לְדָוִד בְּשַׁנּוֹתוֹ אֶת־טַעְמוֹ לִפְנֵי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וַיְגָרְשֵׁהוּ וַיֵּלַךְ׃ - Of David, when he disguised his sanity before Avimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.
To understand this psalm, we must begin with the narrative in I Samuel, chapter 21: "David arose and fled that day from Saul, and came to Achish, king of Gath." When Saul pursued David, David had nowhere left to stay anywhere in Eretz Yisrael, leaving him no choice but to flee beyond the borders of the land, to Achish, king of Gath.
"And the servants of Achish said to him: Is this not David, the king of the land? Is it not for this one that they sang in dances, saying: 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" The servants of Achish said to their king: Why are you letting him enter? This is David from the neighboring kingdom, the king of the land, about whom they sang in dances, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." Surely he has come here to spy and wage war against you!
"And David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish, king of Gath." David began to fear: I fled from Saul, but here I am living on borrowed time - who knows, they might arrest me and imprison me here as well, and then my situation would be even worse. "So he feigned madness before their eyes, acted deranged in their hands, scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down his beard." He made himself appear insane, like a fool, scribbled on the gate doors, and let drool drip onto his beard like a mentally incapacitated person.
"And Achish said to his servants: Look, you see the man is acting crazy! Why bring him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act crazy before me? Shall this fellow come into my house?" You see a madman and bring him before the king? Chazal tell us that both Achish's wife and daughter suffered from madness, which is why he said: I already have my own madmen at home; do I lack lunatics that you must import another one from outside? Thus they dismissed him, and David was saved from Achish, king of Gath. For this salvation, David sings, gives thanks, lauds, and praises the Creator, may He be blessed.
The Malbim explains: In this psalm, David explains how Hashem's individual Divine Providence (Hashgachah Pratit) hovers over the righteous, guarding them and rescuing them from every harm, and especially how the Holy One, Blessed be He, is near to hear the prayer of those who trust in Him, answering them and delivering them. Likewise, in this psalm he teaches us the essence of the fear of Hashem (Yirat Hashem). For the fact that Avimelech drove him away rather than heeding the advice of his servants to put him to death was a matter of Divine Providence, something supernatural, showing how closely Hashem's providence attends to those who fear Him and how He listens to the voice of their prayer.
Yet this raises an apparent question: Why does it say "before Avimelech"? After all, the narrative speaks of Achish, king of Gath! Rashi explains: All Philistine kings were called by this title, just as all Egyptian kings were called Pharaoh. Pharaoh was not a single specific individual's personal name, but the dynastic title: each king had his own personal name, but the royal title was Pharaoh. So too here: the overarching title was Avimelech - as we already saw in the days of Avraham - while his personal name was Achish.
And why does he refer to him specifically by the general title rather than his personal name? Chazal explain in Midrash Aggadah: Because he acted righteously, like Avimelech. That same Avimelech in the Torah, in the narrative of Sarah, said, "Will You slay even a righteous nation?" - and here too, Achish, king of Gath, acted righteously; for even though his men said to him, "Is this not David, the king of the land?", he did not kill him, but spared him. Because he conducted himself righteously like Avimelech, he was called by his name.
And what is the meaning of et ta'amo ("his sanity")? Ibn Ezra explains: Ta'am refers to his heart, his intellect, and his reason, as in "those who answer with sense (ta'am)" - words of reason, words of sense. David disguised his sense, feigning to be a man devoid of intellect. It should also be noted that the psalm is structured according to the Hebrew alphabet (an acrostic); as the Radak notes, any psalm that held special significance to David, he arranged according to the order of the aleph-bet.
אֲבָרְכָה אֶת־יְהֹוָה בְּכָל־עֵת תָּמִיד תְּהִלָּתוֹ בְּפִי׃ - I will bless Hashem at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
At first glance, "at all times" and "continually" seem repetitive. The Midrash explains: this is what Scripture means in Kohelet (3:11), "He has made everything beautiful in its time" - even madness has its fitting time. Everything that Hashem makes is wonderful, and even madness, which seems to possess no good, was made fitting in its time. This is the meaning of "Of David, when he disguised his sanity before Avimelech": he made himself appear insane, feigned madness, and wrote on the doors, "Achish king of Gat owes me a million gold coins." That is what he wrote on the gate doors - so they would understand he was completely mad, so no one would think any shred of sense remained in him, but that he was speaking utter nonsense. This occurred following a question David had once asked: Why was madness created? And behold, Hashem made everything beautiful in its time, and even the madman serves a purpose in the world, for David himself needed to act foolishly in order to be saved.
