and when? "For His lovingkindness endures forever," when He bestows lovingkindness. Thank Hashem that you have a God for Whom, when things are good for a Jew, it is good for Him, as it were; and when a Jew suffers, it is painful for Him, as it were. According to this, "Let the redeemed of Hashem say" can also be interpreted in a Chassidic vein: not only does Hashem redeem us, but as it were, Hashem Himself is redeemed from the distress. When? "Whom He redeemed from the hand of the adversary" - when I redeem you from the hand of the adversary, I am, as it were, redeemed. This echoes what Chazal taught, that the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "I will not enter the heavenly Jerusalem until Israel enters the earthly Jerusalem," and "The Shechinah is with them in their exile." As long as we are in exile, the Shechinah is also, as it were, in exile; and when we are redeemed and enter the earthly Beit HaMikdash, the Shechinah too will return to its home in the heavenly Beit HaMikdash. It turns out that we, as it were, bring redemption to Hashem, blessed be He, as well.
תָּעוּ בַמִּדְבָּר בִּישִׁימוֹן דָּרֶךְ עִיר מוֹשָׁב לֹא מָצָאוּ׃ רְעֵבִים גַּם־צְמֵאִים נַפְשָׁם בָּהֶם תִּתְעַטָּף׃ - They wandered in the wilderness, in a desolate way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Rashi explains: Desert wayfarers must also give thanks, because they frequently lose their way in the desert, becoming hungry and thirsty. This is unlike someone lost in an inhabited city; even if he cannot find the right street, there is a kiosk, a corner grocery, or a supermarket nearby. One who loses his way in the desert, however - "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them" - has nowhere to buy provisions and no way to manage.
The Radak explains why losing the way is mentioned specifically regarding the desert: because the abundance of sand there covers the paths whenever the wind blows. One might say, "There used to be a road here" - but after a slight gust of wind, try to identify where it was. Therefore, travelers easily lose their way in the desert, and then they cannot find a path by which to reach the inhabited city of their destination.
The Malbim describes the Jewish people in exile wandering through the wilderness and reaching a wasteland, noting the distinction between a midbar (wilderness) and a yeshimon (wasteland): a yeshimon denotes a harsher desolation, an utterly barren place. They stray from the path, find no inhabited city, become hungry, and subsequently thirsty as well - for the water in their canteens has run out - until "their soul fainted within them," on the very verge of death.
What is the meaning of "their soul fainted within them" (nafshem bahem tit’atef)? Metzudat David explains: When a person is in distress, he is dejected and bent over, as if folded upon himself, one part wrapping around another. A person doubles over and bends down, as though part of his body envelopes the rest - this is an expression of deep depression; a person in distress shrinks inward and is in misery.
Radak adds a wonderful insight: While they certainly took provisions along, there is nowhere to purchase anything in the wilderness, and their provisions were originally supposed to be enough. What happened? Because they wandered "in the wilderness, on a desert path," they became hungry and thirsty. If someone travels according to schedule, he exits the desert in two weeks; he packed food and water for two weeks, and that should have sufficed. But because they lost their way, two weeks turned into three weeks, and then a month, and the food ran out - hence, "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them."
In the sefer Tehillot Shmuel, a teaching is cited in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: Seemingly, we must understand why the Holy One, blessed be He, created a reality where man is hungry and thirsty, yearning and desiring food. If this reality did not exist - neither the craving nor the bare necessity of bodily sustenance - man would not have to spend eighty percent of his time working and toiling. Buy a home, and you are done. What does a person work for? To put food on the table, for a livelihood. Consider the calculation: if food were not needed in this world, we would be like robots, and most of the time we would not have to do anything at all.
One reason is so that we have something to keep us occupied. Otherwise, what would a person do all day? If he spent his time in the beit midrash, that would be wonderful; but the reality is that people would wander aimlessly, losing their way. And we know that nothing is worse than this: when a person has idle time, idleness leads to boredom, and boredom leads to sin. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged that we must be occupied all the time, toiling for our livelihood so that we have no leisure for wrongdoing.
Yet the Baal Shem Tov reveals a deeper, inner reason: when Adam sinned, holy sparks fell into every aspect of creation, and man's task is to gather those sparks and restore them to their Source. They are scattered throughout all lands, which is why the Jewish people were exiled among the nations. As the holy Or HaChaim writes, when an elevated person, a tzaddik who fears Heaven, is present in a place containing holy sparks, he acts like a lodestone, like a magnet: good clings to good, and the holy sparks attach themselves to him and achieve their rectification. The same applies to food, to plant life and animal life - they too contain those sparks of holiness that fell at the time of Adam's sin and require rectification. When a person partakes of them through eating and drinking, they attain their elevation. This is an essential part of man's spiritual work through eating and drinking.
