Psalm 138 is King David's song of thanksgiving for the Holy One, blessed be He, answering him in his time of distress and fulfilling His word to him. In this part of the psalm, we arrive at the verses where David addresses the kings of the earth - that they, too, will thank Hashem having seen His promise fulfilled - and from there to the central foundation of the chapter: the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted and high, yet it is specifically the lowly whom He sees closely. The verses here are not simple, and we will proceed through them slowly with the help of the commentators and the Malbim.
All the Kings of the Earth Shall Praise You, Hashem
יוֹדוּךָ יְהֹוָה כׇּל מַלְכֵי אָרֶץ כִּי שָׁמְעוּ אִמְרֵי פִיךָ׃ - All the kings of the earth shall thank You, Hashem, when they hear the words of Your mouth.
The Radak explains: "All the kings of the earth shall praise You, Hashem" - in this matter, that You answered me in a time of distress and fulfilled Your word to me. He applies this to the matter of kingship: the Holy One, blessed be He, promised David the throne and fulfilled His word, and ultimately David merited to ascend the throne. "All the kings of the earth shall praise You" - all the kings of the world who know me will praise You for this, "when they hear the words of Your mouth." They heard how You promised me the kingship, and they saw how You brought that promise to fruition. They saw me wandering and fugitive, with Saul pursuing me to kill me, and anyone who witnessed this despaired of my ever ruling. Even David himself said, "I said in my haste, all men are deceitful" - even the promises Shmuel gave me about the kingship seemed like falsehood. In their eyes, it was utterly implausible that I would reign. Now that You have fulfilled Your promise, they will praise You for this and say: Behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, promised something that seemed entirely impossible at the time, and see how He ultimately brought it to fruition.
Rashi cites here the homily of Chazal: "'When they hear the words of Your mouth' - when they heard the words of Your mouth, 'Do not murder,' 'Do not commit adultery,' they acknowledged the words of Your mouth, 'I am Hashem' and 'You shall have no other gods,' realizing He is worthy that they accept the yoke of His kingship first, and only then issue all His decrees." The meaning of this is: the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I am Hashem your God," and "You shall have no other gods before Me." At first, the nations said: Well, He is just like us - every king desires sovereignty, every king insists that no rival king be accepted, so how is He any different? But when they heard "Do not murder" and "Do not commit adultery," they understood that His purpose was to bestow good upon you, to protect you. In the Midrash, it states that this occurred when they heard "Honor your father and your mother." For when an earthly tyrant drafts soldiers into his army, he demands: "He does not acknowledge his father or know his mother, and he forsakes his family" - none of that matters, I am here, I am your father and mother, "Mother Russia" or whatever you call it, I am everything. A totalitarian leader always demands that a person forget his family. And suddenly they see the Holy One, blessed be He, commanding: On the contrary, honor your father and your mother! At that moment, they affirmed "I am Hashem" and "You shall have no other gods," saying: What He said first, "I am Hashem," was solely so you would accept His decrees - the "Do not murder" and "Do not commit adultery" - which are decrees designed for your own benefit, not to impose dominion over you for His own sake. For as we say, "Master of the universe, Who reigned before any creature was formed" - He had no need for creatures to rule over; He was King beforehand. Why, then, did He create His world? To bestow good upon His creations.
How to Pray Without Forcing the Hour
From here we can learn how a person should pray without "forcing the hour." Two things must be understood. First, if a prayer concerns spiritual matters - to merit Torah, closeness to God, or repentance - this is never considered forcing the hour; no matter how much one prays for this day and night, the more prayer, the better. Second, when praying for material matters, it is advisable not to offer advice to the Master of the World: specifying from where salvation should come, that livelihood should come from a particular place, that one be hired specifically at this workplace, or that a certain woman agree to a shidduch. The Holy One, blessed be He, knows what is best for a person. Therefore, one should pray that Hashem send a suitable spouse, provide a source of livelihood, and so forth, without offering specific advice. Even if a particular place seems ideal, one may pray: Master of the World, help me be accepted at this workplace - if this is truly for the good. For we always ask, "and grant all the requests of my heart for the good": and if You know it is not good for me, do not grant it to me. In this manner, a person never forces the hour, avoiding the situation where Heaven says: We gave it to you simply because you insisted. When a person aggressively pushes for a specific outcome, he may receive it even when it could ultimately bring harm, as was recounted regarding this in the name of Rav Shimshon Pincus.
