Psalm 145, "Tehillah LeDavid", is structured as a song of praise in alphabetical order. In this section, we examine three verses (5-7) in which King David distinguishes between the comprehension of ordinary people and his own comprehension: what they perceive and marvel at, versus what is already second nature to him as something simple and clear. We will follow the order of the verses, through the commentaries of Radak and the Malbim.
הֲדַר כְּבוֹד הוֹדֶךָ וְדִבְרֵי נִפְלְאֹתֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה׃ - Of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and of Your wondrous deeds, I will speak.
Radak explains: "The glorious splendor of Your majesty" refers to the beauty of the honor of Your might. The Holy One, blessed be He, is honored through His might and His wonders; when Hashem performs mighty acts and wonders, honor comes to Him, and through this, the inhabitants of the world honor Him. "And of Your wondrous deeds I will speak" - regarding the wondrous things You have done for me, the salvations You have wrought and will bring about, of these I will speak. "I will speak" (asichah) means I will talk about this, converse about this, and publicize it to the masses.
This is a well-known principle: when a miracle happens to a person, he must go and recount the miracle and publicize it, for through this the honor of Heaven is magnified. This is also the concept we explained regarding the thanksgiving offering (Korban Todah): it is brought with forty loaves of bread, and the time allotted for eating them is only one day. Why? So that he will hurry to invite many people - for who could eat forty loaves alone? He makes a large feast, and there he recounts the miracle. People will surely ask him, "Why did you bring a thanksgiving offering?" And then he will recount the miracles and wonders that Hashem performed for him. Thus, "of Your wondrous deeds I will speak" - I will speak and recount the wonders You have done for me.
The Malbim explains the verse in light of what was mentioned earlier: that subsequent generations attain an ever-increasing comprehension. The generations gradually achieve deeper and more refined insights into Hashem's ways and the wisdom of nature through which the Holy One, blessed be He, directs His world. In past eras, what did people know and understand? Today, humanity delves deeply into the study of man and creation. Generation after generation progresses in Divine comprehension, perceiving the hand of Hashem within nature, and then they utter a new declaration (haggadah) of Your mighty acts. "Haggadah," the Malbim notes, always denotes expressing something new.
This is the difference between haggadah (declaration) and sichah (conversation): "to tell" (lehagid) refers to something novel, while "speech" (si'ach) is an effortless, habitual manner of speaking. David says: As for me, whether regarding "the glorious splendor of Your majesty," which is nature, or "Your wondrous deeds," which are supernatural - I will speak (asichah). When they observe the tremendous wisdom within nature, they are awestruck by it; but I, even when I witness miracles, am not overwhelmed with novelty, for the reality of the Creator is crystal clear to me, and there is no shock of discovery. They observe and praise Your works, the wonders You perform in nature - the wisdom of nature gradually revealed over time - and from that, they marvel and give thanks to You. But for me, even "Your wondrous deeds," even miracles, are mere routine conversation.
This is like Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, who said: "He Who commanded the oil to burn can command vinegar to burn." He was not astounded by this. When an ordinary person is amazed by something, he exclaims, "Look, there is a God!" But Rabbi Chanina, as it were, responds: "Good morning; I see Him all the time." Therefore, he is not astonished that vinegar burns. He Who commanded the oil to burn can just as easily command vinegar to burn. So David says: For me, this is routine conversation. "Your wondrous deeds" are to me mere natural speech; I am so familiar with it and accustomed to it that it is second nature, not the declaration of a novel discovery.
The Malbim further asks: What is the difference between hod (majesty) and hadar (splendor)? This is a distinction the Malbim mentions in several places: hod always refers to the internal aspect, while hadar is the external manifestation. The external dimension of something is its hadar - the item is adorned, possessing outward beauty. Concerning the creation of the world, it is written, "You are clothed in hod and hadar": the external laws of nature, those visible and noticeable outwardly, are hadar - they are apparent to the eye. The internal essence, how things exist in their concealed and inner dimension, falls under the category of hod.
