The chapter before us is one of the psalms traditionally recited whenever praying that misfortune should not strike. It is the prayer of a person plunged into the direst distress, with no way out and no one to help, turning entirely to the Holy One, Blessed be He, alone.
מַשְׂכִּיל לְדָוִד בִּהְיוֹתוֹ בַמְּעָרָה תְפִלָּה׃ - A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave; a prayer.
"When he was in the cave; a prayer" - When King David was in the cave, at the moment Shaul entered there to relieve himself, while David and his men were deep inside. There, as he hid in the cave, he composed this prayer.
קוֹלִי אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֶזְעָק קוֹלִי אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֶתְחַנָּן׃ - With my voice I cry out to Hashem; with my voice I make supplication to Hashem.
The Malbim explains: When David was in the cave, he was afraid to cry out aloud, for Shaul and his men were right there and it posed a grave danger. But to Hashem - "With my voice I cry out to Hashem" - to Him I can cry out with my voice without fear. One can cry out to the Holy One, Blessed be He, anywhere, for the true outcry is the cry of the heart. When one wishes to cry out to another human being, it is dangerous: cry out aloud, and they will hear you, discover you, and kill you. But toward Hashem there is no obstacle; I can cry out even from within the cave.
This also explains the double phrasing: Under normal circumstances, I cannot prolong my prayer, even if I do not recite it out loud, because by prolonging it they might discover that someone is in the cave. But "with my voice I make supplication to Hashem" - supplication (techinah) is a lengthy, detailed plea, and to Hashem I can both supplicate at length and cry out aloud, that is, from the depths of my heart. Before the Holy One, Blessed be He, this is always possible, even though from the perspective of the surrounding reality it seems impossible.
In the sefer Tehillot Maharitz, this repetition is explained based on the words of the Hafla'ah regarding the verse, "And I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying (leimor)." What does that word "saying" come to teach us? The Hafla'ah explains: A person must first ask of the Creator, blessed be He, to open his mouth so that he can plead properly, to pray as one ought to pray. And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu is saying: "At that time, saying" - I pleaded before Hashem that I might offer a worthy prayer, that I might speak fitting words.
And this is the meaning of the repetition in our verse: "With my voice I cry out to Hashem" - even before approaching the prayer itself, I cried out. And what was that cry? "With my voice I make supplication to Hashem" - that I may merit to open my lips and plead before Hashem properly, that my supplication be expressed fittingly. For at times a person says things that are inappropriate, or stumbles in his speech, thereby bringing trouble upon himself; and sometimes, in the intensity of his emotion, he casts recriminations toward Heaven, which can likewise bring trouble upon him. Therefore, one must also pray that the prayer itself be fitting. This is what we recite every day before the Amidah: "Hashem, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise" - I ask Hashem to open my lips so that they may utter the right and proper words before the Creator, blessed be He.
In Tehilot Mahari"tz, this dual phrasing is further explained based on the teaching of Chazal that everywhere the term chinun (supplication) appears, it denotes an unearned gift (matnat chinam). Although Moshe Rabbeinu possessed boundless merits, he did not petition on the basis of his merits, but pleaded that the Holy One, blessed be He, grant him an unearned gift. The same is true of the righteous: even though they have whereon to rely - their good deeds - they do not frame their prayers that way, but rather say: "Master of the Universe, grant me an unearned gift."
There are two aspects to this. First, when a person relies on his good deeds, it comes at an expense, drawn from a limited account; whereas an unearned gift is drawn from a boundless storehouse, from which the Holy One, blessed be He, can bestow and pour out without limit. Why draw from a limited account when one can draw from an open account? Second, when one petitions in the merit of his deeds, he effectively comes and says, "Master of the Universe, I deserve it." But who can ever say "I deserve it"? Rabbi Yisrael Salanter used to say that a person could forfeit his entire World to Come for a single spoonful of compote! That is to say: are you truly certain that you have so much credit with the Master of the Universe? Therefore, the righteous person does not proceed with such brazen confidence, nor does he say "I deserve it," but rather: "Master of the Universe, grant me an unearned gift."
