The Malbim opens Chapter 37 with a brief introduction: this psalm addresses the virtue of a person who trusts in Hashem compared to one who does not. Here, David HaMelech confronts one of the most troubling questions of the heart - the sight of the wicked prospering - and demonstrates that true success, in all its dimensions, is ultimately the portion of the one who trusts in Hashem.
לְדָוִד אַל־תִּתְחַר בַּמְּרֵעִים אַל־תְּקַנֵּא בְּעֹשֵׂי עַוְלָה׃ - Of David: Do not be vexed by evildoers; do not envy those who act unjustly.
A person who sees the success of the wicked is prone to one of two reactions. The first is that he sees how wicked they are and what evil deeds they commit, and he becomes incensed; anger burns within him toward the wrongdoers. The second, which is far more dangerous, is envy: "Look how successful he is, how he rides the waves of fortune" - and the moment you feel envious, you already desire to be like them.
Against the first reaction, it is said: "Do not be vexed by evildoers" - meaning, do not let your anger burn over their success. "Titchar" stems from the root of "vayichar apo" (his anger burned), where the letter tav is the prefix of the hitpa'el form, like titlabesh, titratzeh, or titrachetz. The Radak offers an additional explanation: that the tav is part of the root itself, as in "why should you compete with evil," related to what we call today competition and rivalry. According to this, the tav is a root letter rather than a mere prefix. And against the second reaction, it is said: "Do not envy those who act unjustly" - do not covet to be like them.
כִּי כֶחָצִיר מְהֵרָה יִמָּלוּ וּכְיֶרֶק דֶּשֶׁא יִבּוֹלוּן׃ - For like grass they will quickly wither, and like green herb they will fade.
In response to "Do not be vexed," the verse replies: "For like grass they will quickly wither." "Yimalu" means they will be severed, as in "for I will cut them off" (ki amilam), and like the term mohel, who severs the foreskin. So too an ant (nemalah) is named because it nips the grain of wheat - for a grain has a tiny sprout from which growth begins, and the ant severs it so that an entire forest does not sprout inside its underground storehouses. The Malbim explains: grass does not endure long; it dries up before all other weeds. It is a pity to waste energy on anger - shortly you will see that everything withers, and nothing of it will remain.
And in response to "Do not envy," the verse answers: "And like green herb they will fade." One might say: Granted that he will fall in the future, but right now he is prospering! To this, Scripture replies that even now, this is not true success. The green herb begins to wither while still in its prime; at the peak of its growth, dryness already sets in. "Yibolun" is an expression of decay and fading. So it is with their success - even at its height, rot is already festering within it.
In truth, anyone who reflects will see this. Even when the wicked person seems to prosper - how bitter and miserable is his environment, the reality of his life, his lack of faith, and his inner dread of falling (as discussed at length in Sefer Iyov). What seems like success to you - examine it closely from within. It is like Hollywood actors: you see a photograph of a smiling, blissful person, yet everyone knows how much rot, intrigue, and muck exist beneath the surface, with never a moment of peace; afterward, one hears of suicides, of endless divorces. A story was once told of an actress who had been divorced ten times; it was quipped that her former husbands alone could form a minyan. Truly, how much happiness is there in such a life? A glamorous veneer on top, and rot down below. And this is without even mentioning substance abuse, as they must constantly maintain a "high," a sense of vitality, and the feeling that they are thrilling the crowd - and everyone knows where that leads, with no need to mention names. When one reads about the lives of these people, there is nothing to admire; there is only reason to pity them.
בְּטַח בַּיהֹוָה וַעֲשֵׂה־טוֹב שְׁכׇן־אֶרֶץ וּרְעֵה אֱמוּנָה׃ - Trust in Hashem and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
The kamatz in the word "shechon" is a kamatz katan, which is why it is pronounced "shechon eretz." From here onward, the Malbim enumerates the reasons why the success of one who trusts in Hashem is true success.
First - "And do good." When the wicked ride the waves of success, they use it for evil. But for one who trusts in Hashem - his success leads him to do good. The Malbim explains: One of the conditions of true success is that the successful person knows his deeds are good and that he is worthy of success. Part of success is the knowledge, "I am doing the right thing." This explains what was once discussed regarding why the Torah makes a person truly happy: normally, a person does not know whether what he is doing is right or not, but if one follows the Torah, every deed receives validation and approval. And one whose actions are approved and confirmed is truly joyful. You put on tefillin? You received a seal of approval. True happiness lies in knowing you are doing the right thing. The greatest pain stems precisely from indecision and doubts, from that which eats away at a person from within and gives him no rest - am I acting correctly or not?