And They Shall Sing of the Ways of Hashem
וְיָשִׁירוּ בְּדַרְכֵי יְהֹוָה כִּי גָדוֹל כְּבוֹד יְהֹוָה׃ - And they shall sing of the ways of Hashem, for great is the glory of Hashem.
The Ibn Ezra explains: They will no longer sing songs of lust or songs of war, but only songs of the ways of Hashem. That is to say, the nations also have songs - but what are their songs? War chants or songs of romantic passion. War songs are hardly prevalent nowadays, but songs of lust, desire, and romance are known all over the world. The verse states that they will no longer have such songs, but rather "and they shall sing of the ways of Hashem" - all songs will be devoted solely to drawing closer to the Holy One, blessed be He.
It is written that when a person reaches an elevated level in the love of Hashem, he composes songs to Him. In our day, this concept is scarcely understood, but once there was a notion of a young man writing poetry to his beloved, expressing his devotion; nowadays, at most, it is a brief text message, usually riddled with typos. The Steipler Gaon composed a poem in honor of Hashem, may He be blessed, and among other Torah giants, such as Rabbi Akiva Eiger and others, there are songs in which one discerns intense longing and yearning for Hashem. This is particularly evident among Sephardic communities in the various piyyutim composed in honor of Hashem, wherein one hears how deeply the soul pours itself out in love of God, yearning for His closeness and desiring to remain connected to Him. This is "and they shall sing of the ways of Hashem" - the songs will be in the ways of Hashem, and the sole aspiration will be how to draw near to Him.
The Radak explains: They will recite song and praise to Hashem, singing of His ways and His awesome deeds - the songs will be praise and thanksgiving for His wondrous acts, for everything is in His hands, to lower and to exalt, and they will constantly declare, "for great is the glory of Hashem" - only the glory of Hashem, for He alone is God and there is no deity besides Him. And it is written concerning David: "And the fame of David went out into all lands, and Hashem brought the fear of him upon all nations" - when they feared David, they naturally feared Hashem as well, recognizing that his monarchy came through divine promise, and through this Hashem's Name was exalted. So too with Hiram, king of Tyre, who said to Solomon: "Blessed be Hashem, God of Israel, Who made heaven and earth, Who has given King David a wise son" - through the greatness of David and his son, they recognized the greatness of Hashem, praising from David's kingdom His blessed Name, Who made heaven and earth.
Honor That Is Inherent
The Malbim explains: they will sing to Hashem, "for great is the glory of Hashem" - Hashem is great and exalted, and His honor depends solely on Himself. There are people whose honor depends on others: if people honor them, they have honor; if people do not honor them, they have none. Rav Zilberstein recounted a story about a former mayor of a large city who was abruptly ousted overnight and cast aside like a useless vessel. When asked when he truly grasped his new reality, he replied: "It hit me a few days later when my car was stolen. I called the city's police chief, with whom I had spoken almost every other day and had been very close until yesterday. He asked, 'Who is speaking?' I said, 'The former mayor, so-and-so.' He answered coldly, 'Please go down to the police station and file a complaint through the proper channels. And please delete my number, as this is a private line, and I ask that you not call me on it.' That was the slap in the face that made me realize exactly where I stood today." This is a person whose honor derived solely from power: appoint you to an office, and people give you respect; wait until you are removed, and see who even looks at you.
