Introduction: Hope, Yearning, and Waiting for Salvation
In this section of Psalm 130, we transition from the language of supplication and forgiveness to the language of anticipation: hoping, yearning, and waiting. The psalm teaches us not only that one must hope in the Holy One, Blessed be He, but also how to hope, what to hope for, and the difference between one who hopes and one who yearns. Let us follow the order of the verses.
"I Hope in Hashem" - A Meaningful Repetition
קִוִּיתִי יְהֹוָה קִוְּתָה נַפְשִׁי וְלִדְבָרוֹ הוֹחָלְתִּי׃ - I have hoped in Hashem, my soul has hoped, and for His word I have yearned.
What is the meaning behind the repetition of "I have hoped" and "my soul has hoped"? Rashi explains: hope after hope, just as it is written, "Hope in Hashem, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope in Hashem" (Tehillim 27:14), and as the next verse states, "more than watchmen for the morning, watchmen for the morning." The repetition teaches that a person must continue hoping, hope after hope.
Ibn Ezra explains that "I have hoped" refers to obeying His voice, while "for His word I have yearned" refers to His decrees. Radak explains that "I have hoped" applies to this world, whereas "my soul has hoped" refers to the World to Come - for here it speaks of the soul's hope, meaning after death, that I will merit Hashem gathering my soul to Him and beholding the pleasantness of Hashem. "And for His word I have yearned" refers to the promise He made to redeem me from exile, and for this, too, I continue to yearn.
The Malbim: The Distinction Between Hope and Yearning
The Malbim, in his characteristic precision with the Holy Tongue, distinguishes between hope (tikvah) and yearning (yichul). Hope originates within the soul of the one who hopes: even when one holds no explicit promise, the soul hopes for good. There is no absolute certainty that it will come to pass, yet one hopes. In contrast, yearning is the anticipation of something that was explicitly promised; one does not doubt whether it will arrive or not, but is confident that it will be so, and therefore yearns for it.
Therefore, King David says: Toward the Holy One, Blessed be He, I possess both hope and yearning. I hope in Him in the sense that "my soul has hoped" - there is always an inner hope within me that the Holy One, Blessed be He, will save me, even without an explicit promise, for I look to Him, trust in His salvation, and know that "Hashem will not abandon His people." In addition, "for His word I have yearned" - for He has also given me His promise. Beyond the constant internal hope, I also have a pledge from Him, and this completely reinforces both the hope and the yearning that it will indeed come to pass.
Proof from the Gemara in Berachot
The Malbim brings a wonderful proof for this from the Gemara in Berachot 32b. The Gemara states: Whoever prolongs his prayer, his prayer does not return unanswered - implying that it is commendable to prolong one's prayer. The Gemara then challenges this: Did not Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba say in the name of Rabbi Yochanan that whoever prolongs his prayer and scrutinizes it (me'ayein bah) will ultimately come to heartache, as it is stated, "Protracted hope makes the heart sick" (Mishlei 13:12)? When one yearns with prolonged expectation, constantly waiting without seeing the result, his heart falls sick. The Gemara resolves this: There is no contradiction; one refers to a person who scrutinizes his prayer, and the other to one who does not.
Everything therefore depends on this: If one scrutinizes his prayer and expects with certainty that it must be fulfilled, then if it does not come, he will be deeply disappointed - and that is "makes the heart sick." But if he does not scrutinize his prayer, meaning that he hopes and waits without assuming that it is guaranteed to happen, he will not be broken if his request goes unfulfilled - and in this manner, it is indeed fitting to prolong one's prayer. One must pray not out of demanding scrutiny or presumed entitlement, but with genuine, humble hope.
