Introduction
Psalm 19 is divided into two parts: in the first part, King David praises the works of Creation - the heavens, the firmament, and the sun, which testify to the Creator's glory; and in the second part, he turns to the praise of the holy Torah. In the passage before us, we examine the continuation of the Torah's praise: the sublime nature of its chukim (statutes) and mishpatim (judgments), its sweetness and utility, and finally a series of requests that David makes to the Holy One, blessed be He, to safeguard him from every pitfall - from unintentional errors, inadvertent sins, willful transgressions, and rebellious offenses - concluding with a prayer that the words of his mouth and the meditation of his heart be acceptable before Hashem.
"The Fear of Hashem Is Pure" - The Chukim of the Torah
יִרְאַת יְהֹוָה טְהוֹרָה עוֹמֶדֶת לָעַד, מִשְׁפְּטֵי יְהֹוָה אֱמֶת צָדְקוּ יַחְדָּו׃ - The fear of Hashem is pure, enduring forever; the judgments of Hashem are true, righteous altogether.
"The fear of Hashem," explains the Malbim, refers to the chukim (statutes) of the Torah - those commandments that we observe out of awe before Him, as a royal decree, rather than out of rational comprehension: shaatnez, the Red Heifer, and the like. So it is written: "And Hashem commanded us to perform all these statutes, to fear Hashem our God" - the statute itself testifies to fear of Heaven. One who fulfills a mishpat (a rational civil law) may do so simply because it makes logical sense to him; but one who observes a chok demonstrates that his deed stems from the fear of Hashem.
Here the verse comes to show the contrast between Israel and the nations. The nations also have rituals and statutes, yet their statutes are impure - they are laws of idolatry. As the Vilna Gaon famously notes, tradition teaches that adjacent to every house of idol worship stood a house of licentiousness; this is why idolatry in the Torah and the Prophets is perpetually linked with "your harlotries" and "her adulteries," for the two are intrinsically intertwined. Their statutes involved burning children to idols amid immorality and defilement; but "the fear of Hashem is pure" - devoid of all these abominations.
There is another difference: their statutes do not endure; they are transient rules that change constantly. Look at how many changes the New Testament has undergone: there is no connection between what that man instructed and the observance of Christians today. He himself stated - and this is quoted in their own texts - that he did not come to subtract anything from the Torah, but only to add. If so, why do you not observe all the commandments of the Torah? According to his own words, one should keep Shabbat alongside Sunday, put on tefillin, and observe everything! This is not my claim; your own teacher said it - he came only to add. If so, add to his commandments; why detract? What is left for you? They change their statutes like socks, according to convenience, interest, and the spirit of the generation. Regarding this, the verse proclaims: "The fear of Hashem is pure, enduring forever" - unchanging. We have had the very same Torah and the very same mitzvot for 3,300 years; the same tefillin that Moshe Rabbeinu donned, we don today, and the same commandments we observe, without any alteration whatsoever.
"The Judgments of Hashem Are True, Righteous Altogether"
"The judgments of Hashem" - this refers to the mishpatim of the Torah, the rational civil laws, and they too differ from the laws of the nations, for "the judgments of Hashem are true." When a secular authority establishes a law, who says the verdict is genuinely just? When the Holy One, blessed be He, establishes a judgment, it is based on what is truly deserved, grounded in divine knowledge and divine justice. Furthermore, when a human judge delivers a ruling - and this applies to any mortal judge - he can never take into account all the variables and secondary effects. He sentences a man to prison, effectively turning his wife into an agunah or living widow and his children into orphans for twenty years. What did they do to deserve this? The judge replies: "There is nothing I can do. As the saying goes, when you chop wood, chips fly - they are the chips, and I have no tools to account for that." An employer comes along and protests: "I invested five years of training in this man, and just as he begins to yield results, you send him away! Do you realize the financial ruin you are causing me?" The judge responds: "I am sorry, he is guilty of murder, and he is going to prison. You incurred a loss - that is your problem."
