Chapter 43 is connected, as the Malbim notes, to the preceding chapter. There, the prayer focused on yearning and thirst for Hashem, whereas here, Dovid HaMelech already pleads concerning the exile itself: Master of the Universe, it is fitting that You judge my cause and champion my grievance against the nations that oppress me, and take me out of exile to Your holy mountain.
שׇׁפְטֵנִי אֱלֹהִים וְרִיבָה רִיבִי מִגּוֹי לֹא־חָסִיד מֵאִישׁ־מִרְמָה וְעַוְלָה תְפַלְּטֵנִי׃ - Vindicate me, O God, and champion my cause against an unrighteous nation; rescue me from deceitful and unjust men.
On the surface, this is quite astonishing. You speak of a deceitful and unjust man, of extremely grave evils, and then you add that he is also "not a chasid"? You recounted tales of wickedness, and now you reveal that he is also not righteous? What is the novel insight in that?
The Malbim explains: "Not a chasid" here does not mean merely that he does not perform acts of piety; rather, it means that he has no readiness or inclination toward kindness at all. His very nature is opposed to chesed, and his entire essence is contrary to the quality of chesed. This is a profound condemnation, not a minor qualification. And this relates to interpersonal conduct, between man and his fellow.
Regarding the realm between man and God, he adds: "a man of deceit and injustice." This refers to purveyors of philosophies and beliefs, to the philosophers who pervert what is upright. When something is true, they distort it and attach twisted interpretations to it, so long as they remain safely within the confines of their theory.
And if you think this existed only in the past, it exists today as well. There are people who are literally "devotees of evolutionary theory." Why devotees? Because it has turned from a scientific hypothesis into a religion. For if one does not accept this religion, which posits slow development without a Creator, one is forced to accept the alternative: "In the beginning, God created." And that begins to obligate, to demand, to make claims on a person. Therefore, they put forward arguments that leave any rational person wondering how they could even be uttered. A person observes the "commandments of evolution" without understanding, even when the facts prove otherwise, and even when statistically such a thing could never have happened. In statistics, we have the tools to know what is possible and what is not, yet they themselves reply: "True, probabilistically such a thing could not happen, but I believe it did." If so, just admit that you are a believer! This is religion, not science.
Interestingly, these people are always found in central, influential positions, setting the tone. As a case in point, it was once noted that there is a stark difference between the Hebrew Wikipedia and the international editions. In Hebrew, whenever someone attempts to express a view questioning evolution, biting academics immediately pounce on him. Since they control the entries, they delete his remarks, combat him at every turn, and refuse to give him fair representation. Yet in that very same entry on the international Wikipedia, one finds a wide variety of viewpoints. Here at home, there is opposition to teaching "In the beginning, God created" in schools, claiming it is antiquated and that science thinks otherwise. What science? The conventional evolutionary framework has long since gone bankrupt and proven untenable. But they have a theory, and do not confuse them with the facts.
If one thought this phenomenon existed only in the Supreme Court and the media, it turns out that it exists within academia as well - precisely the place that is supposed to foster scientific freedom, where only precise, measurable proofs should dictate the conclusion. It turns out that there are individuals with an agenda, and their agenda is anti-religious, and everything is anchored in that bias. The moment one presents any evidence supporting Judaism, they immediately protest: "No, no; we are believers, the children of believers, in the theory of evolution." To this one might apply the phrase, "and a man shall die by his belief." We are not intimidated by them.
This is why Scripture refers to them as "a man of deceit and injustice": for he knows the truth, he knows what is right, and nevertheless, through deceptive methods, seeks to prove his falsehood. They construct misleading analogies and deceptive proofs through trickery. "Misleading analogies" means comparing one thing to another, drawing a parallel from a different domain and presenting it as proof, when in fact it has no bearing on the matter at hand. They present proofs that are deliberate deceptions in order to deny authentic faith. Therefore, the prayer continues: Master of the Universe, rescue me from them as well - so that I do not stumble, so that I am not drawn after their claims and fraudulent inquiries, and do not come, Heaven forbid, to deny the fundamentals of faith.
One must realize that their theories are foolish, and it takes time - but eventually, they sober up from them. In the era of the philosophers, two or three thousand years ago, the debate was whether the universe was eternal or brought into being from nothing. The Rambam and many others worked to refute those who believed in the eternity of the world, those who claimed the universe had always existed and was never created at a specific moment. Today, there is not even a single scientist - and one does not even need to specify a "serious" one, as that is already a fine line - who would tell you that the world is eternal. This philosophical concept is completely bankrupt, and everyone concedes to the Jewish perspective that the world was brought into being at a specific moment in time. They might tell you four billion years ago, five, six - whatever each person feels generous enough to grant Creation - but it is clear to all of them that the world is not eternal.