The Gemara there also states: Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba said, if a person sees that he prayed and was not answered, let him pray again, as it says, "Hope to Hashem, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope to Hashem." You prayed and were not answered? Go back and pray again. There is a story of a man who approached a Rebbe and asked for a blessing regarding a matter in which he desperately needed salvation. The Rebbe told him: "Pray for it." He replied: "I did pray, Rebbe, but prayer accomplishes half." The Rebbe said to him: "If so, pray once more - and complete the other half!" This is the meaning of "Hope to Hashem, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope to Hashem" - hope and hope again.
We find, then, that tochalet (anticipation) is a certain expectation that one's request will be fulfilled, and of this it is said, "Deferred expectation (tochalet) sickens the heart." But regarding one who hopes (mekaveh), it is said, "Hope to Hashem, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope to Hashem." This is praiseworthy, because hope (kivui) is an inner disposition of the human soul, free of any guarantee or certainty of fulfillment. Prolonged yichul (expectation), however - where a person is already certain that things will happen a specific way - can lead to deep disappointment and heartache when matters do not materialize as expected.
What Is Worthy of Hope - Matters of the Soul
In the work Binah Le'Ittim, it is explained that hope in the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not center on material matters. A person does not place his hope in Hashem for a villa and a luxury car; that is not what true hope is about. One's hope in Hashem pertains to matters of the soul. We find this in Eichah as well: "Hashem is good to those who hope in Him" - to what kind of hope does this refer? "To the soul that seeks Him." A longing of the soul, one who makes requests for spiritual matters. And that is what the verse says here: "I hoped in Hashem" - what manner of hope? "My soul hoped," a hope that touches the soul, concerning spiritual affairs.
In this realm, a person truly ought to place his hope, and regarding this it is said that one should pray and pray again without end. By contrast, regarding material things, the sources state that one should not overly plead and insist. For if one insists too much, he may be granted his request - yet it may ultimately not be good for him. In spiritual matters, no matter how much one pleads, it is always beneficial; therefore, one should pray and pray again without limit. But in material matters, one should not multiply requests incessantly; let him ask once. Moreover, one should always pray without dictating to the Holy One, Blessed be He, how the salvation must come. A suitable match? The Holy One, Blessed be He, knows how to arrange it for you; you do not need to orchestrate it yourself. And so it is with everything: one should not ask for a specific apartment, but rather, "Master of the Universe, grant me the apartment that is best for me, the livelihood that is best for me, the job that is best for me." In all things, let him ask for what is genuinely best, rather than insisting on a specific material object, lest it be given to him in the end and result only in harm and loss.
Wealth is indeed a material matter. What, then, can one do? A person can pray that every material thing he requests serve as a springboard for spirituality: "Master of the Universe, grant me sustenance so that I may sit and immerse myself in Torah with peace of mind." The livelihood thereby becomes a vehicle for spiritual growth. A person does not ask for a livelihood merely to acquire properties, travel on vacations, and indulge in pleasures - but rather so that he may raise his children to Torah study and have the ability to delve into Torah free from financial strain. In this way, he elevates a coarse, material matter into an aspiration that is purely spiritual.
"My Soul to Hashem" - And a Grammatical Precision
נַפְשִׁי לַאדֹנָי מִשֹּׁמְרִים לַבֹּקֶר שֹׁמְרִים לַבֹּקֶר׃ - My soul yearns for the Lord, more than watchmen await the morning, watchmen awaiting the morning.
Pay attention: the phrase is read "Nafshi la-Donai", not "le-Adonai" - the alef here is quiescent (silent). The mnemonic rule is: Moshe motzi, Kalev machnis - Moshe brings out, Kalev brings in (Moshe took Israel out of Egypt, and Caleb brought them into the Land). With the prefix letters Mem, Shin, Heh (Moshe), one pronounces (motzi) the alef: me-Adonai, she-Adonai, ha-Adonai, and likewise with the Divine Name. By contrast, with the prefix letters Kaf, Lamed, Bet (Kalev) - ka-Donai, la-Donai, ba-Donai - the alef is not articulated; it remains silent. Therefore, in the liturgical phrase "Achai ba-Do al timrodu" - one does not say "be-Edo" but "ba-Do", for the alef is quiescent and unpronounced. Many people err in this regard; one should pay close attention during prayer, and thus read the words correctly. And so it is here: Nafshi la-Donai mi-shomerim la-boker, shomerim la-boker.