Yet "the judgments of Hashem are true, righteous altogether." What does "altogether" (yachdav) mean? It means that justice is realized for everyone involved. That employer who lost his worker deserved that loss due to his own personal accounting with Hashem; the wife who was left abandoned, according to her own accounting; and the children, according to theirs. And had any one of them not deserved it, the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have exacted retribution from the sinner in this manner, because doing so would have inflicted collateral damage upon someone innocent. Thus, the righteousness of Hashem's judgments lies in the fact that He takes into account every single factor and every person affected - this is absolute justice. In mortal justice, one can never be entirely certain that true justice was rendered and the verdict was flawlessly delivered. Moreover, Hashem knows precisely how much each person sinned, to what degree, what his intentions were, how much stemmed from upbringing, and how much from malice - this is ultimate truth and justice. A mortal judge cannot weigh all these elements, for he is utterly unaware of them, and even if he were aware, he would say: "I cannot factor this in. A man committed murder; his sentence is prison. As for what others suffer, what can be done?"
The Secret: Becoming a Person of the Community
There is a profound lesson in these words, articulated by Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz and other great masters of Mussar: here lies the secret of how a person can be vindicated on the Day of Judgment and merit life. The secret is to become an "ish haklal" - a communal figure, a person whom the community needs. This serves as a kind of life insurance: because the public depends on him, Heaven may preserve him in this world even if, on his own merits, he might no longer warrant it. He helps this person, assists that person, and through him others are rescued - he lives for the sake of others. And all of this is because "the judgments of Hashem are true, righteous altogether": before Hashem takes a person, He ensures that no innocent party is harmed; and if someone would suffer unjustly as a result, he is kept in this world.
He further adds that for this reason, a person ought to attach himself to great people. Many times in Heaven, great consideration is taken before taking away a relative or acquaintance of a great person, for they do not wish to cause pain to that great person. Consequently, even if it was decreed upon the individual himself that his life should end, since this would cause sorrow to the great person to whom he is connected and they do not wish to grieve him - he is left here in this world.
And one must remember that only the Holy One, Blessed be He, can act in this way. No beit din can judge like this, for the simple reason that a beit din must rule strictly according to the laws of the Torah: a person who committed murder is sentenced to death, and the court cannot make calculations regarding the widow and orphans. But with the Holy One, Blessed be He, there is no injustice in such a judgment, for this person is indeed guilty. And if you ask: what will become of him? Do not worry - the Holy One, Blessed be He, will wait for him. What he does not pay here, he will pay there. Did the Almighty disappear? Did He retire? All we are saying is that at this stage he will not be taken, in order not to cause grief to others. And from his own individual perspective, this might even work to his detriment, for it would have been better for him to settle his debts here rather than Above - since Above the rates are high, whereas here, through a small measure of suffering in this world, much filth and many sins are cleansed from him.
"Together" - Seeing the Entire Picture
From this we see how intricate the judgments of Hashem are, and ultimately, "the judgments of Hashem are true; they are righteous altogether." Our vision is crude and physical, and we see only a fragment of the picture; therefore we fail to see the justice: why this one suffers, and why that one has troubles. If you could see the entire picture, you would understand. It is like the Chofetz Chaim's parable of a man who enters a synagogue and sees the gabbai distributing aliyot without any apparent order: calling this one up, skipping that one, giving to another. What is this injustice? The gabbai asked him: How long have you been here? He replied: Just this one Shabbat. A fleeting guest notices every fault. Had you been here for a year, you would understand that everything is planned: this one was skipped because he had a yahrtzeit last week and already received an aliyah, and for the other there is a different reason - and immediately everything makes sense. Our entire difficulty stems from the fact that we see only a brief span of time. We lack the "altogether." A person sees an isolated judgment and is outraged by the perceived injustice; but had he seen all the reincarnations a soul has undergone and all the days of the world, he would know the true verdict for everyone, why each received what he did, and why it was done in absolute justice. That is the emphasis: the judgments of Hashem are true and they are righteous - but for that one needs "altogether," to see the entire situation from start to finish.