Second - "Dwell in the land." In order to succeed, evildoers must cross seas and rivers, seeking success abroad and in all kinds of distant places. But you have no need for this: right where you are - there the Holy One, blessed be He, will provide your sustenance. As Chazal recount regarding a person who left his home and his land to travel to another city due to livelihood difficulties; in one version it was a Kohen who taught his wife how to inspect tzara'as blemishes, telling her that each hair has its own follicle, to which she replied: "If the Holy One, blessed be He, provided a follicle for every single hair, would He not provide a source of livelihood for you - a human being? Why must you set out on the road?" (And in the days of the Gemara, this meant traveling by ship and mortal danger). He listened to her, stayed, and received his livelihood right there in that place.
There is another story, recounted, it seems, in Chovos HaLevavos: A man moved to another city and met someone who believed in an idolatrous faith, and began trying to convince him of the true God. The other man asked him, "And what are you doing here?" He replied, "I lived in such-and-such place where earning a living was difficult, so I came here." The other said to him, "Your actions contradict your words! You just said you believe in the true God Who rules over the entire world and sees everything - does He not know your address over there, that you had to relocate here to make a living?" He took a great lesson from this. A slap in the face from someone who does not share your faith, who tells you: you are contradicting yourself.
For this reason, the Ramban finds fault with Avraham Avinu's descent to Egypt: if Hashem brought you here, to the land that I will show you, He will feed and sustain you here; why did you need to go down to Egypt and put yourself and your wife in mortal danger? One who trusts in Hashem knows that God is everywhere. There is a story told of a Jew, perhaps with the Satmar Rebbe, who came to say that he lived in Poland, making a living was difficult, and he wanted to travel to America. The Rebbe told him: "No problem, just do me a favor - when you arrive in America, send my regards to the God of America." The man opened his eyes wide: "What does that mean, the God of America? Is the God here not the same God there?" The Rebbe replied, "Oh, the same God? If so, why do you need to travel to America? He Who knows how to provide for you there knows how to provide for you here as well. He knows your address; you do not need to send Him a change-of-address form."
Third - "And graze on faith." One who does not trust in Hashem lives in constant fear: what if the food runs out, what if there is not enough, what will happen in so-and-so many years, what will happen to the pension? Thus you see people like "mice lying on golden dinars" - hoarders who store up wealth and never enjoy their money. But you - "and graze on faith": you are like a lamb grazing in the mountains, completely unconcerned that the pasture might run out, trusting that the mountains will yield their grass and hay. You graze out of faith, without fear or worry about the future. And Rashi explains "graze on faith" - you will eat and be sustained from the reward of the faith with which you trusted in the Holy One, blessed be He, to rely on Him and do good; your very source of livelihood is the fact that you relied on Hashem.
וְהִתְעַנַּג עַל־יְהֹוָה וְיִתֶּן־לְךָ מִשְׁאֲלֹת לִבֶּךָ׃ - Delight in Hashem, and He will grant you the desires of your heart.
Fourth - Delight. Your delight is a spiritual pleasure in Hashem. By contrast, as the Malbim notes regarding evildoers, their souls are grieved because that which could revive their soul is far from them. How true this is: all those in the high-society celebrity circles who appear happy to us - it is all purely external. They have worldly desires, certainly; but "delight in Hashem," which is spiritual joy, the soul's wholeness and the attainment of godliness - that they certainly do not possess. Look at the melancholy of such people; they sustain entire industries of psychologists and psychiatrists. A person was healthy until success went to his head. With the wicked - and most of them are wicked, which is why they serve as the example - that which restores the soul is far from them; but one who trusts in Hashem delights in Him and possesses true spiritual happiness rather than coarse pleasures.
Fifth - The desires of the heart. Evildoers never attain their heart's desires, for "one who has a hundred desires two hundred." One might say: look, he aspired and achieved it! What "achieved"? He has a hundred and wants two hundred. It is told that the manager of the Beatles committed suicide and left a note saying, "I had everything, and I had nothing." If you had everything, you should have been the happiest man alive! But when someone has everything and discovers it does not satisfy - what is left to aspire to? Every person must have something to strive for; if one has nothing to strive toward, he loses his taste for life, and it is the end of the story.