This is precisely what is written here: "With my voice, I cry out to Hashem" - an outcry (za'akah) is what a person sounds when he demands what is rightfully due to him by law. And David was indeed justified by right: Shaul had fallen into his hands, and yet he spared his life. David acted with extraordinary piety, for strictly speaking his own life was in jeopardy, and the Halachah states, "If one comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first." Nevertheless, he refused to lay a hand on Hashem's anointed. Thus, he had a justified claim to deserve protection from Hashem by virtue of his deeds. Despite all this, David declares: I do not approach the Holy One, blessed be He, based on my merits; rather, "with my voice, I supplicate Hashem" - I set aside the outcry and turn solely with supplication, asking for an unearned gift from Him, may He be blessed.
אֶשְׁפֹּךְ לְפָנָיו שִׂיחִי צָרָתִי לְפָנָיו אַגִּיד׃ - I pour out my speech before Him; I declare my distress before Him.
The Radak explains: Although my distress and my inner thoughts are already known to Him, nevertheless I recount my distress before Him. That is, a person must detail his situation in prayer even though the Holy One, blessed be He, knows everything. One should not pray by simply saying, "Master of the Universe, help me, You already know what I need." Rather, one should articulate his prayer in detail, expressing exactly what he is asking Hashem to assist him with.
Furthermore, one must understand that the very act of prayer holds intrinsic value, even if the request is not answered right away. Why? Because the word tefillah (prayer) shares a root with petilah (a braided wick), as in the verse, "With divine wrestlings (naphtulei) have I wrestled." A wick consists of several strands twisted and bound together. Through prayer, a person binds himself to the Creator of the universe. When one turns to the Holy One, blessed be He, and asks for livelihood, even before receiving that sustenance, he has bound himself to the Source of abundance; he lives with the acute awareness that everything comes from Him, may He be blessed, and that Hashem is the One Who provides and sustains. This is the braid, this is the prayer, this is the bond. This is also the essence of a sacrifice (korban), for prayer stands in place of the sacrifices, and the korban draws a person close (kirvah) to Hashem. Thus, even before receiving the external benefit of prayer - the fulfillment of one's request - the prayer itself possesses great virtue, for through it one has connected to the Source of abundance. Therefore, "I declare my distress before Him" - I detail my trouble so that I may bond with Him and feel that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the ultimate source of salvation. Once a person reaches that state, he becomes fitting and worthy of salvation by the very virtue of having prayed.
This also answers the famous question: why do you need to recount your troubles to the Holy One, blessed be He? When you pray and say, "Master of the Universe, I lack this and I am missing that" - does Hashem not know this already? There is a popular bumper sticker that captures the point well: instead of telling the Holy One, blessed be He, that you have big troubles, tell your troubles that you have a great God. A person must realize that whatever Hashem has brought about is precisely what He desires him to experience. If so, what does prayer accomplish? As explained: through prayer, a person is elevated. He may have begun lacking in faith, but now he turns and declares: "Master of the Universe, I rely solely upon You; You will save me, everything comes from You." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: now you are worthy of salvation; in this state, you have already elevated yourself.
A man once came to the Chazon Ish to ask about a surgery his wife was scheduled to undergo. The doctors had warned that if she did not have the operation, her life would be in grave danger, but if she did, she might never be able to bear children. The Chazon Ish asked him, "What do the doctors say?" He replied, "That if she does not have the surgery, there is great danger; she could die." The Chazon Ish told him, "If so, she must have the surgery." Then he added, "But stay with us here for Minchah."
They remained and prayed Minchah, after which the man approached the Chazon Ish once more to bid him farewell. The Chazon Ish said to him, "No, do not have the surgery." The man said, "Rebbe, they say it is a grave danger!" He replied, "No, no, do not worry; you will yet have many children. Do not perform the surgery." The man asked, "Forgive me, honored Rav, but what changed from when I asked just a short while ago?" The Chazon Ish replied, "I do not understand you - that was before Minchah, and this is after Minchah."
