שִׁיר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד׃ - A song, a psalm of David.
Our psalm differs from all the other psalms in the Book of Tehillim because it has already appeared in the book. Most of it is written in Psalm 60, where "when he strove with Aram Naharayim" is mentioned, and its other half is found in Psalm 57. For this reason, the commentators here did not elaborate extensively, but rather referred us to the explanations they provided in those earlier places, in chapters 57 and 60.
Why, then, was the psalm repeated twice? The Radak distinguishes between them: there, the matter was spoken in the context of "when he strove with Aram Naharayim," that is, concerning the war fought against Aram Naharayim at that time; whereas our psalm was spoken in reference to the future - regarding the ingathering of the exiles and what will happen when the Jewish people return to their land. The psalm there concerns the past, and the psalm here concerns the future. And the entire psalm is composed of two earlier passages: from the beginning of the psalm until "that Your beloved may be delivered" is Psalm 57, and from "that Your beloved may be delivered" until the end of the psalm is Psalm 60. There are slight variations in wording between them, and we will examine some of them.
The Malbim also addressed this point, noting that the psalm is repeated from chapters 57 and 60, but he adds an explanation: Psalm 57 was composed when David fled from Saul into the cave, when he was in the depths of despair, moments before death, and in a single second was saved - suddenly his honor awoke along with the morning light. And from verse 7 until the end of the psalm corresponds to the end of Psalm 60, where David recounted that all of Klal Yisrael were in total despair; it seemed to them that Hashem had forsaken them, and they were in a great crisis. King David came here and joined the two psalms together: the ultimate despair of the individual and the ultimate despair of the community, and the salvation of the individual and the salvation of the community. The miracle performed for him and the miracle performed for his nation - he seeks to connect them and mention them both as one, and therefore gathered them into a single psalm. The Malbim himself notes that he will not comment here, and whoever wishes may take the explanation from the earlier psalms. Therefore, we will not study here with the Malbim, but rather review the psalm briefly according to the commentators on this chapter.
נָכוֹן לִבִּי אֱלֹהִים אָשִׁירָה וַאֲזַמְּרָה אַף־כְּבוֹדִי׃ - My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and play music, even my glory.
"My heart is steadfast" - Rashi explains: faithful with You. My heart is whole with You and firmly prepared with You. And what is the meaning of "I will sing and play music, even my glory"? Rashi explains: it is an honor for me to sing to You; it is my dignity to sing before You. Another explanation: even on account of my honor, I will not refrain from singing to Hashem, nor will I reserve honor for myself - in the spirit of "I will make myself even more disgraced than this." In my eyes, there is no degradation in dancing before the Holy One, blessed be He, and even though one might say this is unfitting for a king, David says: I will not reserve honor for myself; rather, I will sing to Hashem, may He be blessed - and that is my true honor.
The Radak explains that "my heart is steadfast, O God" comes to say: even though I have been in exile for many years, I have not despaired of redemption. My heart is firm and trusting in Hashem, may He be blessed, and therefore "I will sing and play music" - I am certain that Hashem will redeem us, and then I will sing and play music. And what of the name "Elohim" placed in the middle? According to the Radak, this is an exclamation: "My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and play music" - akin to saying, Master of the Universe.
And what is "my glory"? The Radak explains that the soul is called "glory" because it is the glory of the body. Therefore, I sing from my innermost being, from my soul. From this he explains that "I will sing and play music" is not mere repetition: "I will sing" - vocal song with the mouth; "and play music" - with an instrument; "even my glory" - my soul itself also sings.
And what does this come to teach us? Look at how we recite zemirot: we sing, and perhaps even chant - we do not have musical instruments, of course, we are not Reform - but at any rate we recite the zemirot. But where is the soul? Better not to say. It wanders off to all sorts of matters. Ask a person what he had in mind and what he said, and we often realize we were not truly paying attention. With King David, however, it says "even my glory" - even my soul will sing on its own with intellectual contemplation. That is to say: for me, song comes with thought and reflection, and I do not merely utter words with my mouth.
עוּרָה הַנֵּבֶל וְכִנּוֹר אָעִירָה שָּׁחַר׃ - Awake, harp and lyre; I will awake the dawn.
The Radak brings an additional explanation: "even my glory" connects to the first word in the next verse - "even my glory, awake" - and the word "awake" is regarded as if written twice, serving both clauses: the conclusion of the previous verse and the start of this one. Do not be surprised by this construction, for in Psalm 57 it is written explicitly: "Awake, my glory; awake, harp and lyre" - there the word "awake" appears twice. Here as well: "even my glory, awake," and then again, "awake, harp and lyre."
