Introduction
In this chapter, King David thanks the Holy One, blessed be He, for His salvation. Out of this thanksgiving, he comes to clarify two major matters: the place of the Torah within a person's inner being, and how one should publicize Hashem's kindnesses without it turning into self-glorification. At the end of the chapter, he returns to pray regarding his enemies and for his personal and collective salvation. We will follow the order of the verses according to the commentary of the Malbim, incorporating the words of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, the Radak, and the ethical teachings derived from them.
"And Your Torah Is Within My Innermost Parts" - The Torah Within Man's Inner Being
לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ אֱלֹהַי חָפָצְתִּי וְתוֹרָתְךָ בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָי׃ - "I have desired to do Your will, my God, and Your Torah is within my innermost parts."
According to Rashi, "and Your Torah is within my innermost parts" is meant literally: everything that enters my digestive tract is in accordance with Your Torah. That is to say, I am scrupulous with my food, eating only that which is kosher and prepared to the highest standard.
In this context, a story is told about Rebbe Bunim of Peshischa, who overheard several people debating at length whether a certain food was permitted or forbidden, kosher or not. In the course of their discussion, he noticed that their words also contained lashon hara and talebearing. He said to them: "Gentlemen, I see that you are very meticulous about what you put into your mouths - are you equally meticulous about what comes out of your mouths? It is very important that only kosher food enters the intestines, but it is no less important that no flawed speech exits the mouth."
Ibn Ezra explains that "Your Torah is within my innermost parts" means in secret - an expression signifying that the Torah is deeply internal to me, just as it says, "Eat this scroll," meaning to study it and bring it into one's very core. The Radak explains that "within my innermost parts" means within my heart, since the heart is included in the internal organs, and "innards" is a collective term for a person's inner being. The meaning is: the Torah is deposited deep within me; I do not divert my mind from it for a moment, and the thread of my thought is never severed from Torah study.
"I Proclaimed Righteousness in a Great Congregation" - Whom Do We Tell and for What Purpose
בִּשַּׂרְתִּי צֶדֶק בְּקָהָל רָב הִנֵּה שְׂפָתַי לֹא אֶכְלָא יְהֹוָה אַתָּה יָדָעְתָּ׃ - "I proclaimed righteousness in a great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips; Hashem, You know."
The Malbim has already pointed out that the sacrifice David brings does not stem merely from the requirement of the Torah, but from a genuine inner desire and thanksgiving to praise Hashem for His kindnesses. Now he comes and says: Even the fact that I recount this miracle before a great congregation should not be taken as an act of arrogance and pride, like one who says, "Look how many good deeds I did; I acted righteously and therefore Hashem helped me - 'I placed my hope in Hashem and He inclined toward me' - a sign that I am a person of stature; I was righteous and Hashem rewarded me."
On the contrary, says the Malbim, it is fitting for the wholehearted to conceal their righteousness and not boast of it before the masses, for when a person boasts of his righteousness, it is a sign that his righteousness is not for the sake of Heaven, but for the sake of the crowd. As noted on several occasions in the study of Rav Dessler's Michtav Me-Eliyahu, it is an obvious and simple principle that Olam Haba (the World to Come) is acquired only through performing mitzvot lishmah (for their own sake). This follows the ruling of the Rambam that to merit the World to Come, the deed must be performed for the sake of Heaven; if it is not for the sake of Heaven, it does not acquire the World to Come. Thus, it is precisely the hidden deeds that leave an enduring impression. Regarding this it was said that every single righteous person will be singed by his fellow's canopy (chupato), and in Novardok they would say: Do not read it as "his canopy" (chupato), but rather as "his concealment" (chipuyo) - each righteous person will be pained in the World Above and say: Why did I not conceal myself more? Why did I not cover my deeds more? Look, my fellow concealed himself more, and in that merit he attained a higher spiritual level.
If so, why did David publicize his righteousness? To this he says: "Behold, I will not restrain my lips" - I do not need to hold my lips back from speaking of this, even though it is usually better for a person to conceal his deeds, for "Hashem, You know" - You know that my intention is not to boast.