The Pleasant and the Beneficial in Torah
הַנֶּחֱמָדִים מִזָּהָב וּמִפַּז רָב, וּמְתוּקִים מִדְּבַשׁ וְנֹפֶת צוּפִים׃ - They are more desirable than gold, even much fine gold; and sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
The Malbim explains: David comes here to teach us that the holy Torah encompasses even the perceived perfections that man pursues - even the worldly pursuits toward which man is drawn are found within the Torah. The early sages classified these into two categories: the pleasant (ha-arev) and the beneficial (ha-mo'il). The pleasant is what is tasty or enjoyable, though not necessarily beneficial: you eat a steak - it is pleasant, but is it beneficial? Perhaps to your cholesterol. And the beneficial is not necessarily pleasant: the doctor says you must walk, so you get on the treadmill and walk for half an hour. Is it enjoyable? Absolutely not. There are people whose entire pleasure consists of paying for a gym membership and not going - "After paying, do I also have to be punished?" It is not pleasant, but it is beneficial, it is healthy, and the doctor says you need it.
And here, the Malbim explains, we have both: the beneficial - "more desirable than gold, even much fine gold," which are more desirable than gold and abundant silver, things that are beneficial to a person; and the pleasant - "and sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb," containing pleasantness and sweetness. Thus, the Torah possesses both what is immediately pleasant and what is beneficial for societal life and success in this world - everything is found within the Torah.
The Metzudat David explains "desirable" - that for one who desires them, nothing can compare to them. Ibn Ezra takes a similar approach, adding an important qualification: "for the discerning alone." A person might say: I do not feel sweetness; I study Torah and it does not taste sweet to me, but bitter. To this Ibn Ezra answers: for the discerning alone. One who truly delves into the Torah and connects to it - there is nothing more pleasant and sweet. As the holy Ohr HaChaim writes, if people only knew, they would go mad and become impassioned after it - out of overwhelming sweetness, longing, and delight, using many expressions in praise of the holy Torah. And it is good that there are songs, so that people at least know a bit of the Ohr HaChaim and a few verses. If a person asks why he does not feel this, the answer is: for the discerning. One who is truly connected and delves deeply into the Torah merits drawing pearls from it, and there is nothing sweeter to him. Whenever he has a spare moment, he takes a Gemara, a Chumash, turns on an audio shiur and listens, enjoying and connecting to the Torah. To worldly people who crave gold, fine gold, and precious stones, David says: Know that for someone who desires the words of Torah just as they desire precious stones, there is nothing sweeter, and it is sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Rashi explains "drippings of the honeycomb" (nofet tzufim) - the sweetness of the comb. He brings an additional explanation in the name of Menachem, that nofet comes from the expression of dropping or dripping, as in "Your lips drip honey (nofet titofnah)" - drops dripping from it, and similarly, "I have perfumed (nafti) my couch." According to this, nofet tzufim means the dripping nectar.
"Moreover, Your Servant Is Scrupulous with Them" - Not for the Sake of Receiving a Reward
גַּם עַבְדְּךָ נִזְהָר בָּהֶם, בְּשׇׁמְרָם עֵקֶב רָב׃ - Moreover, Your servant is scrupulous with them; in keeping them there is great reward.
What is the meaning of "Moreover" (gam)? After stating that the Torah is pleasant and beneficial - yet in terms of this world - David comes to say: even Your servant, who does not pursue the beneficial worldly successes, nor the pleasant, for King David had no interest in the pleasant and the beneficial, as "my heart is slain within me" - even I am scrupulous with them, even I am careful in keeping the Torah and mitzvos. And why? "In keeping them there is great reward": there is a great ultimate purpose in the very observance of the Torah and mitzvos, which is their intrinsic goodness and the reward promised through them. That is, even if I am given nothing in this world - whoever keeps them will ultimately receive reward. And what is eikev? In the end, as in "And it shall come to pass, because (eikev) you hearken" - the reward you will receive at the outcome of the deed. And as the Metzudas Tzion writes, like the heel (akeiv), which is at the very end of the body; and at the end there is rav - an immense and abundant reward.