We maintained: the world is not eternal, and it was created in a single moment - "In the beginning, G-d created." They argued: it is not eternal, but it formed gradually, developing slowly, not in a single instant. A few more centuries passed - and they, too, reached the conclusion that the universe was created in a single moment. Stephen Hawking, one of the prominent scientists, wrote and concluded that there was a "Big Bang." And what is a big bang? A single moment. You call it an explosion, and I call it "In the beginning, G-d created" - that very moment in which the universe was brought into being. Science took yet another step toward Judaism on an issue it previously understood differently, and it turns out that Judaism understood it better all along. For you present theories, while we speak from knowledge: we know Adam HaRishon, who spoke directly with the Holy One, blessed be He, Who created him. You try to figure out what happened, but I have information from the One Who was there. I do not need to go into a laboratory and make interpretations to trace back and understand what occurred.
All that remains for us to debate is how long ago it happened: we say nearly six thousand years, and they say five billion. If science takes its time and slowly arrives at the correct conclusions, only that its processor is outdated and slow - give them time, and they will eventually conclude that it was nearly six thousand years ago and not five billion.
And know that there is not even a single proof that the world has existed for five billion years, nor for any of the ridiculous arguments they put forward. Even when checking tree rings - we do not possess tree rings going back more than five thousand years whose count could serve as proof. So what do they do? They conduct Carbon-14 testing: carbon decays at a certain rate, and with each passing year it decays further, and based on the rate of decay they calculate how long it has been going on.
But this calculation is absurd. What is this comparable to? To a young scientist who was asked to report on a child's growth. He keeps records: in the first year, the child was born weighing three kilograms, and by the end of the year had doubled his weight to six kilograms. A developing baby, Baruch Hashem. Based on this calculation: at age three he will weigh twelve kilograms, at age four twenty-four, at age five we continue... and by age eight he can no longer fit through the front door, you need a crane for him! How ridiculous it is to say such a thing. Exactly the same idea applies here: you calculate and claim that the rate of carbon decay in the distant past was the same as it is today - who revealed this secret to you?
Using that same method, they also dated stalactite caves to millions of years: they say, a stalactite grows so-and-so many millimeters each year, and when you multiply that by the size of the stalactite, it turns out to be billions of years old. This, too, is a ridiculous calculation. Someone was once in a stalactite cave and said: "Do you see this stalactite? It has existed for five billion years, four months, and twenty-four days." They asked him: "Where did you get such precision?" He told them: "I was here four months and twenty-four days ago, and the tour guide said it was five billion years old. So now it is five billion years, four months, twenty-four days, three hours, and twenty chalakim - thank you very much!"
And how absurd it is to speak about a reality one never observed. Scientists examined a stalactite cave - I believe Rabbi Zamir Cohen cites this - and dated it thousands of years back. The problem was that there were people who lived nearby, knew the cave, and had even photographed it earlier; thirty years prior, there was not a single stalactite in it! Thirty years, and there was nothing there, yet they date it to thousands of years. Where did the mistake lie? A stream had flowed above the cave. For where do stalactites come from? From limestone soil; when water seeps through it into the cave, stalactites and stalagmites form (stalagmites from below and stalactites from above). As long as a stream was flowing there, the rate of dripping was immense. Once the stream dried up, only occasional rainfall added another millimeter now and then. When you observe one millimeter a year and calculate backward over so-and-so many years - it is just like calculating the child's growth based on his first year, equally absurd. There are stalactite caves that scientists date to ancient eras, when in truth they are recent, and it is well documented that they are new. Hence, the method of calculation is flawed. Therefore, there is no need to be rattled by what they say, for the time will come when the scientists will grasp it as well. Do not be alarmed; eventually, everyone will understand. So when you hear questions, challenges, and heresy - we are not alarmed by heresy.