Do we also look different after Minchah? For the Chazon Ish, after Minchah he was a different Chazon Ish, and therefore the answers were different. Prayer elevates a person and transforms him into someone new. You prayed, you drew near - you are now worthy of salvation. And indeed, Rav Biederman related that this man went on to have seven more children. When people met him and marveled at his sons, each one, kein ayin hara, tall, strapping, and robust, he would say: "Do you see all of them? They are from the Chazon Ish. The doctors were already prepared to recite Kaddish, yet the Chazon Ish said not to do the surgery, that she would give birth, and that we would have many more children." This teaches us that prayer elevates; it transforms a person into someone fitting and worthy of salvation, for he has connected himself to the Source of abundance, and as a transformed individual, he is worthy of deliverance.
One must know: when praying for anything spiritual, there is never too much. No matter how much a person prays for spirituality, it is never excessive - that Hashem illuminate his eyes in Torah, that he merit to understand, that he merit diligence and clarity of mind, that he have time to sit and learn; that his children be righteous and God-fearing; for his own repentance and for the repentance of the Jewish people. All these prayers, no matter how much one prays, can never be too much.
However, when it comes to material prayers, one must be very cautious not to plead excessively for a specific thing. A person sees an apartment for sale that he likes very much - he should not plead repeatedly that the Holy One, blessed be He, provide him with that specific apartment. Perhaps that apartment will only bring him harm, and perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, has planned a different apartment for him. The same applies to finding a match: one should not pray specifically for a particular woman he met and felt was very suitable, asking that they agree and the like. Who told you this is good for you? Perhaps the Holy One, blessed be He, has something else, something better. Therefore, the request should always be: Master of the World, grant me a suitable match, that I may merit to establish a faithful home in Israel, that I may merit to fulfill the mitzvah of being fruitful and multiplying, that I may merit to raise my children to Torah. In this way, the petition becomes spiritual, and then one can ask without limit, for the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded in the Torah, "Be fruitful and multiply," and the person is asking to fulfill the mitzvah. But he should do so without pointing a finger at where the Holy One, blessed be He, must send the salvation from; Hashem will send the salvation from wherever He knows it is meant to come.
The Malbim explains: "I pour out my supplication before Him" - there in the cave, I cannot pour out supplication. "Pouring out supplication" means praying in a manner where one's brokenness, weakness, and distress are visible. This I cannot do in a cave, for the cave is dark and nothing can be seen. All of this is true before flesh and blood, where you need the king to see your weakness and distress, to look upon your affliction and take pity on you. But before the Holy One, blessed be He - "I pour out my supplication before Him" - I have no problem pouring out my supplication before Him, for to Him, darkness is as light. Therefore, "I tell my distress before Him": in the cave, there is no one before whom I can recount my troubles, no one who can save me; but before Him, blessed be He, I can recount my troubles. Even though I am in a cave and no one is with me, the Holy One, blessed be He, is with me, and I can turn to Him and speak with Him.
The sefer Otzrot HaAggadah questions the repetition: the verse could have been brief and said, "I pour out before Him my supplication, I tell my distress" - why does it repeat "before Him"? He explains: often, when a person experiences distress, he tells it to others while also praying about it to the Holy One, blessed be He. What does he hope to achieve? To receive salvation from others and also from Him, blessed be He. But as we have noted, when a person turns to the Holy One, blessed be He, only as a second resort, it is as though he is saying, "Master of the World, I will try to manage on my own," which is terrible. A person must know that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the first address. Do you have a problem? "Master of the World, my head hurts" - and only then go take a pill. First and foremost, turn to the Master of the World and tell Him your distress. Regarding this, King David says: I do not act this way. "I pour out before Him my supplication, I tell my distress before Him" - I pray my prayer before Him, and regarding my troubles, I do not seek anyone else to confide in. I relate my troubles before the Holy One, blessed be He, alone, for I have no hope for salvation from anyone else; rather, my salvation comes solely from Him, blessed be He.
בְּהִתְעַטֵּף עָלַי רוּחִי וְאַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ נְתִיבָתִי בְּאֹרַח־זוּ אֲהַלֵּךְ טָמְנוּ פַח לִי׃ - When my spirit faints within me, You know my path; on the way I walk, they have hidden a snare for me.