This is hinted at here in the verse: "Hungry and thirsty" - why did Hashem create hunger and thirst? Because of the sparks that belong to their soul: "their soul wraps itself within them" (nafshem bahem tit’atef). This can be explained in two ways: that the sparks are wrapped within those foods, and also that your soul will be wrapped and crowned with those sparks when you eat from those foods.
Chazal teach: Four must give thanks - seafarers who descend to the sea in ships when they reach inhabited land, desert travelers when they arrive at their destination, a sick person who has healed, and a prisoner who has been released. The Ba'al HaTurim offered a famous mnemonic based on the verse, "And all the living (ve-chol ha-chayim) shall praise You, Selah": Chet for chavush (an imprisoned person), Yud for yisurim (affliction, meaning the sick), Yud for yam (the sea), and Mem for midbar (the desert).
All four are derived from our psalm: Desert travelers - "תָּעוּ בַמִּדְבָּר בִּישִׁימוֹן דָּרֶךְ" ("They wandered in the wilderness on a desolate path"); one confined in prison - "יֹשְׁבֵי חֹשֶׁךְ וְצַלְמָוֶת אֲסִירֵי עֳנִי וּבַרְזֶל" ("Those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron"); a sick person who recovered - "יִשְׁלַח דְּבָרוֹ וְיִרְפָּאֵם" ("He sends His word and heals them"); and seafarers - "יוֹרְדֵי הַיָּם בָּאֳנִיּוֹת" ("Those who descend to the sea in ships"). Regarding each of these, the psalm repeats the verse, "יוֹדוּ לַיהֹוָה חַסְדּוֹ וְנִפְלְאוֹתָיו לִבְנֵי אָדָם" ("Let them give thanks to Hashem for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of men") - demonstrating that all of them must give thanks to Hashem, may He be blessed.
The sacred books write that we drink the four cups on the Seder night of Pesach corresponding to four perils through which the Jewish people passed. In Egypt, they were confined and imprisoned - no slave could ever escape Egypt, and they were trapped there; furthermore, Mitzrayim shares the root of meitzar (narrow strait/confinement), indicating our dire distress. They suffered afflictions and illnesses from backbreaking labor in every kind of harsh work. Later, when they left, they crossed the sea - corresponding to seafarers. Afterward, they walked through the wilderness - corresponding to desert travelers. We find, then, that the four cups correspond to the four deliverances experienced in the Exodus from Egypt, and this is why we recite this psalm on Pesach, as the redemption from Egypt encompassed rescue from all four of these perils.
Regarding the wine, the Gaon Rabbi Nissim Dayan adds a wonderful insight: When a person raises a cup of wine, what do people say to him? "L'chaim!" And what does l'chaim signify? According to what we explained, the four cups we drink on the Seder night correspond to the four deliverances whose mnemonic is Chayim (חיים): Chavush (the imprisoned), Yisurim (afflictions), Yam (the sea), and Midbar (the desert). This is the inner meaning of "L'chaim": we drink four cups over being saved from the four plights through which we were chastened during the Exodus from Egypt, and thereby we thank Hashem, may He be blessed, for the four kinds of salvation we were granted.
In the book Yosef Tehillot, Maran the Chida cites an explanation from the Kenesset HaGedolah on the verse, "They wandered in the wilderness in a desolation of a way, an inhabited city they did not find," based on the words of our Sages that when Israel left Egypt, the Amorites destroyed everything. They received, as it were, a telegram from Egypt - since Mitzraim was the brother of Canaan - informing them: Prepare yourselves, you have visitors; the people of Israel are about to arrive. A terrible fear fell upon them that day, as Rachav described: "Every heart melted and turned to water." What did they do? They went and ravaged the entire land, uprooted the vineyards, and demolished the houses, saying: When the people of Israel arrive here, they will find scorched earth; nothing will remain for them.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Would I allow them to enter a land where nothing remains? Forty years in the desert! The Canaanites waited one year, two years, three years - they were promised that they were coming, yet no one arrives! "We waited for guests, but no one came." They began to realize that one cannot live in tents forever; they sat down and rebuilt the palaces, sowed and planted. And in place of old orchards, old vineyards, and old palaces, the Canaanites rebuilt everything anew.
And this is the meaning of the verse: Why did "they wander in the wilderness" for such a long time, forty years? Because "an inhabited city they did not find" - for had they entered immediately, they would not have found an inhabited city. Hashem ensured that they would be delayed in the wilderness, so that after forty years they would enter and find everything built to magnificent perfection.