It turns out that "Judge me, O G-d, and champion my cause against an unrighteous nation" - refers to their interpersonal conduct, being far removed from kindness, their very nature opposed to chessed. "Rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man" - means that these same people are also deceitful and corrupt in matters of beliefs and philosophy, fabricating evidence to support their claims. By the way, Rabbi Zamir Cohen brings examples of egregious scientific hoaxes. There was a specimen accepted for years as "prehistoric man," around which entire theories of his era were built and a museum was even dedicated to him, only for it later to emerge that the entire thing was a fraud by that scientist, who made a fortune from it: he took bones of a relatively modern origin, treated them with chemicals so they would appear ancient, and claimed he had found them in some pit. Following this, mounds of interpretations were erected regarding who he was and when he lived, so many thousands of years ago - Neanderthal man and all the eras. Yet it all turned out to be vanity, deception, and falsehood. These people do not shrink from lying - "rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man."
Rabbeinu Bachya (in Kad HaKemach) explains "from an unpious nation" differently: "not pious" refers to someone who strives to present himself as pious, but in truth is not pious at all. As it says regarding Esav, "for game was in his mouth" - he would entrap people and his father with his words. Would you describe Esav merely as "not pious"? He was a great wicked man; he committed five severe transgressions on that very day! Rather, outwardly he makes himself appear pious, and therefore, to those who believe him and follow him, one must say: he is "not pious." Do not believe him, nor all his inquiries about how to tithe straw and salt, as though he were some great pious soul. Not at all - "an unpious nation," he presents himself as pious while he is not; he presents himself as a man of truth while he is a man of deceit and iniquity. Therefore, Hashem, rescue me from his hand.
כִּי־אַתָּה אֱלֹהֵי מָעוּזִּי לָמָה זְנַחְתָּנִי לָמָּה־קֹדֵר אֶתְהַלֵּךְ בְּלַחַץ אוֹיֵב׃ - For You are the God of my strength; why have You forsaken me? Why do I walk in gloom under the oppression of the enemy?
First, a grammatical point. The word "lamah" (why) appears twice here, and the Radak notes that they differ in pronunciation and grammatical form. The first is unaccented on the mem (rafeh) and accented on the final syllable (milra): "lamah zenachtani," where the mem has no dagesh and the accent is at the end. The second has a dagesh and is accented on the penultimate syllable (mile'el): "lammah koder ethalech belachatz oyev" - notice that the mem has a dagesh, and the accent is mile'el.
In the previous psalm he said, "I say to God, my Rock: Why have You forgotten me?", whereas here he says, "Why have You forsaken me?" What is the difference? The Malbim explains: there it referred to supernatural, miraculous providence, which is why he called Hashem "God, my Rock" - the rock upon which I leaned. And since He performs no miracles for me at all, that felt like total forgetfulness: I have already forgotten what miracles look like. But here he is speaking of protection from enemies, and for that there is no need for overt miracles; it can come through natural means. Therefore he calls Him "the God of my strength" - my stronghold, a place of safety to rescue me from enemies. And here one cannot say "You have forgotten me," for this is not total forgetfulness, but rather "You have forsaken me." Forsaking (zenichah), says the Malbim, is temporary, for a short while, whereas forgetting is complete. As scripture says, "Yet even then, when they are in the land of their enemies, I did not reject them, nor did I spurn them to destroy them" - there is no total forgetting of the Jewish people, only that the Holy One, blessed be He, has seemingly forsaken us for a time. Therefore: "Why do I walk in gloom under the oppression of the enemy" - due to the pressure the enemy exerts on me and the burden of subjugation, when You are the God of my strength, my shield and my protector?
שְׁלַח־אוֹרְךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ הֵמָּה יַנְחוּנִי יְבִיאוּנִי אֶל־הַר־קׇדְשְׁךָ וְאֶל־מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶיךָ׃ - Send Your light and Your truth, they will guide me; they will bring me to Your holy mountain and to Your dwelling places.
The Malbim explains: redemption will come when the Holy One, blessed be He, reveals Himself, and the light of Hashem shines upon those who dwell in darkness. Exile is always characterized by darkness and redemption by light, as it says, "Arise, shine, for your light has come." This is "Send Your light" - send me the redemption in the aspect of light. And what is "and Your truth"? Master of the Universe, verify Your promise. For I ask that the light of Hashem be revealed because You promised it through Your prophets; therefore bring the promise to light and demonstrate that it is true. "Send Your light" - the light of Hashem that will redeem me; "and Your truth" - the promises of redemption spoken by the prophets upon which I rely. And when You do so, "they will guide me" - from the language of guidance, leading me along the way and taking me out of exile; "they will bring me to Your holy mountain" - Eretz Yisrael and Yerushalayim; "and to Your dwelling places" - the rebuilding of the Beit HaBechirah.