צִדְקָתְךָ לֹא כִסִּיתִי בְּתוֹךְ לִבִּי אֱמוּנָתְךָ וּתְשׁוּעָתְךָ אָמָרְתִּי לֹא כִחַדְתִּי חַסְדְּךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ לְקָהָל רָב׃ - I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not withheld Your kindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
"I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart" - the righteousness and charity You performed for me, I did not want to cover and hide deep within my heart; rather, I wanted everyone to know the righteous acts You perform, so that all may know Hashem's righteousness. "I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation" - my recounting of Your salvation is entirely intended to proclaim Your faithfulness: when I recount the salvations of Hashem, I bring people to emunah (faith). As the Chassidim explain on the verse "I have faith because I speak" - when a person wants to attain emunah, he must speak: speak of the deeds of Hashem, of His mighty acts and His guiding hand. By hearing that Hashem saves those who take refuge in Him, they will recognize that He watches over them as well, and that their salvations come from Him. Therefore, "I have not withheld Your kindness and Your truth from the great congregation" - since my intention is not self-glorification, I have no hesitation in proclaiming this before a large assembly, for I have not come to recount my own righteousness, but rather Your righteousness, that You save those who trust in You. I wanted Heaven's Name to be sanctified through this, and that people should come to place their trust in Hashem as a result.
Rashi explains "I announced righteousness" as referring to the Song at the Sea (Shirat HaYam), the Song at the Well (Shirat HaBe'er), and the Song of Deborah (Shirat Devorah). It seems Rashi inferred, perhaps homiletically, that "bisarti" (I announced) is related to "sharti" - "through my singing" (beshirati) - for all the examples he cites are songs of praise. "I announced righteousness in the great congregation" - I sang of Hashem's righteous acts done on our behalf before the multitude. And "behold, I did not restrain my lips" - I will not withhold my lips from speaking in praise of the Omnipresent, as in the phrase "do not withhold Your mercies" (lo tikhla), meaning do not hold back.
The Hidden Miracles - "Hashem, You Know"
The Me'am Lo'ez quotes an explanation in the name of Rabbi Yeivi: While there are four who must give thanks before a large congregation - those who traverse deserts, seafarers, those released from prison, and one who has recovered from illness, their mnemonic being v'chol ha-chayim yoducha selah ("and all the living shall praise You forever") - these are overt miracles for which thanks are offered publicly. To this, David adds: What requires public thanksgiving I have already proclaimed in the great assembly, but "I will not restrain my lips" - even for hidden miracles, I continually give thanks. Regarding this it is said, "Hashem, You know": only Hashem knows the hidden miracles, since they are not evident, as it is written, "To Him Who alone does great wonders" - "alone," meaning He alone knows, while man is unaware.
Concerning this we say: "Praise Hashem, all nations; laud Him, all peoples, for His kindness has overwhelmed us." Everyone asks: If His kindness overwhelmed us, the Jewish people should be the ones to praise and laud; why does it say, "Praise Hashem, all nations"? Rather, for the daily miracles done for us that we neither see nor hear about - who will offer praise? The nations. That terrorist who set out to prepare an explosive device and was blown up by his own bomb, with no one else knowing of it, and no one knowing what his schemes were or how they went awry - they will thank and praise Hashem for saving us, for they know what they plotted to do to us, while we walk innocently unaware of what we were saved from. This is a hidden miracle, and about this David says: "Hashem, You know" - I will not restrain my lips from speaking of the hidden miracles that only You know, as it says, "To Him Who alone does great wonders," for the beneficiary of a miracle does not recognize his own miracle. Therefore, at every single moment I will not hold back my lips from thanking You - because right now You surely performed a miracle for me, right now I have salvation, and right now You bestow kindness upon me.
אַתָּה יְהֹוָה לֹא תִכְלָא רַחֲמֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי חַסְדְּךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ תָּמִיד יִצְּרוּנִי׃ - You, Hashem, do not withhold Your compassion from me; let Your kindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
"You, Hashem, do not withhold Your compassion from me" - reckon this to my credit, and save me on account of it. The Malbim explains that Hashem saves a person through one of three avenues: from the attribute of mercy (rachamim) - when Hashem sees an unfortunate, poor, and downtrodden person, He takes pity on him and saves him; from the attribute of kindness (chesed) - doing kindness with him and saving him even if he is not downtrodden; or from the attribute of truth (emet).