"I will bless Hashem at all times" - whether in times of prosperity or in times of hardship, I thank, praise, and laud Hashem. Why? Because even if one might argue that this is bad and what is there to give thanks for, I believe that the ultimate purpose of adversity is for the good: "Whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good." "His praise shall continually be in my mouth" - I praise Him continually for His providence, His goodness, and His lovingkindness. Consequently, misfortune cannot happen to me by chance, for "His praise shall continually be in my mouth" means that I am cleaving to Him, and one who cleaves to the Creator is guided by Divine Providence. When Divine Providence is present, I am not abandoned to nature and chance; rather, everything that happens to me comes from Hashem, and Hashem is absolute goodness, and no evil descends from Heaven. Therefore, even what appears to be bad must inherently be good - and the reason is that I am attached to Hashem, and it is impossible that He would bring evil upon me contrary to His praise that is ever in my mouth.
בַּיהֹוָה תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי יִשְׁמְעוּ עֲנָוִים וְיִשְׂמָחוּ׃ - In Hashem my soul shall glory; the humble will hear and rejoice.
Notice the structure: Avarcha begins with the letter Alef, Ba'Hashem with Bet, and so forth in alphabetical order. And what is "In Hashem my soul shall glory"? Not only do I bless Him, but my soul takes pride in Him: I have the Holy One, blessed be He; there is Someone in Heaven Who loves me and watches over me, and my soul emanates and is drawn from Him, blessed be He, and is a part of Him.
Yet on the surface, there is a difficulty here: glorying or boasting is a form of pride, the very opposite of humility - so how can it say, "the humble will hear and rejoice"? To this, David says: this boasting will not be considered pride on my part. On the contrary, precisely the humble, who recoil from all pride, will rejoice in it and commend me.
The Malbim explains: although all self-glorification is abhorrent to the humble, taking pride and glorying in Hashem, blessed be He, is praiseworthy in his eyes, in the sense of "and his heart was elevated in the ways of Hashem." This is the point: here, humility and pride converge in the soul and become one, both leading to a single purpose. For in what do I take pride? In the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over me - and this itself is complete humility, since I am declaring that I am nothing, I occupy no space of my own; Hashem directs and leads me, and everything that happens to me is from Him. I boast - but I boasted that I am nothing, and the ultimate purpose of this pride is humility.
Indeed, a person cannot truly say "Hashem leads me" if he still considers himself something, if he still views himself as independent, acting, and achieving. In speech, one can claim anything without limit, but who can genuinely utter such a truth? Only one who no longer occupies space for his ego, one who has stripped away physicality. And what greater humility is there? For the very essence of pride is "I am here, I exist, I am something," whereas when I take pride in saying that Hashem guides me, it means I am nothing. Therefore, it is permissible to glory in saying that Hashem guides me: this does not contradict humility; rather, this is the very essence of humility, as Avraham said, "and I am dust and ashes." This humility arises when a person cleaves to the Infinite, blessed be He, and completely nullifies himself; hence, this is a praiseworthy glorying that the humble hear and rejoice in.
The Radak explains differently: when I succeed, who will rejoice in my success? Only the humble, for the arrogant were David's enemies - Doeg, Achitophel, and all the haughty. David says: when they hear that I have succeeded, only the humble will rejoice, while the arrogant will not.
גַּדְּלוּ לַיהֹוָה אִתִּי וּנְרוֹמְמָה שְׁמוֹ יַחְדָּו׃ - Declare the greatness of Hashem with me, and let us exalt His Name together.
Here the Malbim offers a wonderful explanation. Seemingly, "magnify" and "exalt" are the same thing. Why, then, regarding greatness does it say "with me" (iti), while regarding exaltation it says "together" (yachdav)? Why not "Magnify Hashem together" or "Let us exalt His name with me"?