"When my spirit faints within me," Radak explains, is similar to the verse "their soul faints within them." When a person is in distress, he shrinks and wraps himself up, contracting inward, folding into himself; the spirit is, as it were, enveloped inside the body. "You know my path" - You know my ways, that I do not walk along an evil path as they do. There is no iniquity in me, and You know that I have not sinned against them, yet they pursue me for no reason, based on groundless suspicions. "On the way I walk" - whichever path I take, they spy on me; "they have hidden a snare for me" - everywhere, they set traps and place obstacles in my way.
The Malbim explains: "When my spirit faints within me" - even though my spirit wraps itself within me, meaning I have reached the depths of weakness and my strength withdraws inward into the heart, and there is no one to bring me out of here. Not only that, but I have no path through which to escape, for he was trapped deep inside the cave, and who in such a place knows the path by which he can exit and flee without being noticed by the enemies - yet "You know my path." And behold, Master of the World, the enemies have surrounded me on all sides: "on the way I walk" - the very path I wished to take toward the east, I cannot take, because "they have hidden a snare for me," placing obstacles along that path.
הַבֵּיט יָמִין וּרְאֵה וְאֵין־לִי מַכִּיר אָבַד מָנוֹס מִמֶּנִּי אֵין דּוֹרֵשׁ לְנַפְשִׁי׃ - Look to the right and see, for no one recognizes me; refuge has fled from me, no one cares for my soul.
Radak explains that the words "Habēt" (look) and "u-re'ēh" (and see) are not in the imperative, but are infinitives - looking and seeing. Likewise, mentioning the right side without mentioning the left is Scripture's concise style, where from the one, the other is understood: looking to the right and to the left, and I see that no one recognizes me. "Refuge has perished from me" - when I think of any place to which I might flee and escape so that Shaul will not pursue me, all refuge is lost to me. For the king rules over everything, and wherever I flee, there are always "good souls" who inform him: "Is not David hiding with us on the hill of Hachilah?" Where, then, can I flee? "No one seeks my soul" - among all my relatives and redeemers, there is no one who will demand my life from Shaul's hand, no one to approach Shaul and appeal to his heart to abandon the pursuit after me.
The holy Alshich explains: In the heavenly court, there are those who turn to the right - the advocates of merit, and those who turn to the left - the prosecutors of guilt. Here David pleads: Master of the Universe, look to the right, gaze upon those on the right, and see that no one recognizes me - there is no one there who knows me to plead in my defense. And from where did David know what was happening on high? Regarding this the Alshich writes: "And who tells me that this is so?" - Behold, "refuge has perished from me." If I see that refuge has perished from me and I have nowhere to flee, it is a sign that there is no one above pleading my merit and no one seeking my soul; for had there been advocates of merit on high, I would necessarily have found refuge below, and I would have had protection and rescue. Since I have no refuge below, it indicates that there is no one pleading my merit above.
זָעַקְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אָמַרְתִּי אַתָּה מַחְסִי חֶלְקִי בְּאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים׃ - I cried out to You, Hashem; I said, "You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."
And since I see that there is no one to intercede on my behalf, therefore "I cried out to You": Master of the Universe, if You are not for me, who is for me? You, Hashem, are the Master of Mercy, and I see that I have no defense advocates; if so, only You can save me. And should you ask: since no one seeks your soul and there are none on the right to plead your merit, why should the Holy One, blessed be He, act contrary to strict justice and rescue you? To this he replies: "You are my refuge" - You, Hashem, desire that my portion be in the land of the living; You have no desire that I depart from this world.
Therefore I ask, "Attend to my cry" and save me, for I have no desire to arrive in the World to Come just yet. For whom do they take on high? One who has already completed his service. But as for me, "I have been brought very low" - I still have much work to accomplish here, and if I ascend now, I will ascend impoverished, lacking merits. Therefore leave me here, Master of the Universe, so that when I go, I will depart with great wealth of mitzvos and good deeds.