"May They Be Ashamed and Confounded" - The Levels of Shame
יֵבֹשׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ יַחַד מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי לִסְפּוֹתָהּ יִסֹּגוּ אָחוֹר וְיִכָּלְמוּ חֲפֵצֵי רָעָתִי׃ - May those who seek my soul to destroy it be ashamed and confounded together; may those who desire my harm be driven backward and humiliated.
Through this salvation the enemies will be ashamed, those who seek my life: when they see that You are with me, and that they lack the power to carry out their plans to harm me, they will experience shame. Here he wished, threatened, and plotted, yet ultimately turned back just as he came, unable to harm me in the least; in this he will suffer great disgrace. The Malbim adds: "Those who desire my harm" refers to those who hate me secretly - though they do not actively come to kill me, their hatred is internal and suppressed, and they merely yearn for evil to befall me; they too will be driven back and disgraced.
The Malbim explains that in Lashon HaKodesh there is a distinction between "yevoshu" (they will be ashamed) and "yachperu" (they will be confounded/disgraced), as he elaborates in several places. Bushah (shame) is the feeling of shame a person experiences within himself; but lehachpir stems from cherpah (reproach) - cherpah and chefer are the same word with transposed letters, just as we find with salmah and simlah (garment), or keves and kesev (lamb) - and it means to suffer shame and scorn from others, when others insult and reproach him. And cherpah and hafira are greater than kelimah (humiliation). Therefore, David says: those who seek my life - who are the very worst - yachperu, they will suffer the greatest public reproach from others who will despise them; whereas those who merely desire my harm yikalmu, will be humiliated, for kelimah is less severe than cherpah. According to the measure of their evil will be the measure of their shame: the more they hate me, the greater their disgrace will be.
יָשֹׁמּוּ עַל עֵקֶב בָּשְׁתָּם הָאֹמְרִים לִי הֶאָח הֶאָח׃ - Let them be desolate on account of their shame, those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
Those who shame me as well, who spread slander about me and invent lies about me, saying, "Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen it!" - as we saw earlier in chapter 35, verse 21: "They opened wide their mouths against me; they said, 'Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen it!'" - as though they saw with their own eyes how David did evil and acted in such-and-such a manner, when it was all slander and utterly baseless lies - concerning them too I ask, Master of the Universe: "Let them be desolate on account of their shame." Yashomu ("let them be desolate") is an expression of desolation (shemamah), and ekev is like "because (ekev) you have listened to My voice," which means because of: as a consequence of their shaming me, let them be desolate.
Rashi explains "on account of (al ekev) their shame" - when they receive their shame on the heel (ekev), in the sense of footsteps (ikvot), like "and Your footsteps (ve'ikvotecha) were not known," "Go forth in the footsteps of the flock," which means the path of the foot. That is, measure for measure: in the very path they walked against me, so will be their shame, and from this, desolation and great disgrace will befall them - for what you sought to do to me, Hashem ultimately did to you.
"May all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You" - The Joy in the Seeking Itself
יָשִׂישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ בְּךָ כָּל מְבַקְשֶׁיךָ יֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד יִגְדַּל יְהֹוָה אֹהֲבֵי תְּשׁוּעָתֶךָ׃ - May all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let those who love Your salvation always say, "May Hashem be magnified!"
When they see that You save those who trust in You, all who seek You will rejoice and be glad in You. The Malbim explains that there is a difference between one who seeks Hashem and one who seeks other things: someone who seeks another goal does not rejoice in the asking itself, but only if he asked and obtained what he sought; but with You, Master of the Universe, even the "seekers" themselves rejoice, because the seeking itself is the goal and is the attainment of what is sought.