Who Are the "Watchmen for the Morning"?
Rashi explains: I am among those who await the redemption; my soul yearns for Hashem more than watchmen await the morning - awaiting, and awaiting again, designated time after designated time (ketz after ketz). This is why the verse repeats, "watchmen awaiting the morning, watchmen awaiting the morning" - waiting and waiting continuously. And what does it mean to await one ketz after another? For we have had many calculated ends: "The harvest has passed, the summer has ended, and we have not been saved." One calculated time arrived and we were not saved; another came and we were not saved, yet they continue to wait. As has been explained previously - and whoever wishes may hear this in the lessons on the end of Sefer Daniel - all the calculated ends recorded in the holy books, in the holy Zohar, in the Malbim, in the Rishonim, the Ramban, and others (where a whole series of calculated ends throughout history is discussed), are essentially windows of opportunity, exit stations. When we did not merit to seize the opportunity, a blow followed, and so it recurred consistently.
Radak explains: My soul yearns for Hashem at night, to be among those people who watch for the morning - that is, those who rise in the early morning watch to pray. All night long I anticipate when morning will finally come so that I may pray, like those who wait for the dawn. And the repetition of "watchmen for the morning" signifies that this is their constant practice, always awake and watching every morning, waiting for daybreak to pray to Hashem. Thus, this psalm is the expression of every pious person in exile, who yearns and hopes for the redemption to finally arrive.
The Ibn Ezra explains that "shomrim" refers to actual watchmen, sentries: my soul yearns for Hashem more than watchmen on the walls yearn for the morning. The wall sentry awaits the morning so his watch will end; and my soul yearns for Hashem more than the watchmen yearn for the morning to arrive so they can go to sleep.
The Malbim: Anticipation That Is Not Bound by Time
From the Malbim's explanation, it emerges that "shomrim" means those who wait, as in the phrase "and his father kept the matter in mind (v'aviv shamar et hadavar)" - he waited to see how it would be fulfilled, and similarly "shomeret yavam" - a woman waiting for her brother-in-law to grow up. Thus: my soul yearns for Hashem more than those who wait for the morning to finally arrive.
And in what way does it surpass them? One who waits for a person to come and save him is not certain of his salvation: he might not come, he might die, he might fall ill, or he might ultimately decide that he does not want to help - "vain is human deliverance." On the other hand, one who waits for the morning never waits in vain, for morning always comes; no one has ever waited for morning only for it not to arrive. Even so, says the Malbim, my soul yearns for Hashem more than those who wait for morning.
How so? Consider one who waits for morning at sunset and nightfall - could the morning possibly arrive in two hours? Never. It will always arrive in ten or twelve hours, depending on summer or winter, over a fixed number of hours. But waiting for the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not bound by time at all - it can be fulfilled immediately. Therefore, it is greater than those who watch for morning: the one who watches for morning remains on standby until morning arrives, and there is no scenario in which the morning arrives early; but with Hashem, He could arrive sooner. And according to the Malbim, the second mention of "shomrim laboker" (watchmen for the morning) provides the reason: my soul longs for Hashem more than watchmen for the morning, because they are waiting for something that only arrives in the morning, whereas I am waiting for something that can come right now, without having to wait a set number of hours.
Yachel Yisrael - Kindness and Redemption
יַחֵל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יְהֹוָה כִּי עִם יְהֹוָה הַחֶסֶד וְהַרְבֵּה עִמּוֹ פְדוּת׃ - Let Israel hope in Hashem, for with Hashem there is loving-kindness, and with Him is abundant redemption.