Furthermore: "My cry" refers to that which I plead and request - save me from my pursuers. And even though my pursuers possess free will, and according to many commentators a person of free will can cause harm even to someone for whom it was not decreed, nevertheless they are ingrates toward me, for I saved them and protected them. When Goliath advanced against them, who saved them from him? David. I fought their battles. And this is the meaning of "for they are stronger than I" (ki amtzu mimeni) - the strength with which they have grown strong is from me; it was through my strength that they gained power, since I saved them from Goliath. If so, they are ungrateful toward me, and this is reason enough not to fulfill their desire, but rather to protect me and rescue me.
The Malbim explains the layout of the directions: "Look to the right and see" - if I turn toward the south, no one recognizes me there. "Refuge has perished from me" - if I flee toward the west, the enemies are behind me. To the north lies the mountain where the cave is situated, and the other three directions in which one might flee are surrounded by enemies. Thus, I have no hope for any escape route clear of enemies. And perhaps a helper and savior will arrive from the outside? To this he answers, "No one seeks my soul" - I have no helper or savior from the outside who will come to David's rescue.
Therefore, "I cried out to You, Hashem; I said, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'" "I cried out to You" corresponds to "With my voice to Hashem I cry," and "I said" corresponds to "With my voice to Hashem I make supplication," for supplication is an unearned gift rather than a claim of merit. He makes two requests: First, "You are my refuge" - when a person has already experienced divine deliverance in the past, he comes with that past experience in hand: Master of the Universe, save me just as You saved me then. As we say: Redeem us just as You redeemed us from Egypt - even though I had no merits then and You brought me out, so too now bring me out. You, Hashem, have always been my refuge; be my refuge now as well. And second, "my portion in the land of the living" - since You granted me my portion in life, it is fitting that You also preserve my life and rescue me.
Radak adds that the Land of Israel is called the "land of the living," and "my portion in the land of the living" means: let me not be forced to flee from the Land, as he was forced to go to Achish, king of Gath, and leave the Land. Master of the Universe, grant my portion in the land of the living, here in the Holy Land, so that I will not have to leave. For when King David was forced to leave the Land, he said, "For they have driven me out this day from cleaving to the inheritance of Hashem, saying, 'Go, serve other gods,'" and Chazal teach that anyone who lives outside the Land of Israel is considered as if he has no God. Therefore, David prays that he will not be compelled to leave for foreign lands, but rather that his portion will remain in the land of the living, in the Holy Land.
הַקְשִׁיבָה אֶל־רִנָּתִי כִּי־דַלּוֹתִי מְאֹד הַצִּילֵנִי מֵרֹדְפַי כִּי אָמְצוּ מִמֶּנִּי׃ - Attend to my cry, for I have been brought very low; rescue me from my pursuers, for they are stronger than I.
"Attend to my cry" - to my outcry, as in the verse, "And the cry passed through the camp," where it denotes an outcry. And why? "For they are stronger than I" - I can match neither the king nor the king's army; they pursue me and they overpower me.
The Malbim explains that there are two facets here, corresponding to what was said earlier: "I pour out my discourse before Him; my distress I declare before Him." "For I have been brought very low" describes the internal state: when a person is pursued and suffering, he experiences an inner impoverishment, sinking into depression - and this corresponds to pouring out one's discourse. And corresponding to the external distress, the fact that he is being hunted, he says, "Rescue me from my pursuers, for they are stronger than I" - and this is "my distress I declare before Him."
הוֹצִיאָה מִמַּסְגֵּר נַפְשִׁי לְהוֹדוֹת אֶת־שְׁמֶךָ בִּי יַכְתִּרוּ צַדִּיקִים כִּי תִגְמֹל עָלָי׃ - Release my soul from prison to thank Your Name; the righteous shall crown themselves because of me, when You deal bountifully with me.
"The prison" refers to the place where David was shut in, inside the cave, as the Radak explains. And I ask that You bring me out from there in order to thank Your Name, for You alone have saved me; no one else rescued me, and salvation comes solely from You. "The righteous shall crown themselves because of me" - the righteous will take pride in me and make me a crown upon their heads. They will say: See, King David trusted in Hashem alone and merited salvation. I will serve as a crown for them, that they may learn from me and do as I did, trusting solely in the Holy One, Blessed be He.