Rather, in Lashon HaKodesh there is a distinction between gadol ("great") and ram ("exalted" or "lofty"), even though they are sometimes used as synonyms. Ram denotes something high that cannot be grasped or seized, like the loftiness of the heavens above - the heavens are lofty and unreachable. Gadol, on the other hand, means that the entity starts from below and extends all the way upward. We would never use the term gadol for something hovering detached in the sky; gadol reaches from the earth to the heavens, like a tower that begins below and reaches high above.
The nations of the world defined the Holy One, blessed be He, as ram. Why? Because they essentially wanted to say that Hashem does not supervise the world: He is exalted, He is in the heavens, elevated far above everything that happens here, unconcerned with and uninvolved in what transpires down below. Thus says the verse: "High above all nations is Hashem; His glory is above the heavens" - to the nations He is lofty, His glory is confined to the heavens, and what occurs here is seemingly unseen and unguided. But Am Yisrael maintain that Hashem is gadol. What does this mean? Something great, such as a structure one hundred meters tall, is accessible: each person can touch it according to his reach - one at one meter, another at two meters, and another at fifty meters. The "great" is attainable to each person according to his stature, whereas the "lofty" is beyond anyone's grasp. So too, we proclaim that Hashem is great: His providence extends from the highest realms all the way down, and everyone perceives Him according to their level. This is the meaning of "Hashem is great in Zion" - to us He is great - "and He is exalted above all the peoples."
The Malbim asks: Is what the nations say untrue? Is Hashem not ram? Certainly He is exalted, and we ourselves mention this many times: "High and exalted, dwelling forever," "Lofty above all that is lofty." In His own essence Hashem is undeniably exalted, and intellect indeed dictates that One Who is so lofty would seemingly not be involved with what occurs here. Nonetheless, David argues: Experience proves that He is great. Intellectually I agree with you that Hashem is exalted, but the facts speak for themselves - Hashem watches over each person according to his perception, and to the degree that a person grasps the Holy One, blessed be He, so Hashem exercises providence over him. The proof: we cry out to Him, and He answers.
Now the verse is explained wonderfully: "Magnify Hashem with me" - you must concede to my perception that Hashem is great, for you see that He watches over us, and when I call to Him, He answers me. "And let us exalt His name together" - I too agree with you that in His true essence, blessed be He, He is exalted beyond all human comprehension, supreme, high, and lofty. But the notion of "lofty and unconcerned" is false: He is exalted, yet He still exercises providence, because He is also great.
דָּרַשְׁתִּי אֶת־יְהֹוָה וְעָנָנִי וּמִכָּל־מְגוּרוֹתַי הִצִּילָנִי׃ - I sought Hashem, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Here is the proof: from the reality of my life and from the providence I have witnessed, it is evident that Hashem is great. Not only did He rescue me from the specific distress over which I prayed - "I sought Hashem, and He answered me" - but afterward He looked upon me to save me "from all my fears" (megurotai), meaning from all the things that terrify me, from the root of "what I dreaded" (asher yagorti). Radak explains: this encompasses even more than deliverance from the dread of Shaul, who sent men to his house to kill him and hurled the spear at him several times.
In other words: Hashem answered me regarding what I requested, and He also rescued me from all my dreads regarding which I had not prayed at all, since I was unaware of the impending danger. I went to sleep not knowing that assassins were coming to kill me, and suddenly it became clear that Shaul was pursuing me, and I escaped through the window. I had not prepared for a spear being hurled at me, yet from Heaven I was granted the alertness to dodge at that exact moment and be spared. Thus, the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over me with complete providence, even regarding dangers I did not anticipate or ask about - and this is the way of the Master of complete kindness, says the Malbim: His supervision is utterly complete.
הִבִּיטוּ אֵלָיו וְנָהָרוּ וּפְנֵיהֶם אַל־יֶחְפָּרוּ׃ - They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
The Malbim explains: When a person looks for help from flesh and blood, he looks either upward or downward. Upward - to the stars and celestial constellations, to the forces of nature. Downward - to human beings: this person will help me, that one promised to resolve the issue, a third claimed to have connections, and a fourth said he is already taking care of it. And one who looks upward, toward the chief of all natural causes, which is the sun - what does he gain from it? His eyes will be blinded from staring at the sun - salvation will not come from there, and he might even lose his eyesight. And one who looks downward, toward human beings - his face will turn red with shame. First, the very act of begging is inherently humiliating and unpleasant; second, when the person refuses him, the shame is doubled. Had he asked and received, at least he would have gained something; but when he asks and is turned away empty-handed, he has suffered both humiliation and rejection - he demeaned himself by coming as a beggar, and in the end, he received no help at all.