Rashi brings another interpretation: "Eikev rav - Torah scholars are destined in the end to attain greatness." Even though one invests and devotes oneself now, in the end one sees him elevated and exalted. It is well known that many of the greatest Torah luminaries of Israel were destitute. Rav Ovadia Yosef related that after his wedding, he could not invite his in-laws for a meal because they had only a single set of cutlery - for himself and his wife. Consider such poverty. Years later, Baruch Hashem, his son, Rabbi Moshe Yosef, who studied at the Chevron Yeshiva, would arrive in his father's car - not the car his father traveled in, for there was a philanthropist who replaced his father's car with a new one every year, and the older one was passed on to someone else: to Rav Elbaz, to his son, and so forth. And once he had grown great - this is "Torah scholars are destined in the end to attain greatness," this is eikev rav: in the end he will be rav, rav in the sense of great, as rav derives from greatness. And it is brought that this is like "the footsteps of Your anointed (ikvos meshichecha)" - at the very end, toward the coming of Mashiach. Thus, even if there are trials and hardships right now, through keeping them one will ultimately merit great reward.
Errors and Hidden Faults
שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי יָבִין, מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי׃ - Who can discern errors? Cleanse me from hidden faults.
King David says: Although I observe the Torah and mitzvos not for the sake of reward in this world, nor for its sweetness, but solely for the honor of the Creator, blessed be He, nonetheless - please, Hashem, help me. Having said "in keeping them," help me keep them, for I can exert effort in what depends on me, but what does not depend on me is exceedingly difficult, and there are things in which I may stumble no matter how much effort I invest. And the Malbim explains that the possibility of stumbling exists in two ways: errors and hidden faults.
"Errors" (shegi'os) - an error of analytical study: a person analyzed and studied a subject, but arrived at a permissible ruling instead of a prohibition, failing to reach the correct conclusion. Concerning such a case it was said regarding the sin offering brought for an oversight of the community (par he'elam davar shel tzibbur), when the Sanhedrin issued a ruling contrary to the law - they erred, did not analyze properly, and permitted something that should have been prohibited. As is well known, when people first arrived in Eretz Yisrael, electricity was not yet fully understood, and there were halachic authorities who wrote that electricity was permitted on Yom Tov because it constitutes transferring an existing fire. Rav Ovadia Yosef remarked on this that a foolish electrician had explained electricity to them, and the electrician himself did not understand how electricity works, imagining that there was a kind of fire inside the wires and that turning a switch merely transferred it. This is completely untrue - there is no fire in the wires and this is not transference. Therefore, those who ruled that way ruled in error; they did not understand the physical reality properly and did not analyze the matter accurately. Regarding this David pleads: Master of the Universe, it is exceedingly difficult for a person to guard against erring in halachic rulings - rescue me from errors of the intellect, "who can discern errors."
"Cleanse me from hidden faults" - hidden faults are akin to unavoidable accidents (oness), an unwitting mistake in fact. For example, a person saw fat and assumed it was permitted fat (shuman), not knowing it was forbidden fat (chelev). The molecular composition of fat and forbidden suet in an animal is identical; the difference between them lies solely in location: there is a place in the animal where it is forbidden suet, and another place where the exact same substance is permitted fat, and there is no way to tell them apart, even in a laboratory. Thus, it is like an unavoidable mistake: I saw it and thought it was permitted fat, but it turned out to be forbidden. Regarding this David prays: "Cleanse me from hidden faults" - do not punish me.
The Malbim explains that there is a difference between the root shagah and shagag. Shegiah is an analytical, intellectual error: one studied, deliberated, delved deeply, and concluded that something was permitted, but it turned out to be forbidden - he erred in the halachic ruling. Shegagah, on the other hand, is an inadvertent error in action: one mistakenly consumed forbidden fat thinking it was permitted fat, where no halachic analysis or deliberation took place, but rather an unwitting physical error. This type of error Scripture terms "hidden faults." Thus, shegi'os refers to shagah, and nistaros refers to shagag - and David asks to be spared from both.