Therefore, David says: I will speak of "the splendor of the glory of Your majesty." That glorious majesty is not openly discernible; it is internal, and its inner essence cannot be grasped. If so, what can I speak of? Of the splendor - when the splendor reveals the glorious majesty within, that internal dimension that radiates all this splendor.
וֶעֱזוּז נוֹרְאֹתֶיךָ יֹאמֵרוּ וּגְדֻלָּתְךָ אֲסַפְּרֶנָּה׃ - And they shall speak of the might of Your awesome deeds, and I will recount Your greatness.
Radak explains: Just as I will recount Your greatness, so too will they speak of the might of Your awesome deeds - they will recount the awesome wonders that You perform. Radak further notes: The written text (ketiv) has "Your greatness" with a plural yud (gedulotecha), indicating many great deeds, but we read it (qeri) without a yud (gedulatecha), in the singular, because with Him, blessed be He, everything is one. All those forces that we perceive as manifold powers are, with the Holy One, blessed be He, a single unified reality.
It is Radak's way to always expound both the written text and the read tradition, and so it is here: the written ketiv is "Your great deeds" in the plural, denoting many acts of greatness; while the read qeri is "Your greatness" in the singular, teaching that with Hashem everything is one. What you perceive as a multiplicity of forces is not a multiplicity at all, but stems entirely from one power and one reality; therefore, it is ultimately conceived as "Your greatness" in the singular.
The Malbim enumerates here several terms that recur throughout the psalm: greatness, might, deed, majesty, glory, goodness, righteousness, kingship, wonders, and awesome acts. These are ten "for a known purpose" - that is, corresponding to the ten sefirot; whenever divine attributes are divided, they are divided into ten. However, the Malbim adds that they do not necessarily appear here in their exact corresponding order.
Here we see another expression of the fundamental difference between Radak's approach and that of the Malbim. Radak maintains that scripture sometimes repeats an idea in different words purely for poetic elegance, and that a particular word was not strictly required here over another. According to his approach, the text could just as well have said, for instance, "they will express the memory of Your awesome deeds" instead of "the memory of Your abundant goodness," or "and they will sing of Your greatness" and "I will recount Your righteousness." But according to the Malbim, it is clear and evident that this is not so: every single word is chosen for its exact context and belongs specifically there, and could fit nowhere else. When the text appears to repeat an idea, it is never needless poetic parallelism; rather, every repetition comes to teach a distinct and precise concept.
The Malbim adds another distinction here between David's perception and that of the masses. Beyond the fact that the masses are awed by nature, whereas David looks beyond even open miracles, there is another difference. They speak of "Your awesome deeds": the trials and wonders You performed that inspire fear of You, punishing those who rebel and sin against You - the plagues brought upon Egypt, the assembly of Korach. To them, this is the might of awesome deeds, and from this they fear punishment. You are awe-inspiring in Your retribution, and their fear stems from the power You displayed against those who defied You.
David says: But as for me, "I will recount Your greatness." I will not recount from a place of dread, strict judgment, or fear. That is a lower level of divine service - "the service of women and children" as the Rambam defines it, serving Hashem purely out of fear. Even so, if only we attained even that service of women and children described by the Rambam - to possess genuine awe and fear of Hashem, blessed be He! Even before reaching the awe of His exalted majesty, if only we had true fear of punishment. Yet King David says: I do not stand on that level.
And what is "greatness" (gedulah)? Which of the sefirot does it represent? "Yours, Hashem, is the greatness, and the might, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all" - which is Yesod - "in heaven and on earth," followed by Malkhut. And where is Chessed? Greatness is Chessed, as the Ramban writes. For the nature of Chessed is limitless expansion, boundless flow, and giving in the greatest measure possible - and that is the essence of greatness.
Thus, "and Your greatness I will recount": what they view as strict judgments and punishments, I know to be chessed (kindness); I know that Hashem is doing good with them through this. In their perception, this is "the might of Your awesome deeds," something that casts dread and fear, and the Creator is envisioned by them as an avenging and punishing God. But I - in all of this, I see the magnitude of Your kindness. For even when Hashem exacts retribution from the wicked in this world, it is for their ultimate benefit; and even when the Holy One, Blessed is He, brings suffering upon a person to awaken him, it is for his good. This is what I recount and make known to all: I view everything Hashem does, even the things that seem harsh, as the kindness of Hashem.
