We continue in Tehillim Chapter 119, with the letter Kaf. The eight verses before us are the prayer of one who yearns for a salvation that was promised to him but has not yet arrived, yet he stands steadfast in guarding the Torah, the statutes, the commandments, the precepts, and the testimonies. In keeping with the Malbim's approach, each verse contains a key word that serves as its central focus, and we will follow it.
כָּלְתָה לִתְשׁוּעָתְךָ נַפְשִׁי לִדְבָרְךָ יִחָלְתִּי׃ - My soul yearns for Your salvation; for Your word I hope.
What is the meaning of kaltah? Rashi explains: it craved. Radak explains: it longed - which is the very same concept, as in the phrase "My soul yearns and even pines" (nichesefah vegam kaltah nafshi). And what is he awaiting? The very promise the Holy One, blessed be He, made to him: that he would reign, that he would defeat his enemies, and that after him the monarchy would belong to his descendants. Concerning all this, David HaMelech says, "for Your word I hope" - I yearn for that promise, for those very words.
כָּלוּ עֵינַי לְאִמְרָתֶךָ לֵאמֹר מָתַי תְּנַחֲמֵנִי׃ - My eyes fail for Your promise, saying, "When will You comfort me?"
The Malbim explains: Although I long for salvation - "My soul yearns for Your salvation" - nevertheless, "My eyes fail for Your promise"; it has not yet been fulfilled, and I ask, "When will You comfort me?" After all, much time has elapsed since You promised to save me and comfort me, and things did not move quickly at all. David dwelt in Chevron for seven years before he even reached Jerusalem. We may think of him simply as "David, King of Israel," but he tasted much bitterness before attaining the throne. Concerning this he says: My eyes have failed waiting for those promises You made to me, and the salvation has still not arrived.
"My eyes fail" means that my eyes have watched continually until they are exhausted - as if one's eyes have worn out from gazing so intently. Radak explains: Human eyes look expectantly toward whoever might help them; a person in distress waits for someone to notice him and extend a helping hand. Metaphorically, David says the same regarding the help of the Holy One, blessed be He - his eyes have strained from intense longing for His promise, asking when You will comfort me from my affliction and from the troubles I currently endure.
Sforno explains these two verses as corresponding to the two destructions of the Beit HaMikdash. "My soul yearns for Your salvation" refers to the First Temple: we await salvation, and "for Your word I hope" - for You said, "When seventy years for Babylon are completed, I will remember you." Meanwhile, "My eyes fail for Your promise" refers to the destruction of the Second Temple: You said, "He will return and gather you from all the nations," and yet two thousand years have passed and we are still not redeemed. Here it is no longer merely "my soul yearns," but "my eyes fail" - as though the eyes are completely worn out, unable to look and watch any longer.
כִּי הָיִיתִי כְּנֹאד בְּקִיטוֹר חֻקֶּיךָ לֹא שָׁכָחְתִּי׃ - For I have become like a wineskin in smoke, yet I have not forgotten Your statutes.
Rashi explains: like a leather flask that dries out in smoke. As is well known, leather that is not conditioned with oil naturally dries out - much like human skin, which dries and cracks when exposed to an arid environment like a desert. The same applies to animal hide, and even to leather upholstery, where all sorts of creams and treatments are used to keep it supple. A skin flask that dries out in smoke quickly cracks and shrivels. David wishes to convey just how dire his condition is. Furthermore, in biblical Hebrew, kitor does not mean hot steam as it does in modern parlance, but is typically a term for smoke.
Radak explains that he compares the skin of his flesh to a wineskin in smoke, which is dried out. Yet despite all this, even though I have longed so intensely for salvation and reached the state of a wineskin in smoke, "I have not forgotten Your statutes" - I still fulfill Hashem's statutes.
The Malbim notes that the central point here is the chukim (statutes): It is fitting that You save me in the merit of having observed the statutes even while being like a wineskin in smoke. A skin filled with water and air remains moist, whereas a skin filled with smoke dries out. That is to say, the moisture of my body has already dried up from the multitude of troubles, yet despite all this, I have not forgotten Your statutes. For we all know that a person undergoing hardship forgets everything; he is engrossed in his suffering, needing to do this and that, and everything slips his mind. King David says: With me, that was not so. Although I was in tremendous distress, I did not forget the statutes. Specifically the statutes, for mishpatim (rational laws) are easy to remember because they possess logical reasoning, but statutes are harder to remember, as a statute is without an apparent rationale - here one is obligated, here permitted, here forbidden. Nevertheless: "I have not forgotten Your statutes."