"Also Keep Your Servant Back from the Presumptuous"
גַּם מִזֵּדִים חֲשֹׂךְ עַבְדֶּךָ, אַל יִמְשְׁלוּ בִי אָז אֵיתָם, וְנִקֵּיתִי מִפֶּשַׁע רָב׃ - Also keep Your servant back from the presumptuous; let them not have dominion over me; then I shall be blameless, and I shall be cleansed of great transgression.
By the way, someone who runs a gemach (free-loan fund) and people come to borrow from him must be cautious, for there are those who take the money and imagine it is a gift rather than a loan. And where is it hinted that one must be wary of them? "Gam mizeidim chasoch" (גם מזדים חשוך) - the initial letters form the acronym GEMACH (גמ"ח). Be cautious, do not take unwarranted risks; who knows whether you will see the money returned.
As to the core meaning of the matter, the Malbim explains: although I am confident that I will not violate Hashem's commandments deliberately - for I have already said "in keeping them," that I observe Hashem's commandments because "there is great reward" in the World to Come - nonetheless, it is very possible that willful sinners (zeidim) could mislead me: people who intentionally dispute with a person, deceive him, and draw him after them with their arguments. Notice that he does not say "also from intentional sins (zedonos)" - for would I ever commit a sin deliberately, Heaven forbid? - but rather "from willful sinners (zeidim)": people who willfully come to oppose the Torah and Hashem, and to mislead me. Confronting them is very difficult, and therefore: hold Your servant back, save me from them. The second possibility refers to someone who holds authority over you, who has the power to compel you to commit transgressions and prevent you from fulfilling mitzvos; and regarding this, David says: "Let them not rule over me" - that rulers should not dominate me so as to distance me from the Torah and mitzvos and lead me astray from the good path. The first request is not to associate with the willful or be drawn after them; the second is that they not have dominion over me.
"Then I shall be blameless" - almost all commentators explain: then I will be wholehearted and complete in the service of Hashem. "And I shall be cleansed of great transgression" - and then I will certainly not arrive at willful transgression and rebellion. The Malbim writes in his explanation of the words that "great transgression" (pesha rav) refers to rebellion: pesha conveys breach or transgression, and rebellion is a far graver sin, in which one revolts against Hashem - a transgression that is a great transgression. This is the meaning: cleanse me of this by rescuing me from the willful sinners and from the rulers, and in this way I will not come to severe transgressions.
The Midrash of the Cuthean Beggar - The Way of Prayer
Rashi cites the words of our Sages: To what may David be compared? To a Cuthean beggar going door to door, for they act with more cunning in this matter than anyone else. The Cuthean beggar going door to door was not an ordinary beggar, but a sophisticated one who knew how to extract from people through clever guile. How so? He arrives and knocks on the door and asks: Give me some water to drink. A person asks for water, which is the cheapest commodity - simply drawing water from a well; a cup of water, please. After drinking, he says: Perhaps there is a small onion here? An onion is also cheap, so they give him an onion. He says: Can one eat an onion without salt? They give him a little salt. He says: Give me a bit of bread so the onion will not harm me - a slice on top and a slice on the bottom, to temper the sharpness of the onion. And afterward: Bread with onion alone? Perhaps there are some leftovers? I smelled something here... Slowly he continues adding request after request, makes himself at home, and finally asks for a drink for dessert to wash down the food.
So too, King David approaches here in stages: first, "Who can discern mistakes?" - save me from unintentional errors; next, "cleanse me from hidden faults"; then he pleads regarding willful sins; and then regarding outright rebellions, which are "great transgression." He started with a cup of water - and look where he arrived! In this, there is a lesson for us on the structure of prayer: that in his prayer, a person should gradually build and add. There is no hindrance whatsoever to a person asking Hashem for whatever he desires, and no one tells him not to ask or not to multiply requests. As Chazal express it: "Am I asking from a person who lacks?" - am I requesting from someone who has nothing? You are asking of the One to Whom the entire world belongs, so ask! And the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself says: "Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." Rather, the petition should be progressively expanding - one should ask for something, add to it, and add to it further, as we see with David. This is the proper path of prayer.