The Radak explains: "Let Israel hope in Hashem" - hope in Hashem to redeem you from the exile. "For with Hashem there is loving-kindness" - the Holy One, Blessed be He, continually performs kindness with His creations, and He will do kindness with you as well. "And with Him is abundant redemption" - this refers to history: Hashem has already redeemed us abundantly. When I rely on the Holy One, Blessed be He, I rely on a proven track record; we have experience with Him, for He has redeemed us many times in the past. The One Who redeemed us from Egypt and the Babylonian exile will also redeem us from the current exile, and therefore you should hope and yearn all the more.
And the Malbim explains: "Let Israel hope in Hashem" - as we said, our hope in the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not bound by time; rather, "for with Hashem there is loving-kindness, and with Him is abundant redemption": through His attribute of loving-kindness, He will redeem you even before the appointed time.
And He Shall Redeem Israel
וְהוּא יִפְדֶּה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִכֹּל עֲוֺנֹתָיו׃ - And He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
The Malbim continues: by redeeming you from all your iniquities, in a single moment you become worthy of redemption, and then He will redeem you immediately. This is unlike those who watch for morning, who must wait until the set duration for morning has arrived; with you, it can come instantly, and if the Holy One, Blessed be He, redeems Israel from all its iniquities, redemption will come even before the darkness gives way to morning light - while it is still night, before the break of dawn, He will redeem you.
Radak asks: What if a person should say, how will He redeem me when I am laden with sin? This is a question people constantly ask: the generation is so corrupt and there are so many sins, how could we possibly be worthy of redemption? Regarding this it is said, "And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities" - first He will redeem them from all their iniquities, forgive them, and inspire their hearts to return to Him in complete repentance, and only then will He restore their captivity. As it is written: "Then the Lord your God will return your captivity and have compassion upon you, and He will return and gather you" - first He leads you to repent, and afterward "He will return and gather you." And when? "When you return to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul" - first comes repentance, and redemption follows in its wake.
The Rambam writes similarly: Scripture informs us that at the end of their exile, Israel will repent, and immediately they are redeemed. The Torah assures us that repentance will take place, followed by redemption. And who could have believed that in our generation, returnees to observant Judaism would multiply so vastly? Who would have imagined that today there is scarcely a workplace without a minyan for Minchah, and places where Torah classes are held in the middle of the workday, even in high-tech offices and among secular professionals - Torah classes and all. Clearly, we live in a generation witnessing the start of a spiritual awakening, just as the Holy One, blessed be He, promised: that the Jewish people are destined to do teshuvah at the close of the exile.
And if one seeks to understand the cause of all the unrest and protests - it is taught that toward the arrival of the redemption, the sitra achra (the realm of impurity) realizes it is about to be vanquished, and this triggers its final convulsion. This is the reality: those forces already sense the end is near, and therefore display every form of filth and corruption, parade shamelessness and radical progressivism, and manifest every vulgarity and degradation in a desperate fight for survival. Yet we know how this ends, so there is no reason to be overly alarmed; let these processes run their course, and with God's help, the redemption will surely arrive.
In summary:
The conclusion of the psalm teaches us the proper nature of yearning: hope (tikvah) is what wells up from the human soul even without an explicit promise, whereas longing (yichul) is the expectation of that which has been guaranteed. Therefore, it is permissible and even fitting to pray at length and return repeatedly to prayer - "Hope in the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, and hope in the Lord" - provided one does not inspect his prayer with the certainty that it must be fulfilled, lest it turn into "hope deferred sickens the heart." One's primary hope should center on matters of the soul; regarding material needs, one should ask for whatever is truly best for him, transforming the physical into a vehicle for spiritual growth. Our soul longs for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, for the morning arrives only at its appointed time, whereas the salvation of the Lord is unbound by time and can arrive in an instant. "For with the Lord is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption, and He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities" - He will grant us the merit of repentance, and out of that repentance the redemption will unfold, even before the dawn breaks.