A man once told his son - cited in the name of Eliyahu Kitov, author of Sefer HaToda'ah: "I wish for you to always be number two in your class." That is a true blessing. And so did Chana pray: "the seed of men" - one who blends in among people, not "number one." For if you are number one, you think: who is like me? Why make an effort? No one challenges me. But number two - someone is always challenging you, you always have to strive, you always have something to reach for. When a person aspires, he is truly alive. Yet the pursuit of physical materialism is never satisfying; it is like saltwater - you drink and are not quenched, but only become thirstier. In contrast, for one who trusts in Hashem - "and He will grant you the desires of your heart," the Holy One, blessed be He, arranges and grants your deepest needs.
גּוֹל עַל־יְהֹוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ וּבְטַח עָלָיו וְהוּא יַעֲשֶׂה׃ - Commit your way to Hashem, trust in Him, and He will act.
Sixth - The way. One who lacks trust does not know which pathways will yield his livelihood, so he is forced to seek out many paths: trying his hand here, experimenting there, hearing of an investment in one place and perhaps another. Rashi explains gol - roll your path onto Hashem. And the Malbim explains: there is a destination, and there is a way. The destination is the goal, and the way is the means by which one reaches the goal. One who does not trust does not know the right way to reach his desired destination; but for you who trust - Hashem will take care of your way as well: "trust in Him, and He will act" - He will prepare the vessels and the pathways through which you will be sustained and receive abundance.
And as a humorous play on words (not to be confused with the words of the Malbim): there are those whose entire "desires of the heart" and all their "delight" is - a goal! That is all they are chasing. King David comes and says: "Roll [Gol] your way upon Hashem" - do not chase after that kind of goal; roll your path onto Hashem, trust in Him, and He will act.
וְהוֹצִיא כָאוֹר צִדְקֶךָ וּמִשְׁפָּטֶךָ כַּצׇּהֳרָיִם׃ - And He will bring forth your righteousness like the light, and your justice like the noonday sun.
Seventh - publicity. Evildoers are forced to carry out their deeds in the dark, for if their actions were known, shame and disgrace would overtake them for the wickedness of their deeds. But you, whose deeds are deeds of charity and kindness, Hashem brings them to light - "And He will bring forth your righteousness like the light." Acts of kindness and charity bring honor, not disgrace, when made public. Woe to the wicked if Hashem brings to light what they did in the dark.
And likewise, "and your justice like the noonday sun": the wicked fear judges, dreading that judgment will be executed upon them - Case 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 might be opened; in Ma'asiyahu Prison we already have a complete shadow government, a prime minister, a finance minister, and whatever else you want - all ready to go right to work. But with you, on the contrary, judgment illuminates: who will pass judgment on you? The trial only brings your righteousness to light, for you have done only good things, and you have no fear that the verdict will present you in a negative light.
דּוֹם לַיהֹוָה וְהִתְחוֹלֵל לוֹ אַל־תִּתְחַר בְּמַצְלִיחַ דַּרְכּוֹ בְּאִישׁ עֹשֶׂה מְזִמּוֹת׃ - Be silent before Hashem and wait patiently for Him; do not fret over one who prospers in his way, over a man who carries out schemes.
What is the meaning of dom ("be silent")? The Radak explains that it is related to hochil and kaveh (wait and hope), as in the phrase, "Wait (domu) until we come to you" - wait and look forward until we arrive. Rashi explains more simply: dom is from the root of demamah (silence) - be quiet, remain still, and wait for the Holy One, Blessed be He, as in "Hashem will fight for you, and you shall remain silent." He also cites Menachem's explanation of "And Aharon remained silent (vayidom)," and similarly explains "It is good that one should wait and be silent (vedumam)" - that one should be still, wait, and keep silent. Dunash ben Labrat, who was a great grammarian, also agrees with Menachem on this point.
And "and wait patiently for Him" (vehischoleil lo) - according to one explanation brought by the Radak, it is from the root of tochelet (hope, yearning), as in "and they waited (vayaychilu) until they were ashamed," and "and he waited (vayaychel) yet another seven days." According to another explanation, it is from the root of chil kayoledah ("trembling like a woman in labor") and "shuddering seized him": that is, endure the pain and the travail until they pass, for the sake of Hashem, blessed be He. "Be silent before Hashem" - remain quiet, endure the affliction, and wait for the salvation of Hashem.