"May the Words of My Mouth Be Acceptable"
יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶיךָ, יְהֹוָה צוּרִי וְגֹאֲלִי׃ - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, Hashem, my Rock and my Redeemer.
The Radak explains: "May the words of my mouth be acceptable" - what I have articulated with my mouth and requested explicitly, let it find favor. "And the meditation of my heart" - that which I did not utter aloud, but merely meditated upon in my heart and thought about; thought is termed the meditation of the heart, the articulation of the heart - may it too find favor. Why is this necessary? Because there are matters that a person is simply unable to express with his mouth, and he longs for them in his heart but does not know how to articulate them properly. As King David says: "Hashem, open my lips" - sometimes I have a desire to ask, but I lack the opening of the mouth or the formulation of speech to make the request; and King Solomon says: "And from Hashem comes the reply of the tongue" - for to ask properly and speak accurately also requires Heavenly assistance. Thus: Master of the Universe, first of all may the words of my mouth find favor - what I ask aloud, fulfill it and grant my petitions; and also the meditation of my heart, what I am unable to utter with my mouth but meditate on in my heart - regard this as well, and bestow and grant it to me.
"Hashem, my Rock and my Redeemer" - "my Rock" refers to my strength, in Whom I place my trust. "Rock" (tzur) is always an expression for that within which one finds refuge, through which one is saved, and upon which one leans, as in "and enter the caves of the rocks" - something upon which one can rely. Thus Hashem is my Rock, my strength, and in Him I trust that He will grant my requests; and He is also my Redeemer - from errors, from unintentional misdeeds, and from everything I prayed to be saved from, He will redeem me from it all.
The Malbim explains that there is a dimension of prayer here addressing the fact that a person may stumble in his speech. As we saw with Chana, who said of her son Shmuel that he would remain "forever" (ad olam), and Chazal say she stumbled in her phrasing, for "an eternity" in this context refers to the designated lifespan of Levi'im - she brought him at age two, and he lived another fifty years, which is the service period of Levi'im. Similarly, with all kinds of requests that a person makes in imprecise language, as related in the Midrash about the man who prayed for Hashem to provide him with a donkey, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, provided him with a donkey - but in a manner where he had to carry it on his shoulders: a government official arrived whose she-donkey had birthed a foal, and the foal found it hard to walk; he saw the Jew and commanded him: "Load it onto your shoulders and carry it to the city." Master of the Universe, this is not the donkey I prayed for! Thus, one must articulate properly. Regarding this David pleads: Master of the Universe, help me express myself properly - that is one request; and secondly, that my thoughts should also align with Your will, and that I should harbor no thoughts contrary to Your will. May both the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You; and then, in the aspect of "my Redeemer," Hashem will redeem me from all my troubles and from everything I undergo.
In Summary:
In concluding the chapter, King David teaches us the supreme value of the Torah from all its facets: its statutes - "The fear of Hashem is pure, enduring forever," pure and eternal in contrast to the impure and shifting laws of the nations; and its judgments - "are true, righteous altogether," an absolute justice that takes into account every single factor and all surrounding circumstances, something no mortal judge can ever do. From here stems the lesson to be devoted to the community, to attach oneself to the great sages, and to recognize that all our perplexities regarding Divine justice stem from the fact that we do not see the whole picture, the "altogether." The Torah encompasses both what is beneficial (more desirable than gold and fine gold) and what is pleasant (sweeter than honey and the drippings of honeycombs), yet David safeguards it for its own sake, for "in keeping them there is great reward." From this vantage point, he turns to a progressively unfolding prayer - like that Cuthean beggar going door to door - that he be rescued from errors in Torah analysis, from unintentional practical misdeeds, from willful transgressors, and from oppressive rulers, until he is blameless and cleansed of great transgression; concluding: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, Hashem, my Rock and my Redeemer."