כַּמָּה יְמֵי עַבְדֶּךָ מָתַי תַּעֲשֶׂה בְרֹדְפַי מִשְׁפָּט׃ - How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment against my pursuers?
Radak explains that he fears he might die before seeing the judgment Hashem executes upon his enemies. Therefore he says: "How many are the days of Your servant" - how much longer am I supposed to live? Will I die before You execute judgment against my pursuers?
The Malbim explains: It is fitting that You execute judgment while I am still alive, for my days are short. We know that the Holy One, blessed be He, came to David's aid even after his death - when they came to bring the Ark into the Beit HaMikdash and the gates would not open, until Shlomo said, "Remember the pious deeds of David Your servant," at which point the gates opened and the faces of David's enemies turned black like the bottom of a pot. Thus the Holy One, blessed be He, granted David vindication even after his death. But David asks to see the downfall of his enemies during his lifetime: "How many are the days of Your servant" - for the days of my life are brief.
In Midrash Shocher Tov it is expounded: "For I have become like a wineskin in smoke" - did Daniel not say, "They will be clarified, and whitened, and refined"? Have we not already been whitened, have we not already been refined, have not all the troubles already passed over us? Daniel states that prior to the Redemption there will be refinement, clarification, and purging - as we have discussed several times, "one from a city and two from a family," that people will have to endure difficult trials in order to be truly worthy of redemption. It cannot be taken for granted that a person will be worthy of redemption; there must be refining, clarifying, and whitening. Knesset Yisrael says: All the troubles have already passed over us; I have become like a wineskin in smoke - is there any burn greater than this? We have already been refined! If so, when will You save us, after we die? "How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment against my pursuers?"
כָּרוּ לִי זֵדִים שִׁיחות אֲשֶׁר לֹא כְתוֹרָתֶךָ׃ - The insolent have dug pits for me, which is not according to Your Torah.
Rashi explains: The wicked dug a pit, a ditch, for me so that I would fall into it. And what does this refer to? To those who sought to disqualify him from entering the congregation, claiming that David descended from Ammon and Moab and was unfit to marry into the Jewish community. They dug a pit for me to make me fall, and this was "not according to Your Torah," for in Your Torah You stated: "An Ammonite male [is forbidden], but not an Ammonite female; a Moabite male, but not a Moabite female."
Radak explains that these were the counselors to Shaul or to Avshalom. Wicked counsel is like a deep pit - a sort of pit concerning which one says, "He will come here and fall into it." All those who advised his enemies dug pits for him to bring him down. And what is "not according to Your Torah"? The opposite of what is written in the Torah, "and innocent blood shall not be shed," whereas they wished to shed innocent blood. Metzudat David explains: The Torah commanded, "Love your fellow as yourself," yet they, on the contrary, dug pits for me. Radak notes that shichot here is vocalized with a chirik, as in "they dug a pit [shichah] before me" in Psalm 57.
The Malbim notes that the central point here is the Torah: these insolent men dispute the Torah. They dig pits for him "which are not according to Your Torah" - they dispute and reject the teachings written in the Torah, such as "an Ammonite male and not an Ammonite female, a Moabite male and not a Moabite female." In doing so, they dig a pit for him that is directly contrary to the Torah.
The Midrash Aggadah on Parashat Devarim cites: The Congregation of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, "The insolent have dug pits for me, which are not according to Your Torah." In the Torah it is written, "You shall not take the mother with the young" (Devarim 22:6), and it is written, "Whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young on the same day" (Vayikra 22:28), yet here it is written, "Mothers were dashed in pieces with their children" (Hoshea 10:14). In the Torah it is written, "He shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust" (Vayikra 17:13), yet here it is written, "They have poured out their blood like water around Jerusalem" (Tehillim 79:3), and they did not even cover our blood. That is to say: it is "not according to Your Torah." The Holy One, blessed be He, answered them: What can I do for you, and who is to blame for this? How often did I warn you, how many prophets did I send to you, and you did not listen? Over which nation did I spread Clouds of Glory, draw them close before Mount Sinai, and give them My Torah? And to what shall I compare you, for your ruin is as vast as the sea; your prophets envisioned vanity and foolishness for you and led you astray.