The Malbim explains that here the verse comes to say: even when you cannot find enough for your livelihood, and you argue - "Did You not tell me to 'commit your way to Hashem' and 'trust in Him and He will act'?" - even then, do not become incensed at the evildoers. Rather, "be silent before Hashem and wait patiently for Him," hope and yearn for Hashem. And if you see a wicked person who prospers in his way due to his fortune (mazal), do not be dismayed; his fortune currently indicates success, but ultimately we will see where he ends up and where I end up. And there is a wicked person who succeeds through the power of his schemes, being a master strategist with deep calculations - do not contend with him either. Not only with "one who prospers in his way" through fortune, but also with "a man who devises schemes" who succeeds through the power of his cunning.
הֶרֶף מֵאַף וַעֲזֹב חֵמָה אַל־תִּתְחַר אַךְ־לְהָרֵעַ׃ - Desist from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret, it leads only to evil.
The Malbim explains: even though success seems far from you, do not be angry with the Holy One, Blessed be He - let go of anger (af). And also "forsake wrath" (chemah). And what is the difference between af and chemah? The Malbim explained this in many places, for instance in Megillat Esther, where it says of Achashverosh both "his anger burned" (charah apo) and "his wrath blazed within him" (vachamato ba'arah vo). Chemah is always internal rage, while af is external anger. The physical manifestation of af is in a red nose (the literal meaning of af) - "For a fire is kindled in My nostril"; when a person is angry, his face flushes and it is as though steam issues from his nostrils. And chemah is worse, for it is internal and therefore burns much hotter: external anger vents outward and thereby subsides and fades, but when it remains inside - and sometimes a person cannot release it because it would be uncomfortable to do so - he has no way to extinguish it, and it consumes him from within.
"Do not fret, it leads only to evil" - know that this anger will bring nothing but harm to yourself. It is better for you to be poor and trusting than to be wealthy and lacking trust. If you were offered two choices: to be poor and trust in Hashem, or to switch paths - walking in the way of the wicked without trusting in Hashem, but possessing your own wealth - it is far better for you to be poor and trusting in Hashem. And if you ask why, seeing that things are good for him right now? Because the end of a matter is better than its beginning; we have already seen that his success is temporary, "For they shall soon be cut down like grass," "and wither like the green herb."
כִּי־מְרֵעִים יִכָּרֵתוּן וְקֹוֵי יְהֹוָה הֵמָּה יִירְשׁוּ־אָרֶץ׃ - For evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in Hashem, they shall inherit the land.
The evildoers will ultimately be cut off, and those who hope in Hashem will inherit the land that the evildoers leave behind. To whom did Haman's estate go? To Mordechai. Here you have it: "evildoers will be cut off" - that is Haman; "and those who hope in Hashem, they shall inherit the land" - that is Mordechai, who inherited his land and his house. From this, one can understand that there is no reason to be shaken by the fleeting success of a wicked person, nor should one feel anger toward Hashem: "Why does he succeed while I, who trust in Hashem, falter?"
Rashi explains this differently: "Desist from anger" - desist from acting wickedly, so that divine anger does not come upon you. Do not say, "I too will act as the wicked do so that I may succeed like them," for if you act wickedly, Hashem's wrath will fall upon you. "And forsake wrath" - abandon the deeds that bring the wrath of the Creator, blessed be He, upon you.
And Ibn Ezra explains: If you become angry that he is wealthy and you are not, sometimes out of anger a person acts to harm his fellow. Regarding this it is said, "Desist from anger" - refrain from harming him; and "do not fret, it leads only to evil" - do not let your anger burn against him to the point where you go and harm him or bring him ruin. Rather, let go of your anger toward him, for ultimately this success is only temporary and will not endure forever.
In this psalm, King David teaches us not to be angry at the wicked and not to envy them: their success is like grass that is quickly cut down, like green vegetation that withers in its youth, and beneath the external luster lurks decay. In contrast, one who trusts in Hashem attains true success in every respect: his deeds are good and he knows he is worthy of success; he dwells securely in his place without needing to wander in pursuit of a livelihood, for the Holy One, Blessed be He, knows his address; he grazes on faith without anxiety and without hoarding; his delight is a soul-delight in Hashem; the desires of his heart are granted to him, whereas worldly cravings are never sated; his ways are also prepared for him by Hashem; and his deeds are brought to light, his vindication shining like the noonday sun. Therefore: be silent before Hashem and wait longingly for Him; desist from anger and forsake wrath - for evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in Hashem, they shall inherit the land.