With the Holy One, blessed be He, this is not so: His honor depends solely on Himself. And when honor is inherent, one does not fear doing things that might seem humiliating or beneath one's dignity, nor does one fear acting with humility - for on the contrary, what seems to diminish your honor is precisely what elevates it. A story is told of the Rebbe of Rachmastrivka, who was renowned as a paragon of humility. He would always say, "I am gornisht, I am nothing; why do people come to me?" In his beit midrash, they arranged a mikveh for him so that he would not need to walk back home in the middle of the Rosh Hashanah prayers, since his usual mikveh was at home. Yet he refused under any circumstances to immerse there. They told him, "Rebbe, everything has been properly built and arranged, it is entirely fine." But he insisted: "I will go back home and immerse there." Everyone assumed he had esoteric mystical intentions in his own mikveh. Finally, he explained quietly: "The Rebbetzin told me that she would have to leave in the middle of the prayers to put the pot on for the meal. I said to her, 'Why should you? Since I am returning home anyway to immerse, I will put the pot on.' Now, if I immerse here, I will not be going home, and I already told her that I would put the pot on." Consider such modesty and humility among the giants of the world: a man whose door was besieged by thousands, and who had only to say a word for fifty chassidim to run and put the pot on - yet he did not seek service from anyone: "I will go back, I will put it on."
Similarly, people would see Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul in the Mahane Yehudah market carrying a basket, buying a watermelon and checking whether it was red and sweet. One might ask: is he not the gadol hador? Yet this did not compromise his honor in the least; on the contrary, people admired him all the more. For someone whose honor is intrinsic is not dependent on someone having elected him or granted him prestige. "Who are the kings? The Rabbis" - he is a king in his own right, and therefore no slight from another person can diminish him; it may diminish the one who insults, but not him. And l'havdil, countless distinctions apart, the Holy One, blessed be He, has honor that depends entirely on Himself, and His glory is never diminished by looking upon the lowly and tending to creatures of clay. This serves as the introduction to the next verse.
"For Hashem Is High, Yet He Regards the Lowly"
כִּי רָם יְהֹוָה וְשָׁפָל יִרְאֶה וְגָבֹהַּ מִמֶּרְחָק יְיֵדָע׃ - For Hashem is high, yet He regards the lowly, and the haughty He knows from afar.
The Malbim offers a wonderful explanation here: Whom does a tall person normally see? Someone as tall as he is. He does not notice the short person; he is too low down to be seen, and the lowly person is far beneath him. But with the Holy One, blessed be He, the opposite is true: the lowly person is closer to Him than the haughty. "For Hashem is high, yet He regards the lowly" - exalted as He is, it is precisely the humble whom He sees; the lowly is closer to Him than the haughty, so much so that the haughty is, as it were, far from Him: "and the haughty He knows from afar" - the haughty He perceives from a distance, whereas the lowly He sees up close. As it were, Hashem declares: "I dwell with the crushed and lowly of spirit" - I am with him. And this in no way diminishes Hashem's honor, for "great is the glory of Hashem" - His honor is intrinsic, independent of what others confer upon Him, and such honor suffers no loss even when He is among the lowly.
The Ibn Ezra explains: it became clear to them that even though the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted above all, He gazes upon the lowly as well - even upon a person like me, David, who was humbled and cast down. From where did He bring me? From following the sheep. What was I? Suspected of being a mamzer, a person disowned by his own father and mother, sent out into the wilderness in the thought that perhaps a lion or a bear would come and rid them of this disgraced reputation. They were convinced that David's mother had conceived through infidelity, since Yishai had separated from her - he believed he was with his maidservant, but the maidservant exchanged places with his wife, and thus David was born. This story is well known, and one may hear it expanded upon in the shiurim on Chag HaShavuot. In any case, David was an outcast, relegated to the status of the lowly, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, regards the lowly - He brought him forth from there and elevated him to reign over Israel.