In other words, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: The fault lies with you. If you claim that the greatest misfortunes have befallen you, do not forget that you also received the greatest favors, and consequently the demand upon you is far greater. Which nation ever merited what you merited? Which nation was privileged to have the Holy One, blessed be He, take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation and give them the Torah? No nation had ever merited this before, and furthermore, I sent you prophets. If so, the complaint rests solely upon you; do not complain against the actions of Hashem, may He be blessed.
כׇּל מִצְוֺתֶיךָ אֱמוּנָה שֶׁקֶר רְדָפוּנִי עׇזְרֵנִי׃ - All Your commandments are faithful; with falsehood they pursue me; help me!
Rashi explains: "All Your commandments are faithful" - an Ammonite male, but not an Ammonite female; a Moabite male, but not a Moabite female; and they pursue me deceitfully to disqualify me. They sought to disqualify David from entering the congregation, and David says: This is a falsehood, for all Your commandments are faithful - that which You commanded in the Torah that an Ammonite and a Moabite shall not enter the congregation applies specifically to the male and not the female, and it is faith, meaning truth. For emunah signifies truth, just as when people say "in good faith that it is so," it means "truly so." Thus, they pursued me with falsehood and falsely sought to ban me - therefore, help me.
Radak explains: All Your commandments are truth, and You commanded concerning the weak not to oppress them, and You are the One who executes justice for the oppressed, defending the cause of the convert, the orphan, and the widow. Therefore, help me against those who pursue me falsely and without cause, for it is integral to Your commandments to aid and assist the pursued and the one unjustly wronged. David says: This is my situation, "with falsehood they pursue me" - therefore "help me," for God seeks the pursued.
The Malbim explains that the central theme here is mitzvot: the insolent undermine the Torah, and they also undermine the mitzvot. Regarding the mitzvot, "All Your commandments are faithful" - that is, the very foundation of a mitzvah is our belief that a mitzvah exists. If I do not believe there is a mitzvah, what is the point of fulfilling it? You tell me there is a mitzvah to lay tefillin - I must first know that there is a command, that there is One who commanded us to lay tefillin. Therefore, the fulfillment of the mitzvot depends first and foremost on faith. The Malbim adds: one must not scrutinize them or rationalize them through speculations; rather, one should perform them purely out of faith. A person should not start saying: perhaps the reason for the mitzvah is such, and so in this situation it does not apply and I am exempt. Absolutely not. Walk with faith, without speculations, without trying to calculate what Hashem gains from the performance of this mitzvah - fulfill it with faith. Yet they claim that what I say is "falsehood" because they philosophize about the mitzvot; they always have reservations and objections - who says, why specifically this way, what harm would there be if it were done differently - and because of this, they transgress the commandments.
A story is told of a prominent rabbi whose son at one point abandoned religious observance. Years later, the son came to visit his father and remarked that, in his opinion, if only the rabbis were less rigid, if the Torah were presented less uncompromisingly, and if they eased the burden slightly to accommodate the circumstances of the generation, far more people would observe Torah and mitzvot. His father said to him: I would like to ask you, how much do you observe today? The son replied: In fact, nothing at all. The father said: How fascinating. You observe nothing, yet it feels exceedingly heavy to you; I observe everything, and to me it is not heavy at all.
The moral is clear: anyone who asks us to lighten the demands of the Torah and mitzvot does not ask so that it will be easier for him to observe them. For if certain mitzvot truly feel too burdensome, and you think leniency is warranted in our times, then at least observe the easier ones; do whatever feels less demanding! But in reality, such people observe nothing. If so, when someone suggests that rabbis reduce the demands of the mitzvot, what does he truly want? For the rabbis themselves to stop keeping mitzvot. Why? Because when we are observant, his conscience bothers him more; when we observe less, when we become less religious, it bothers him less. And this is always the battle waged by those who fight against the Torah: it is not so that they can connect more closely to Torah and mitzvot, but so that we become weaker.
One should realize that the entire issue of the military draft comes down to this: placing the mitzvah-observant community under the umbrella of the army - now do as I say, live by my rules. Rabbi Goldstein, the rabbi of Eli, from the preparatory academy where soldiers were killed, already stated: I want to tell my charedi brothers, do not enlist; and if you do enlist, the army will corrupt you. He said this in the most explicit terms, and he speaks from direct knowledge, as he contends with this daily and knows this struggle firsthand. The various progressives will force you to listen to women singing, perform activities on Shabbat, and the like. This is their goal: a melting pot. They have an issue with the community of Torah-observant Jews, and they feel compelled to "open it up" and "ventilate" it, so that people will do as they please rather than remain steadfast and attached.