"I will awake the dawn" - the usual manner of kings is that the dawn awakens them; the morning sun strikes their eyes and they awaken. King David says: I awaken the dawn. I rise already at midnight, and the harp and lyre awaken me, as our Sages recounted that a harp hung above David's bed, and when midnight arrived, a northern wind blew through it and it would play on its own, awakening King David. The Radak adds that the harp, as it were, awakens on its own.
There are two interpretations here: either "awake, harp, and awake, lyre" means that I awaken you to play at dawn - awake, harp, awake, lyre, arise, for I wish to sing and play, as one awakening them to sing and praise Hashem, Blessed is He; or that I awaken myself from my sleep at dawn to give thanks to Your Name, and I tell them: you awaken as well. According to the first interpretation, I awaken you so that you will play music; according to the second, I awaken myself in order that I may sing, and call upon you to awaken alongside me.
אוֹדְךָ בָעַמִּים יְהֹוָה וַאֲזַמֶּרְךָ בַּלְאֻמִּים׃ - I will thank You among the peoples, Hashem, and I will sing to You among the nations.
The Radak explains: In the other psalm (Psalm 57), we explained that "among the peoples" and "among the nations" refers to Israel, for we find that Israel is called both "peoples" and "nations" - "nations" refers to the families of Israel, and "peoples shall call to the mountain" is said of the Jewish people, as is "After you, Binyamin, among your peoples," showing that the term "peoples" applies to Israel as well. Here, however, since the psalm speaks of the gathering of all Israel at the coming of the Redeemer, we interpret "peoples" as referring to all the nations of the world literally. Why? Because all nations will accompany Israel to Jerusalem when they are redeemed, as it is written: "And many nations will join themselves to Hashem on that day," and it is written that they will grasp the corner of a Jewish man's garment and seek to bring them up to Jerusalem, and it is written that they will become servants to the Jewish people. That is to say: I will thank You among the peoples, Hashem, when You redeem us, and they will accompany us in the redemption and bring us up to Jerusalem. As for why it says "among the nations" rather than another expression, it is simply stylistic variety, so as not to overburden the language.
כִּי־גָדוֹל מֵעַל־שָׁמַיִם חַסְדֶּךָ וְעַד־שְׁחָקִים אֲמִתֶּךָ׃ - For Your kindness is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches the skies.
Rashi cites the teaching of Chazal addressing an apparent contradiction between our psalm and Psalm 57: here it says "great above the heavens is Your kindness," while in Psalm 57 it says "unto the heavens is Your kindness." "Unto the heavens" is not the same as "above the heavens," for "above" signifies far higher than that. The Gemara explains: there is no contradiction - one speaks of those who act for its own sake (lishmah), and the other of those who act not for its own sake (shelo lishmah). That is, when we perform mitzvos lishmah, Hashem's kindness toward us is great above the heavens, virtually limitless. When one acts shelo lishmah - which does not mean the perverse form where one acts to mock or provoke, concerning which Chazal said it would have been better had he never been born, but rather as Tosafos explain: one who has not yet attained the level of lishmah but aspires to reach it, and acts for the sake of gain, pleasure, or honor, without any intention, Heaven forbid, to provoke; on the contrary, he wishes to serve Hashem, yet his motive is not purely for the sake of Heaven - regarding him it is said that he merits Hashem's kindness "unto the heavens," not boundless, but reaching up to the heavens. Yet for one who acts entirely for the sake of Heaven, the Creator's kindness toward him extends above the heavens.
The Radak also addresses this contradiction and resolves it in his own way: Earlier in chapter 57, Dovid HaMelech speaks about himself and describes his personal troubles, which is why it says there "unto the heavens." Here, by contrast, he speaks about the collective nation, and the merits of the community are abundant; therefore, regarding the salvation of Israel it says "above the heavens." For it is a far greater kindness to bring one nation out from among many nations, even though they were immersed in exile for so many years that all the nations thought they would never escape their grasp - this is an immense, mighty kindness. Not only that, but the nations themselves will bring us here with great honor, "on litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries," as written in Yeshayahu.
Anyone who observes this sees something unprecedented in history: that the UN, the United Nations, agreed to the establishment of the State of Israel. Since that one time, this has never repeated itself, and they themselves do not understand why they agreed. We know - you think you agree, you think you are doing something, you think something depends on you. Consider how today every vote against us receives an automatic majority, and how suddenly back then all the nations thought a home should be established for the Jewish people - whereas today they lament this: look what happened, pity them, they were expelled, they were displaced, they are suffering, and all sorts of such expressions, and look how many actions they take and how much money they pour against us. And they do not understand how Hashem suddenly turned their hearts and they gave their consent for us to come here. This is what the Radak says: this kindness done for the collective, that the nations themselves will bring us to Eretz Yisrael, is an exceedingly great kindness, and regarding this it is said, "For Your kindness is great above the heavens."