And what is the meaning of yeda? The Ibn Ezra explains that it is from the intensive conjugation (binyan kaved), like yetiv. As noted previously, Hebrew verbs can appear in a simple conjugation (binyan kal) or an intensive conjugation (binyan kaved): one can say rotze'ach in the kal, or meratze'ach in the intensive form, and so too with many words. Typically, a verb in an intensive conjugation expresses an action performed with greater force - it is termed "heavy" because it demands more effort from the vocal organs, signifying an action more potent than that denoted by the simple form. Based on this, the Ibn Ezra explains: from afar, from a distant place - for as high as the heavens are above the earth - the Holy One, blessed be He, yeyada: He imparts knowledge, directing others and making it known to them.
The Radak explains: then all will know that Hashem is high, yet He regards the lowly, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, exercises providence over the lower realms - not as the nations claimed, and as we find in Iyov: "Thick clouds are a screen to Him so that He does not see, and He walks about the circuit of heaven." As discussed previously, to distance themselves from the Master of the Universe, the nations do not deny His existence entirely; rather, they say: "Yes, there is a God, but He is on high, elevated and aloof." "Thick clouds are a screen to Him" - there are clouds, He no longer sees clearly, His vision is obscured; "and He walks about the circuit of heaven" - He is up above, unconcerned with the trivialities taking place down here. Why do they need this perspective? So that one may do whatever one pleases; for if Hashem cares about what happens here, there is accountability, and every action at any given moment is scrutinized, which is uncomfortable. Therefore, "Hashem is high above all nations," but among Am Yisrael, "great is Hashem" - "great is Hashem in Israel." We have previously explained the distinction: "great" spans from bottom to top, meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, oversees everything from the lowest creatures to the highest celestial beings; "high" (ram) denotes something aloft, like an airplane or a hot-air balloon, elevated above and seemingly indifferent to what transpires below. The Radak explains that when the nations saw how the Holy One, blessed be He, beheld my affliction and lowliness, they too conceded that "He regards the lowly" - though Hashem is high, He is not detached and distant; rather, He looks upon the lowly.
"And the haughty He knows from afar" - according to the Radak: the Holy One, blessed be He, is exalted, and from afar He makes His ways known to human beings, proving to them that He knows what happens in the world and governs it. This is the meaning of yeyada: He informs His creations of His providence. Others explain - as cited by the Radak - that yeyada is an expression of breaking, as stated regarding Gidon: "and with them he taught (vayoda) the men of Sukkot" - when some refused to come and assist him, he took thorns and beat them with them, where vayoda means he broke and struck the men of Sukkot. According to this: the Holy One, blessed be He, is high, and He looks upon the lowly to do good for him, while the haughty and arrogant He breaks: "and the haughty He knows [breaks] from afar" - from a distance He shatters their haughtiness and pride.
The Chiddushei HaRim explains homiletically that "the lowly shall see" refers to man: one who conducts himself with humility and lowliness merits grasping the exaltedness of Hashem. "For Hashem is high" - yet we fail to see this because of our pride; and who is able to see? "Yet the lowly shall see" - the humble person will perceive the exaltedness of Hashem. One who conducts himself with humility is privileged to grasp the greatness of the Creator, blessed be He, to the extent of human capacity and according to how He reveals Himself to us; and if we fail to perceive it, it is only because we are not yet humble enough. Moreover, "the lowly shall see" indicates that the humble person merits an elevated level of direct sight. "Seeing" denotes an apprehension far greater than a vague impression, and whoever is humble will merit an apprehension in the dimension of actual vision regarding the greatness of Hashem.
Sforno explains: "And the haughty He knows from afar" - "from afar" means from His holy abode in heaven, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will make known to all who the haughty one is, meaning He will humble him. He will make known to all: Do you see that haughty person who exalted himself? Therefore, I have brought him low and cast him down from his stature. And by Hashem humbling the haughty, everyone will know that his sin lay in haughtiness.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble
אִם אֵלֵךְ בְּקֶרֶב צָרָה תְּחַיֵּנִי עַל אַף אֹיְבַי תִּשְׁלַח יָדֶךָ וְתוֹשִׁיעֵנִי יְמִינֶךָ׃ - Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me; against the wrath of my enemies You stretch out Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.