Let us explain: when I lack something, I ask for it. And if someone were to ask me what would be better, I would certainly say it would be better not to lack anything at all so that I would not need to ask. Is this also true for those who seek Hashem? Certainly not. For if I lacked nothing, I would not seek Hashem and would remain distant. On the contrary, seekers of Hashem look for ways to reach a state where they ask, because through the prayer and seeking, they attain closeness to God. When Hashem does not want someone to ask of Him, He gave dust to the serpent as its food: do not raise your head, I do not want to see you, do not ask at all. In contrast, concerning the Jewish people it is said, "It drinks water from the rain of heaven," because Hashem desires that they ask of Him.
It turns out that the act of seeking is not a flaw or a negative. Such a person does not say, "If only I did not need to ask," but rejoices that he was brought to this, for the request itself demonstrates closeness to God and brings it about. This is the meaning of the verse, "Let the heart of those who seek Hashem rejoice": one who is in the category of a petitioner before the Holy One, blessed be He, has a joyful heart, because through this he connects; but one who received everything in advance and for free, without seeking Hashem, his heart will grieve, for he has no bond with God. And one who seeks a different end - money, profit, a successful business, a villa - wishes he never had to ask, wishing he had received it in advance. But one whose entire aspiration is closeness to God, even if he asks for material needs, is categorized among "those who seek You," and he rejoices that he has reached a state of asking, through which he attains closeness to God.
"Let those who love Your salvation always say, 'May Hashem be magnified!'" - The Malbim explains that someone who does not love the salvation itself but only its results does not ask for salvation at all; rather, he asks that there be no distress in the first place. One who merely seeks a quiet, tranquil life does not ask for salvation. But one who desires Kiddush Hashem, that His Name be magnified in the world - "May Hashem be magnified!" - is among "those who love Your salvation": he is glad that there was distress followed by salvation, because only out of the distress and the arrival of salvation is Hashem's Name magnified. For had there been no distress, how would you know the salvation of Hashem? Had the Egyptians not pursued the Children of Israel, where would the splitting of the Red Sea and our deliverance have been revealed to us, and where would we have Shevi'i shel Pesach? The distress is what brings the salvation. A coarse person seeks only a tranquil life, wanting neither distress nor salvation; but the righteous person, the complete person who understands that the ultimate purpose of creation is "May Hashem be magnified," rejoices in the salvation that follows distress, and does not prefer that there be no distress at all - for precisely through the salvation can Hashem's hand be seen, and the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes publicized in the world. It is as if he says: I am willing to accept even the distress, provided that in the end, through the salvation, Hashem's power will be magnified.
"And I am poor and needy" - The Essence of Poverty
וַאֲנִי עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן אֲדֹנָי יַחֲשָׁב לִי עֶזְרָתִי וּמְפַלְטִי אַתָּה אֱלֹהַי אַל תְּאַחַר׃ - But I am poor and needy; may the Lord take thought of me. You are my help and my rescuer; O my God, do not delay.
Rashi states: Every instance of "poor and needy" (ani ve'evyon) in Tehillim refers solely to the people of Israel. And what was troubling him? How can a king say of himself, "And I am poor and needy"? A king is never poor; is David begging from door to door? He is a king! Rather, the intention is regarding the Jewish people, and David serves here as a mouthpiece for us all, for the people of Israel are like the poor and needy. "May the Lord take thought of me" - that He turn His heart to me to consider my poverty and destitution in order to save me, and from this, "You are my help and my rescuer; O my God, do not delay" - gaze upon my condition, see my poverty, and save me speedily.
Radak explains: Although David was a king, his meaning is that because I am so desperately in need of Your help and Your salvation - I am like a pauper. This is not financial poverty, but poverty in the sense of neediness: there is one who is in need of money, and there is one who is in need of salvation, and I am in constant need of Your salvation. According to Radak, "will account for me" does not refer to my poverty, but rather that Hashem will consider doing good for me, helping me, and rescuing me in a time of trouble. Another explanation: "will account for me" is related to esteem and worth - that Hashem should regard me as worthy, that I should not be despised in His eyes so as to be overlooked, but rather that I should be precious in His eyes, even if not esteemed in the eyes of others, so that through this He will save me. And then, "my God, do not delay" - save me immediately, as in "hasten to my help", without delay and without hesitation.