And what is meant by "and Your truth unto the skies"? Why does it not say "above the skies"? Rather, when we spoke of "above the heavens," we were referring to Your kindness, but when it says "unto the skies," it speaks of Your truth. "Your truth" is what Hashem does according to strict truth, meaning according to what is deserved: you deserve it, you receive it. Whereas kindness (chesed) means receiving above and beyond, far more than what is deserved. The Holy One, blessed be He, committed Himself to redeem us, and redemption itself is something Hashem undertook - this is truth, and Hashem is bound to fulfill what He promised. Hashem promised that He would redeem us, and even if the time of the redemption is prolonged, what He promised He fulfills. The very fact that we leave exile and arrive in Eretz Yisrael fulfills Hashem's truth: I promised you would be redeemed, and you were redeemed.
Yet notice, says the Radak: that we should depart with great honor, such that "kings shall be your foster fathers" is fulfilled in us, and you shall be borne upon their side and dandled upon their knees, and "foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers," and all the other consolations - these are already great bonuses. The redemption itself is the fulfillment of the promise; but to grant further great promises and immense abundance is an aspect of kindness. Therefore, "Your truth" is "unto the skies": the necessary minimum that Hashem is bound to fulfill by virtue of His truth. But kindness, what Hashem bestows upon us, is "above the heavens" - far, far above and beyond.
If you ask: Were not these promises as well - "Kings shall be your foster fathers and their queens your nursing mothers" and the like - stated by the prophets? And if they were stated by the prophets, they too are truth, meaning a promise that must be fulfilled, so why is their fulfillment called kindness? The Radak answers: It is quite possible that all these bonuses were stated conditionally, provided that we are truly worthy and upright. The foundation - the redemption - will occur in any case, for Hashem promised it would happen and it will happen. But the benefits beyond that depend on our deeds. Just as we see that Yaakov Avinu was afraid - "I am unworthy of all the kindnesses" - lest he not be worthy of having all those promises fulfilled in him, even though Hashem had promised him. For when it comes to great promises, if one is not worthy, the promises no longer apply.
In Sefer Tehillos Shmuel, he cites in the name of Shir Ma'on another explanation for the Rabbinic exposition we mentioned earlier - "For Your kindness is great unto the heavens" versus "For Your kindness is great above the heavens" - here referring to those who act for its own sake (lishmah), and there referring to those who act not for its own sake (shelo lishmah). The explanation is that the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with kindness in the merit of the Torah we learn and the mitzvos we perform. When a person studies Torah and fulfills mitzvos according to his nature - that is, as much as he can, as much as he is capable, according to his natural strength - he merits that the Holy One, blessed be He, channels bounty to him according to nature, meaning to the extent that nature allows. But if a person exerts himself beyond his strength, beyond his natural capacity, pushing himself far harder than his natural ability, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: You disrupt your natural patterns for My sake - I will disrupt the order of nature for you. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, performs for him even a miracle that alters nature.
And so they said of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa: "He Who commanded the oil to burn can command the vinegar to burn." And why? Because Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa acted beyond nature, and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, operated nature beyond its natural bounds for him as well. One who studies Torah for its own sake merits many things, and also merits a miracle outside the ordinary course of nature. This is what Chazal meant: Here, referring to those who act for its own sake - "Your kindness is above the heavens," which is above nature; while for one who learns not for its own sake - "unto the heavens." For the heavens represent the framework of nature: "unto the heavens" is the framework of nature, whereas "above the heavens" refers to the higher spiritual realms, a reality that transcends nature.
Psalm 108 is a combination of two earlier psalms - 57 and 60 - in which Dovid HaMelech bound together the salvation of the individual from the depths of despair with the salvation of the collective from the depths of despair, and, according to the Radak, directed them toward the future redemption. "My heart is steadfast" - a whole and confident heart that has not despaired of the redemption; "even my glory" - that the soul and thought sing as well, not only the mouth; "I will awaken the dawn" - Dovid awakens the dawn and does not wait for the dawn to awaken him; "I will give thanks to You among the nations" - that all the nations themselves will escort us to Yerushalayim. And in conclusion, we learned the great distinction: "Your truth" is the minimum to which Hashem is bound by virtue of His promise, while "Your kindness" is everything above and beyond - merited by one who acts for its own sake and pushes himself beyond his natural limits, for then the Holy One, blessed be He, disrupts the order of nature on his behalf.