Ibn Ezra explains: I know that You are exalted and see the lowly, and therefore I know that if I walk in the midst of trouble - You will preserve me. And how? "You stretch out Your hand, and Your right hand saves me" - You will stretch out Your hand to rescue me and extract me from the distress. And what is the meaning of "against the wrath of my enemies (al af oyevai) You stretch out Your hand"? He cites an explanation in the name of Rabbi Moshe that the verse is inverted, as if to read: "Even upon my enemies (af al oyevai) You stretch out Your hand" - You will also stretch out Your hand against my enemies to save me from them, striking my enemies while Your right hand delivers me. But Ibn Ezra does not wish to explain it this way, preferring the literal sense: "al af oyevai" - af in the sense of anger and wrath, meaning in spite of my enemies, despite their fury and wrath, You stretch out Your hand and save me. Metzudat David follows this same path: Even though their wrath and fury burned within them to swallow me up, You stretch out Your hand against them and save me.
Radak explains that David is describing: When I walked "in the midst of trouble" - in the very innards of the distress, deep within it, when I was already close to death - even there You preserved my life, even there You saved me. And the Malbim explains: Your Divine Providence is so close and present with me that even when I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me. And note the precise nuance: the Malbim always explains that whenever "right hand" (yamin) appears alongside "hand" (yad), "hand" refers to the left hand - for if "Your hand" meant the right hand, what would be the purpose of adding "and Your right hand saves me"? Rather, "You stretch out Your hand" refers to the left hand, "and Your right hand saves me." That is to say, against the wrath of my enemies, You stretch out Your left hand, which represents the attribute of strict judgment (din) - this is "against the wrath of my enemies" - and toward me, to deliver me, You stretch out Your right hand, representing loving-kindness (chesed). Thus, with the Holy One, blessed be He, an act of chesed and din can take place simultaneously: judgment against the wicked and loving-kindness for the righteous.
Hashem will complete on my behalf
יְהֹוָה יִגְמֹר בַּעֲדִי יְהֹוָה חַסְדְּךָ לְעוֹלָם מַעֲשֵׂי יָדֶיךָ אַל תֶּרֶף׃ - Hashem will complete for me; Hashem, Your loving-kindness is forever; do not forsake the work of Your hands.
Rashi explains: "Hashem will complete for me" - He will consent to my requests, meaning He will fulfill my petitions. "The work of Your hands" - this refers to the Beit HaMikdash, that He should build the Temple, as it says, "the sanctuary, Hashem, which Your hands established"; "do not forsake" - do not let up from building the Beit HaMikdash.
Ibn Ezra explains: "Hashem will complete for me" - He will complete my desires for me, or He will complete my deeds for me, with the word implied. That is, a verse sometimes omits an understood word, and here the word "my desire" or "my deeds" is omitted, similar to "let my right hand forget" (tishkach yemini), which means let the hand of my right side forget. Furthermore, Hashem's loving-kindness is forever, and I am the work of Your hands, Master of the World - therefore, do not release me; do not let go of Your hold on me, but continue to grasp me so that I may succeed in carrying on through the strength of Your help and assistance.
Radak explains: Just as Hashem began doing good for me, so too "Hashem will complete for me" - He will bring His benevolence toward me to completion; having begun, He will finish. In many places, Radak notes that such phrasing is an appeal: Hashem! Please complete it on my behalf. Hashem, may Your loving-kindness be with me forever. And I, who recognize Hashem's goodness and realize that I am the work of Your hands - You made me, nurtured me, exalted me, took me from behind the sheep and crowned me king - therefore, do not let go of this loving-kindness; You have already begun, so bring the chesed with me to completion, and do not withhold Your kindness from me.