Malbim explains: I am constantly in need of salvation, and therefore "He considers for me" that I am poor and destitute - that I have nothing at all except Hashem's salvation. "You are my help and my rescuer" - for I am perpetually pursued by enemies, and I am continually weak and impoverished before them, and You are the One Who always saves me and rescues me from their hands. "My God, do not delay" - do not delay the moment when I need salvation, for I am exceedingly destitute and on my own I possess no strength at all. This aligns with Rashi's explanation: Look upon my poverty and destitution, for of my own I have nothing, and I lean solely upon You. And when a person leans upon Hashem, Hashem saves him, just as Chovot HaLevavot writes: When a person trusts in something other than Hashem, Hashem leaves him in the hands of that which he trusted - "Let them arise and help you, let them be your shelter"; but when a person trusts in Hashem, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: You rely upon Me, so I am bound to save you.
In Lashon HaKodesh there are many terms for poverty: dal, ani, evyon, rash, mach, and others, and one must understand the differences between them. Malbim explains this at length, as do the Gra and Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch, and we will not enter into all of it, but only what pertains to our matter. Malbim explains that the evyon is in a worse state than the dal, for evyon is related to the root avah - desiring and longing for everything. The ani, if you bring him something inferior, might say: I do not need this; I am poor, but I have my dignity, do not cast off onto me things you have no use for. But the evyon craves everything: What did you throw away? Why did you discard it? Give it to me! He yearns for everything, because he possesses nothing. And even though mit'aveh (craving) is spelled with a vav and avah (desiring) with a beit, it expresses the same concept, as in the verse, "Hashem was not willing (lo avah) to forgive him" - an expression of desire and will.
Malbim adds that the term ani differs from its synonyms - dach, mach, rash, evyon - in that it describes the poverty of the soul, lowliness of spirit, and submission, according to the context and setting. Poverty is an expression of what takes place deep within the soul: his soul is impoverished, lowly, and submissive, not chasing after desire or prestige, whether he possesses wealth or not. According to this, it is clear why King David says, "And I am an ani", even though he was a king and wealthy - for ani here is an expression of humility of spirit and submission. Therefore, this term is mostly applied to righteous individuals of humble spirit, and it is likewise said of Mashiach: "an ani riding upon a donkey" - specifically an ani, and not a dal. For dal implies one whose assets have been depleted and who lacks money, and David lacked neither wealth nor health; rather, on account of his lowliness of spirit and the submission of his soul before Hashem, he called himself an ani.
However, submission can be voluntary, or it can be involuntary - where others have degraded him. A person can be lowly because he humbles himself, or he can be lowly because others have brought him low. Therefore, when the degradation comes from an external force, Scripture juxtaposes evyon with ani: I am an ani, but do not think this poverty comes of my own accord - on my own, I desire, I want a good life, I am not suffering by choice, I yearn for everything and have nothing; rather, it is through an outside force that I am an ani. This is "And I am poor and destitute" (ani ve'evyon): the fact that my soul is low and I am disgraced is not because I aspire to this, for left to myself I desire (avah), being an evyon who longs for things, and I would wish to live like any normal person, not low and despised; but others despise and humiliate me, and under that pressure I fall into the category of ani - poverty of soul, lowliness of spirit, and submission.
In summary:
King David teaches us in this chapter the proper order of thanksgiving: Torah must reside within one's innermost being - internal, enduring, and shaping both what enters the mouth and what emerges from it. Our own righteous deeds are best kept concealed, for it is precisely the hidden that radiates, and only Torah studied for its own sake acquires the World to Come; but Hashem's righteousness must be proclaimed before a great assembly in order to spread faith - and for the hidden miracles as well, which only Hashem knows, one must give thanks at every moment. In his prayer regarding his enemies, David asks for disgrace against those who seek his life and shame against those who desire his harm, measure for measure. On the other hand - "May all who seek You exult and rejoice in You": those who seek Hashem rejoice in the very act of seeking, which itself is closeness to God, and those who love His salvation rejoice even in the salvation that emerges from distress, for through it the Name of Heaven is magnified. Finally, David presents himself and all of Klal Yisrael as "poor and destitute" - lowly of spirit and submissive, possessing nothing on their own other than complete reliance on the Creator: "You are my help and my rescuer; my God, do not delay."