However, for one who turns to the Holy One, blessed be He, this is not the case. "They looked to Him and were radiant": not like one who gazes at the sun, whose eyes are darkened by its brightness, but on the contrary, light and radiance shall be upon him. "And their faces will not be ashamed": not like the way of flesh and blood, from whom comes only humiliation, but one who looks to Hashem will not have his face disgraced - in the sense of "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed" - but rather he will receive his salvation from Hashem.
And what is the meaning of "venaharu"? According to the Malbim, as well as Rashi and Ibn Ezra, it is related to light (naharah), as in "neither let the light shine upon it." The Radak explains it from the root of a river (nahar) - to run swiftly, as in "and they shall stream to the goodness of Hashem": just as a person runs to a fortress or a refuge to be safe and rescued, so too they look to Hashem and run toward Him, and they will not be disappointed in their trust, for ultimately Hashem will save them.
זֶה עָנִי קָרָא וַיהֹוָה שָׁמֵעַ וּמִכָּל־צָרוֹתָיו הוֹשִׁיעוֹ׃ - This poor man cried, and Hashem heard, and saved him from all his troubles.
Those who looked to Hashem will not have their faces put to shame, for they will say: Look at this poor man who cried out, and Hashem heard him. Even though he is poor, and even though he is a lone individual, neither a prominent figure nor a renowned tzaddik, Hashem listened to him. And not only did He deliver him from the specific trouble over which he cried out, but "saved him from all his troubles."
חֹנֶה מַלְאַךְ־יְהֹוָה סָבִיב לִירֵאָיו וַיְחַלְּצֵם׃ - The angel of Hashem encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them.
From here one can deduce a kal vachomer: If Hashem heard a lone poor man and saved him from all his troubles, all the more so for those who fear Him - who do not even need to cry out from distress, for the angel of Hashem, the emissary of Divine Providence, constantly encamps around them like an armed legion.
And what is the meaning of "vayechaletzem"? There are two explanations of this. The Malbim interprets it from the expression chalutzei tzava (armed vanguard troops): He equips them as armed soldiers, so that this angel appears as a camp of vanguard warrior angels stationed to guard them from all harm. According to contemporary Hebrew usage, the meaning of "extrication" or rescue is more readily understood - just as one extracts a cork, Hashem draws them out of their distress. Indeed, this is how the Metzudat David explains it: the angel of Hashem encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them from their distress.
The Malbim further adds that there is an allusion here to the men who joined David: when he fled from Achish, king of Gat, to the Cave of Adullam, men gathered around him who were God-fearing and equipped as warriors for battle. This is the meaning of "The angel of Hashem encamps around those who fear Him and equips/rescues them" - that the Holy One, blessed be He, also sends them armed troops to save them; that is, both angels and agents of Divine Providence in the form of the men who rallied to his side.
Psalm 34 was composed concerning David's deliverance from Achish, king of Gat, who is called Avimelech as the generic title for all Philistine kings, and in the Midrash, because he acted with righteousness like the original Avimelech and did not put him to death. This deliverance, which came specifically through feigning insanity and acting like a madman, taught that even folly was created for a purpose, and "He has made everything beautiful in its time." From this, David establishes the foundation of the psalm: "I will bless Hashem at all times" - in good times and bad alike, for one who clings to the Creator and whose mouth is constantly filled with His praise is not subject to chance or nature, and everything that befalls him is for the good. Boasting in Hashem is not arrogance but the pinnacle of humility, for one who glories in Hashem being his guide acknowledges that on his own he is nothing, and therefore "the humble will hear and rejoice." "Declare the greatness of Hashem with me, and let us exalt His name together": it is true that Hashem is exalted and transcendent in His essence, but reality demonstrates that He is also great - grasping and watching over each person according to his level. The proof lies in personal experience: "I sought Hashem, and He answered me," and He even rescued me "from all my terrors" that I was not even aware of, as is the way of the complete practitioner of loving-kindness. Therefore, fortunate is one who looks to Hashem and not to the sun, nor to flesh and blood - he merits radiance, and his face will not be ashamed; and if Hashem answered a lone poor man who cried out, all the more so does the angel of Hashem encamp around those who fear Him and deliver them from every trouble.