Ben-Gurion understood that the Chazon Ish would take an unyielding stance on this, treating it as a matter of yehareg ve'al ya'avor (better to die than transgress), and therefore stepped back. And what was the struggle actually about? The drafting of women. Can anyone really explain why the army needs women? I heard in the name of Rabbi Yaakov Ades in one of his talks that Ofer Winter told him that one of the problems was bringing female lookouts into forward outposts - introducing women completely lowered the soldiers' vigilance, and in short, things became a distraction. Some told me these remarks gave him very bad PR in the army, because when they heard such things, it was added to the rest of his 'sins' - that he is religious, and so forth. In any event, this reality was undoubtedly meant to create a melting pot: leave the girls with us, and we will control them.
At the time, a study was conducted on Sherut Leumi (national service), and I tell you it was simply appalling - today they have managed to improve some aspects, but back then they described a total unraveling of girls who entered Sherut Leumi: placing boys and girls together, serving in hospitals alongside Arab male nurses, and other very difficult situations where a young woman cannot resist or decide - 'I am in a framework,' and when you are within a framework, you cannot simply say, 'I do not want to.' This is part of the agenda to draft the Charedim: we will draft you and control you. And if they tell you that you will be able to do as you please - first of all, the army will never say that, for 'we are an army; we will decide for you.' And even if they do say so, as someone once pointed out: you do not determine anything anyway. Tomorrow a progressive will come, petition the High Court of Justice, and the Court will compel the army to comply with its demands. After all, the High Court struck down the 'neighbor procedure' and all sorts of other protocols - and how did we get to where we are today? Thanks to the High Court. So too here, they will force the army to integrate women, and then what will you say? 'We joined under certain conditions'? 'What can we do, the High Court requires it of us.' A wise person knows better than to enter a compromised situation from the start.
And beyond all of this, it is clear to us that the greatest protection for the Jewish people is Torah study. There ought to be one Torah scholar corresponding to every soldier, just as it was in the days of King David, and this is the greatest protection. Incidentally, this also places a demand upon us: if this is the greatest protection, are we truly investing ourselves as we should? Are we utilizing our time? Do we realize that we are the defense, that the protective aerial umbrella is ours? And when we fulfill our role properly - then there is true success.
Rabbi Rosenblum related that someone remarked to him: The army halted fighting in Gaza on the first of Nissan and resumed fighting on the thirtieth - there was a lull until they entered Rafah. That person said to him: Even the army knows that Torah is not being studied at full strength right now, during Bein HaZmanim, so do not continue the fighting in Gaza. They paused on the first of Nissan and resumed on the thirtieth. Now the yeshivah students are returning to yeshivah, and the protective aerial umbrella accompanies us once more. In other words, we must understand that we carry a responsibility, that the merit of our Torah is what protects - and this demands and requires of us to invest even more.
כִּמְעַט כִּלּוּנִי בָאָרֶץ וַאֲנִי לֹא עָזַבְתִּי פִקֻּדֶיךָ׃ - They almost consumed me in the land, yet I did not forsake Your precepts.
The word kim'at ("almost") is familiar to us in spoken language, but here it does not carry its everyday meaning. Kim'at literally means ke-me'at, like a small span of time: in just a little more time, they would have finished me off in the land. Similarly, "We were almost like Sodom" (kim'at ki-Sdom hayinu) means that in just a short while, we would have become like Sodom. Here too: in just a little more time they would have destroyed me; it was truly imminent.
Rashi explains: I was about to be finished in the land, yet I stood firm in my strength. "The wicked hoped to destroy me" - they wanted to disqualify me from entering the congregation. This is the meaning of "they almost consumed me in the land": they sought to destroy me by claiming that David was a Moabite, and therefore unfit to be part of the Jewish people, and certainly unfit to be king.
The Radak explains: "They almost consumed me in the land" - this is similar to the verse, "There is but a step between me and death." And indeed, several times throughout his life, David was only a step away from death. First with Saul: when he played music before him, Saul hurled the spear at him, and David dodged at the final second. This repeated itself on other occasions - at Sela HaMachlekot (the Rock of Divisions), where Saul's men encircled David from both sides of the rock, and had a messenger not arrived at that very moment to tell Saul that the Philistines had invaded the land, forcing him to leave everything and depart, David had already reached a state where he said, "I said in my haste, all men are deceitful." And who is "all men"? Even Samuel, who told me I would reign, seemingly deceived me, for here I am about to die! Matters reached such an extreme, and the Holy One, blessed be He, reversed the wheel of fortune in a single instant. This is "they almost consumed me in the land," and in other places the Radak explains that he was in imminent mortal danger - yet despite all this, "yet I did not forsake Your precepts."