וְאָבוֹאָה אֶל־מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהִים אֶל־אֵל שִׂמְחַת גִּילִי וְאוֹדְךָ בְכִנּוֹר אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהָי׃ - And I will come to the altar of God, to God the joy of my exultation, and I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.
Notice: earlier it said "they will bring me to Your holy mountain," yet here it says "and I will come to the altar of God." Why this shift in language? The Malbim explains: earlier it spoke of the ingathering of the exiles of Israel and bringing them to Eretz Yisrael, and for this the Holy One, blessed be He, must bring me - escaping exile requires help and salvation from Hashem, which is why it says "they will bring me." But once I am there, once I have already departed from exile, I no longer need to be brought: I am in Eretz Yisrael, and on my own and through my own strength "I will come to the altar of God" to offer His sacrifices. Then I will come to behold the presence of Hashem, who is "the joy of my exultation" - for my joy and rejoicing are Hashem Himself: "and I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God" - I will thank You, sing, and praise You.
The Malbim has explained on several occasions that simchah refers to constant, enduring joy, whereas gilah refers to an outburst of newfound joy. When a person is informed that he won the lottery - he experiences gilah; one cannot call that simchah. But when you see someone who is continually joyful - you say he has simchah, not gilah. Gilah is over something newly acquired, while simchah is constant and steady. "It is a great mitzvah to always be in simchah" - not in gilah, which is an immediate burst of excitement, but in simchah, which is an ongoing state.
Accordingly, "To God, the joy of my exultation [simchat gili]" means that at first, it will be "my gilah," the newly ignited joy - I will enter the House of Hashem and be overwhelmed with wonder: how magnificent! And that initial burst of intense gilah will stay with me afterward, transforming into an enduring simchah. And what kind of joy is this? The Malbim explains: Hashem, Blessed be He, and closeness to Him, that He rejoices in me and we rejoice in Him - this is "the God of the joy of my exultation."
מַה־תִּשְׁתּוֹחֲחִי נַפְשִׁי וּמַה־תֶּהֱמִי עָלָי הוֹחִילִי לֵאלֹהִים כִּי־עוֹד אוֹדֶנּוּ יְשׁוּעֹת פָּנַי וֵאלֹהָי׃ - Why are you downcast, my soul, and why do you yearn within me? Hope in God, for I will yet thank Him for the salvations of my countenance, and my God.
Regarding this he now says: the matter depends on God and on an auspicious time, and one must yearn and wait for God, confident that the Holy One, Blessed be He, will surely fulfill His promise. This is the meaning of "the salvations of my countenance and my God": as we explained, redemption from exile also requires individual Divine Providence (hashgachah pratit) over me to bring me out and redeem me. Therefore, he says "and my God" - my personal God, a phrasing that expresses individual Divine Providence; not just "God" in the abstract, but "my God." Thus: You, Hashem, made specific promises to me through Your prophets; please show me those salvations.
Here he encourages his soul: Why are you downcast? Why, my soul, are you bowed and lowly? Trust in Hashem. Hashem is the God of my stronghold; He will redeem you, bring you to the Beit HaMikdash, and grant you the privilege of offering sacrifices before Him. "For I will yet thank Him" - I will yet merit to thank Hashem, Blessed be He, for all the abundance He bestows upon us, and I will merit to behold the salvations of Hashem before my face, for Hashem is my God - Who saves me on an individual, personal level.
This chapter is a prayer regarding the exile itself. David asks that Hashem champion his cause against an "unkind nation" [goy lo chasid] - one whose very nature is opposed to the attribute of loving-kindness (and according to Rabbeinu Bachya, one who portrays himself as pious but is not) - and from "a man of deceit and iniquity," the proponents of false doctrines and beliefs who distort the truth with misleading syllogisms and deceptive proofs; David asks to be rescued from their influence so as not to stumble in the fundamentals of faith. He then cries out, "Why have You forsaken me?" - a temporary forsaking rather than being forgotten, for "I have not rejected them nor spurned them" - and asks, "Send Your light and Your truth": the light of redemption and the realization of the prophets' promises, that they may lead him to the holy mountain and to the dwellings of the Sanctuary. From there, he will proceed on his own to the altar, and the newfound exultation (gilah) of that moment will transform into an enduring joy (simchah) in closeness to Hashem. In conclusion, he encourages his soul: do not be downcast; hope in God, for I will yet thank Him - "the salvations of my countenance and my God," the personal Divine Providence that will redeem me.