The Malbim explains that David enumerates three reasons here for his trust in Hashem's salvation. First: because Hashem has already begun to deliver me, and "He is not a human being that He should change His mind." A person might say: I intended to help him, and indeed I even started, but I changed my mind and will not continue. With the Holy One, blessed be He, this is inapplicable; having begun, out of His honor He does not break off, so that there be no desecration of Hashem's Name (Chillul Hashem). Second: from the perspective of loving-kindness - "Hashem, Your loving-kindness is forever" - for the chesed of the Holy One, blessed be He, is perfect loving-kindness that does not depend on the recipients; it is absolute perfection of chesed, and consequently it is fitting to bestow even when the recipients are not spiritually whole to that degree. Third: from the perspective of "do not forsake the work of Your hands," which is from the attribute of truth (emet) - You created me, and as it were, You are committed to sustaining me; the Holy One, blessed be He, created beings and sustains them, which is the quality of truth. Just as a father does not abandon his child: you brought a child into the world, and you feel an obligation to care for him. So David says: Do not let go of me, but continue to help and support Your child out of truth, out of what You have pledged. And as Scripture says, "for Your Name's sake give glory, for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth's sake" - note that all three elements appear in that single verse: "give glory" for the honor of Hashem's Name, so there be no Chillul Hashem; "for Your loving-kindness," because Hashem is abundant in chesed; and "for Your truth's sake," from the attribute of truth whereby a father is devoted to his son.
I will begin - and Hashem will complete
In the book Yosef Tehillot, the Chida explains based on the words of Chazal that "everything is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven": once a person awakens himself, the Holy One, Blessed is He, helps and saves him. Fear of Heaven is in our hands, and therefore one must initiate the awakening, and then the Holy One, Blessed is He, will assist. This is the meaning of "Hashem will complete it for me" - I must begin, and Hashem will complete it for me; but I must start with a mitzvah, start with teshuvah, and then Hashem will bring it to completion. Through this, "Hashem, Your kindness endures forever" - this is Hashem's attribute of mercy. We only need to provide the "starter," for after that, one mitzvah draws another mitzvah, which draws another. Thus, the beginning is mine, "Hashem will complete it for me," and from there, "Your kindness endures forever" - from that point forward it already moves and flows, for once a start has been made, the Holy One, Blessed is He, continues to bestow His influence so that one mitzvah will draw another.
Most importantly, the Chida says: regarding King David, it is known that "Adam" is an acronym for Adam, David, Mashiach. As discussed in the teachings on gilgulim (reincarnations), King David is the reincarnation of Adam HaRishon, and there are many parallels between them. Since David knew he was the reincarnation of Adam HaRishon, note his phrasing: "Do not forsake the work of Your hands" - I am the work of Your hands, "Your hands have made me and fashioned me," for I am Adam HaRishon, whom the Holy One, Blessed is He, fashioned with His own hands. Thus David says: I am indeed the work of Your hands; do not forsake me - strengthen me and encourage me so that I may succeed in my path of serving You and return in complete teshuvah before You.
In summary: In this part of the psalm, David ascends from his personal kingdom to the thanksgiving of all the kings of the earth. Once they saw that the Holy One, Blessed is He, fulfilled His promise of kingship to one who seemed entirely devoid of any chance, they acknowledged Him as Master of all, and their songs transformed from "songs of desire and warfare" into "and they shall sing of the ways of Hashem." The foundational principle is that "great is the glory of Hashem" - an intrinsic glory that is not dependent on others, and therefore "though Hashem is high, He regards the lowly": precisely the humble is close to Him, whereas the haughty He perceives from afar, either to make His ways known to him or to break his pride. From here stems David's confidence: even "in the midst of trouble" You will preserve me, with the left hand administering judgment upon enemies and the right hand extending kindness for my rescue. Finally, there are three reasons for his trust - from the aspect of honor, from the aspect of kindness, and from the aspect of truth - alongside the words of the Chida that we need only initiate the awakening, while "Hashem will complete it for me," and consequently "Your kindness endures forever," where one mitzvah leads to another. May Hashem grant us this merit, and with this we conclude Chapter 138 of Tehillim.