זֵכֶר רַב־טוּבְךָ יַבִּיעוּ וְצִדְקָתְךָ יְרַנֵּנוּ׃ - They shall express the memory of Your abundant goodness, and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
Rashi explains that "they shall express" (yabi'u) means they will say and recount Your mighty deeds from generation to generation; it is good for us to make known to mankind the mighty deeds and glorious majesty of the kingdom of the Holy One, Blessed is He. This is what they make known and mention from generation to generation - just as we saw above, that the generations express and recount the might of Hashem and His greatness.
The Malbim explains: "They shall express the memory of Your abundant goodness" - they will pay attention to the memory of Your abundant goodness, that You act with goodness. That is, the awesome acts that the Holy One, Blessed is He, performs stem from benevolence and not from a desire to do harm. Through my declaring "and Your greatness I will recount," everyone will recognize "the memory of Your abundant goodness" and remember that all of this stems from the abundance of Your goodness, not from a desire to harm them. And then, "and they will sing joyfully of Your righteousness" - they will sing with joy and gladness over the righteousness of Hashem, seeing how righteous Hashem is and how much good He bestows upon us.
And what is the definition of "Your righteousness" (tzidkatcha)? The Malbim explains in several places that this refers to the dimension of Supernal Charity: when the Holy One, Blessed is He, bestows goodness without looking at the attribute of strict justice and not according to people's merit, but solely out of Supernal Charity. Under the ordinary conduct of the world, the Holy One, Blessed is He, acts according to what is fitting and deserved by a person: sometimes he deserves good and Hashem channels goodness to him, and sometimes the attribute of justice demands judgment and strict decrees are brought upon him. Here, however, we are speaking of the channeling of goodness without regard to a person's standing, without calculating debits and credits - and this is Supernal Charity, which is always an unlimited outpouring.
In contrast, when it reaches below, there is the level of Malchut (Sovereignty). Malchut is the lowest sefirah, and its role is to allot and apportion: if it is deserved, you receive; if it is not deserved, you do not receive. That is why it is called the "mistress of the house" (akeret habayit), the apportioner and channel; it has nothing of its own, but receives and dispenses an allotment as required by the conduct of law and judgment. In the Supernal Charity, however, everything is pure loving-kindness, all boundless giving. And this is "and they will sing joyfully of Your righteousness" - they will sing and proclaim that everything Hashem does with us is from the realm of Supernal Charity, bestowing all goodness upon us.
And what is the meaning of "yabi'u" (they shall express)? The Malbim states: expression (haba'ah) is speech that springs from the wellspring of ideas, from the very source of thought. If "sichah" (ordinary speech or conversation) is external speech, "lehabi" (to express or well forth) emerges from the inner depths - springing forth from the source of one's concepts. Therefore, "they shall express the memory of Your abundant goodness" - they will contemplate and discern that it is out of Your abundant goodness that You bring about that very good, even though it appears to us as strict judgment and an awesome, frightening thing.
In these three pesukim, Dovid HaMelech contrasts two spiritual levels. The masses gradually discover the wisdom of nature from generation to generation, marveling at it as though declaring something brand new, and they perceive Hashem's awesome deeds as a terrifying might that instills fear of punishment. In contrast, Dovid, to whom the reality of the Creator is as clear as the sun, is not even astonished by miracles, but speaks of them as casual, familiar conversation; and in everything that appears to be judgment and punishment, he sees "Your greatness" - the loving-kindness and boundless influence. Ultimately, they too will arrive at this realization: they will express from the depth of understanding "the memory of Your abundant goodness," recognizing that everything stems from the abundance of His goodness, and they will sing with joy over the Supernal Charity that bestows goodness far beyond what is deserved. And since we recognize this goodness, we must also recount and publicize His wonders, just like one who brings a Thanksgiving Offering (Korban Todah), thereby magnifying the honor of Heaven.