For who would have believed that David, with only a handful of men, pursued by King Saul who commanded a vast host encircling him, would be saved in a single instant? Yet because he placed his trust solely in Hashem alone, Hashem sent him a supernatural salvation: suddenly a messenger arrived announcing that the Philistines had raided the land, forcing Saul to abandon the pursuit. From here we see that when a person trusts exclusively in Hashem - "unto Hashem alone" - he merits salvation that transcends nature. And this will be a crown for the righteous: they will see this message and adopt this path, knowing that when one trusts solely in Hashem, the Holy One, Blessed be He, delivers even from the direst circumstances.
One must know that every spiritual attainment is acquired through labor; nothing of value is gained without it. If you want dirt, go outside - there is plenty of it. But if you are searching for diamonds, for that you must work; diamonds do not lie discarded in the street. King David is not called the fourth leg of the Heavenly Chariot for nothing. There were many other tzaddikim - where is Yosef? Where is Moshe? Where is Aharon? They were spiritual giants, yet they are not the fourth leg of the Chariot. Instead, David is counted alongside the three Patriarchs: Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and David. Why? Because he attained tremendous spiritual heights and immense power specifically through his afflictions, through the refinements he endured.
So too with Avraham Avinu, who underwent arduous trials, being refined through ten trials and meriting that the seed of the House of Israel would descend from him. Likewise with Yaakov Avinu - how many trials and tribulations he endured: "All these things have come upon me." He was forced to flee; he was deceived again and again; "By day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night"; he was hunted by Esav; the tragedy of Dinah; the anguish over Yosef - so many troubles. It is not for nothing that Yaakov merited to establish the House of Israel and is the father of us all. Avraham is the father of a multitude of nations, but the father of all Israel is Yaakov, whose bed was whole, whose sons said to him, "Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad," with no flaw among them. Yaakov merited that his beauty was akin to that of Adam HaRishon, representing the complete aspect of the Patriarchs, the attribute of Tiferet. And why? Because he weathered trials, struggles, and hardships.
It is written that the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not tap upon inferior vessels, but only upon sturdy ones. An avreich was once sent to buy pecans at the market in Pardes Katz. He asked the vendor, "How are these pecans?" The vendor replied, "Outstanding, every single one is full." He took two, squeezed them - and both were empty. A true embarrassment. When a person wants to demonstrate that something is sturdy, he selects his strongest jug so as not to be embarrassed; he takes no chances, picking only the strongest vessel so he can be certain it will not shatter. So too, when the Holy One, Blessed be He, tests - "Hashem tests the righteous" - He tests the one who is capable of withstanding the trial. Regarding the inferior, however, it is said that the Holy One, Blessed be He, tapped upon them and found them to be like a chamber pot: He asked Kayin, "Where is your brother Hevel?" seeking to engage him in dialogue, and Kayin answered, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Is that an answer one gives to the Holy One, Blessed be He? Does Hashem not see exactly what was done? Thus, when the Holy One, Blessed be He, tests a defective vessel, He finds one in which there is no point in investing. But with great people, the Holy One, Blessed be He, brings trials upon them, refining them and elevating their stature. This is what brought David to his lofty standing, and not without reason do we say "David Malka Meshicha" (David, the anointed king): in the merit of the labor, the exertion, and the trials he weathered throughout his life, starting from his earliest youth - "I have become a stranger to my brothers," when they suspected him of being illegitimate. We see that he endured horrific suffering from the very moment of his birth.
In conclusion: after describing the afflictions of the body, David turns to plead regarding the distress of the soul. The soul is currently confined within the prison of the cave, and when a person is in such a state, he cannot serve the Holy One, Blessed be He, properly. Concerning this he asks, "Release my soul from prison" - so that I may thank Your Name. Through this, my spiritual soul will gain two things: first, that I will give thanks myself; and second, that through this others will also give thanks - "the righteous shall crown themselves because of me," bestowing upon Hashem the crown of thanksgiving and praise, because You deal bountifully with me through this deliverance.