And what is the meaning of "yet I did not forsake Your precepts"? David had several opportunities to kill Saul or harm him - in the cave, and also when he approached him inside the camp circle while Saul was asleep. David says: I did not do it, because I did not forsake Your precepts. Who can raise his hand against Hashem's anointed and remain guiltless? Such an act is certainly improper, and therefore he said: I am prepared to die rather than harm him or raise my hand against Hashem's anointed. Incidentally, this was the reason David was ultimately spared, as Saul said to him, "I know well that you will surely reign." We have already cited the Malbim: How did Saul know that David would reign? Only a person who possesses complete mastery over his own desires, over his very self - ruling over all his 248 limbs and 365 sinews - is capable of ruling over others. You possessed such governing power to overcome your desire and not harm me; therefore, it is clear to me that you will reign, clear to me that the Holy One, blessed be He, will place the authority of kingship in your hands. And David says: even though they incurred guilt for persecuting me without cause, I relied on You, based on what You said, that You will not justify the wicked - I knew that the wicked would receive his punishment and that the Holy One, blessed be He, would rescue me.
The Malbim explains that the focal point here is the pikudim (precepts): regarding the precepts, it was for this very reason that "they almost consumed me in the land" - because I did not forsake Your precepts. The wanton sinners want to abolish Your precepts, and they are enraged at me and hate me because I observed them. And although they almost destroyed me in the land, it availed them nothing: "yet I did not forsake Your precepts." No matter how much they persecuted me for observing Your precepts and commandments, it never led me to abandon the service of Hashem.
כְּחַסְדְּךָ חַיֵּנִי וְאֶשְׁמְרָה עֵדוּת פִּיךָ׃ - According to Your lovingkindness revive me, and I will observe the testimony of Your mouth.
Radak explains: Just as the kindness You performed with me so many times in the past, so I ask that You preserve my life until I witness retribution upon my pursuers. "According to Your lovingkindness" means: based on my historical experience - how much kindness You have shown me until this day, continually delivering me from dire situations - so too now, revive me. And when You preserve my life, "I will observe the testimony of Your mouth," for when I have life, I can fulfill Your commandments; whereas the wicked violate Your Torah during their lifetime, I, when You preserve my life, will guard the testimony of Your mouth.
Metzudat David explains: "According to Your lovingkindness revive me" - even if I possess no merit of my own. As we have explained several times, the righteous do not make requests based on their own merit. Moshe Rabbeinu prays, "Va'etchanan" - a term denoting an unearned gift (matnat chinam). Moshe could well have said: Master of the Universe, I have immense credit with You. Yet he did not do so. He did not ask on the merit of his mitzvot, nor on the merit of "bearing them as a nursing father bears the infant" - but strictly as an unearned gift. And so the Midrash teaches: It is the way of the righteous to ask only for an unearned gift. We have already seen that when Nechemiah said, "Remember me for good," our Sages taught that on account of that phrasing, his book was not named after him alone. We see how grave it is for a person to come before the Holy One, blessed be He, feeling entitled, as though he possesses a legitimate claim and merits. Far from it: I come before You, Master of the Universe, solely through Your lovingkindness - treat me with undeserved grace.
And "I will observe the testimony of Your mouth" - this is the enduring purpose that recurs across many verses: I do not ask for life in order to "have a good time," but rather to observe Your commandments. My entire life is directed toward the goal of meriting to sanctify His Name, not for the sake of the pleasures of this world.
The Malbim notes that the central theme here is testimony: he asks, "Revive me according to Your lovingkindness" so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. For when we observe the pikudim (precepts) - those mitzvot that the Holy One, blessed be He, entrusted to us so that through them we remember the miracles He performed for us in history - we thereby uphold the testimonies that bear witness to the miracles of Hashem, His wonders, and His divine providence. "Edut" (testimony), as we have noted, refers to the events in history through which the Holy One, blessed be He, directed His world: destroying the world in the Flood, what He did to the people of Sodom, smiting Pharaoh, and redeeming Israel. All the sources in the Torah from which we derive reward and punishment are called testimonies - in them we have testimony to the way the Holy One, blessed be He, guides His world, and testimony that He is destined to grant a good reward to the righteous and exact retribution from the wicked. On the contrary, observing how the Holy One, blessed be He, directs His world draws a person ever closer to His service.