Chapter 22 of Shmuel B is the Song of David: a complete song that David speaks to Hashem on the day He saved him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Shaul. This song is not merely thanksgiving for a military victory, but a complete treatise on understanding the ways of Divine providence: how the Holy One directs a person measure for measure, how He rescues the lowly and brings down the lofty, and how all of David's strength in battle is nothing but a gift from Hashem. In this lesson we will proceed through the verses in the second part of the song, and we will look at the words of the Malbim, Rashi, the Radak, the Metzudot and the Ralbag, and at the Midrashim expounded upon them.
וַיָּשֶׁב יְהֹוָה לִי כְּצִדְקָתִי כְּבֹרִי לְנֶגֶד עֵינָיו׃ (כה) - And Hashem repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before His eyes. (25)
David says: when I acted with righteousness, Hashem repaid me according to my measure. "כְּבֹרִי" comes from the word "bar" - a pure and clean person. That is: according to the purity and cleanness that were in me before His eyes, so did Hashem repay me.
עִם־חָסִיד תִּתְחַסָּד עִם־גִּבּוֹר תָּמִים תִּתַּמָּם׃ (כו) - With the kind You show Yourself kind, with the wholehearted mighty one You show Yourself wholehearted. (26)
This is Hashem's conduct in the world. "With the kind You show Yourself kind" - one who is kind in his ways, the Holy One likewise deals kindly with him. "With the wholehearted mighty one You show Yourself wholehearted" - the Radak explains that "gibor" here is like "gever," meaning "with a man"; and a man who walks with Hashem in wholeness and completeness, Hashem walks with him in wholeness and completeness. The meaning is: the Holy One repays a person measure for measure.
And as we saw with David himself: when Shaul fell into his hands in the cave, David did not kill him but only cut off the corner of his robe; and on another occasion he took the water jug and the spear and did not kill him, even though he could have. About this he says "And Hashem repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness before His eyes" - not only did I not lose out because of that righteous conduct, but afterward I merited kingship and all the kindnesses that Hashem did with me. Why? Because I was wholehearted with Him.
עִם־נָבָר תִּתָּבָר וְעִם־עִקֵּשׁ תִּתַּפָּל׃ (כז) - With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself twisted. (27)
"Navar" is a pure and clean person, and with him Hashem walks with clarity and faithfulness. In contrast, "with the crooked You show Yourself twisted": a crooked and devious person - in today's language a "schemer" - does not walk in a straight path, but always has cleverness and crookedness that are not according to uprightness and justice. The Gemara says of the fox that its teeth are crooked, and "ikesh" comes from the root meaning "crooked." With such a person the Holy One deals in the very same measure. In Sefer Tehillim there is a version "titpatal," and it too means the same thing: twistedness is a form of crookedness and lack of uprightness. You walk without uprightness - Hashem too will walk with you without uprightness.
Rashi brings that these words were said about Pharaoh. And where do we see that Hashem walked with him without uprightness? When Hashem told Moshe to say to Pharaoh "Let us go, please, a journey of three days into the wilderness" - now, on the face of it, what is this "three days"? The intention was surely to leave entirely! Rather, this is the answer: "With the crooked You show Yourself twisted." You walk with crookedness and cleverness and do not let them go out - I too will walk with you with cleverness: I tell you three days, you will agree, and afterward I will go out and not return.
And why? Because you started with the crookedness. You said "Come, let us deal cleverly with them," you were the one who began with the cleverness: come, let us be clever, come, let us pay them lip service, come, let us say one thing and do another. And how did you even begin the enslavement? He made a "day of labor in Egypt," and even Pharaoh himself placed the basket on his shoulder and went to work, and told those in charge to record how much each one did. The next day he said to them: the day of labor in Egypt is over, from now on you all work by obligation and not by choice, and there are also quotas - however much each one accomplished yesterday, that is what you will be forced to do from now on. You started with us with crookedness and twistedness, and therefore Hashem too walks with you in a way of twistedness, in the way of "Let us go, please, a journey of three days."
There is an even deeper explanation for why he was told to speak this way and not directly. The holy Ohr HaChaim explains that this was part of the test of Pharaoh: Hashem wanted to show Pharaoh, as it were, that the God of Israel is limited. How so? By saying "let us go a distance of three days" - Pharaoh would say to himself: Why does he not take them entirely and lead them out? Apparently He too knows that He is unable to. And if He is unable, I can outsmart Him. So it was too with Bilaam, when Hashem asked him "who are these men with you" - so that Bilaam would think that Hashem does not know, and would find for himself an opportunity to go and curse without being noticed.
יִשְׁלַח מִמָּרוֹם יִקָּחֵנִי יַמְשֵׁנִי מִמַּיִם רַבִּים׃ (יז) - He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. (17)
On this verse, which we saw above, Rashi brings an additional explanation: regarding what is it said that Hashem saved him? Regarding the time when David was rushing to flee from Shaul at the Rock of Divisions. There two groups of Shaul's men had already closed in on him in a pincer movement, with David on the other side of the rock, of that great mountain, and he was very close to being captured. Then they came and informed Shaul that the Philistines had raided the land, and Shaul was forced to take the entire army at once and go there. These were literally a few minutes before David's story would have ended. Of this it is said "He sent from on high, He took me" - Hashem sent messengers from on high, as it were, to save me. This is also the meaning of "And Hashem repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes": just as I did not kill Shaul when I could have, so too Hashem now saved me and did not deliver me into his hand.
וְאֶת־עַם עָנִי תּוֹשִׁיעַ וְעֵינֶיךָ עַל־רָמִים תַּשְׁפִּיל׃ (כח) - And a lowly people You save, but Your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down. (28)
When you see the people humbled like a poor man - You save them. And in contrast "but Your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down": You set Your eyes upon the arrogant and bring them low. This is what Chana too says in her prayer, "He humbles and also raises up": when Hashem sees the lowly one He raises him up, and when He sees the arrogant one - and in that case it refers to Penina - He brings him down. The lowly one Hashem raises up, and the lofty one Hashem brings down.
כִּי־אַתָּה נֵירִי יְהֹוָה וַיהֹוָה יַגִּיהַּ חָשְׁכִּי׃ (כט) - For You are my lamp, Hashem, and Hashem lights up my darkness. (29)
You give me light like a lamp and bring me out from gloom into light. "Yagiah" is from the language of illuminating, from the word nogah (brightness) - the darkness in which I dwell, You Hashem light up.
כִּי בְכָה אָרוּץ גְּדוּד בֵּאלֹהַי אֲדַלֶּג־שׁוּר׃ (ל) - For by You I run against a troop, by my God I leap over a wall. (30)
"By You" - with Your help I run against the troops of the nations, that is, I prevail in battle. "By my God I leap over a wall" - with the help of my God I leap over the wall. And the Radak adds a further explanation for "arutz": from the language of arotzetz, I shatter the troop.
The Midrash expounds "in my God I leap over a wall" as referring to that battle where Yoav was present and they could not enter the city: they took a cedar and bent it, seated Yoav upon the cedar, and when they released it the cedar sprang back to its place with force and flung Yoav over the wall. And when David needed to enter, the Holy One lowered the wall to the ground and David passed over it. This is "in my God I leap over a wall": with Hashem's help I leap over the walls of the enemies and conquer them swiftly.
הָאֵל תָּמִים דַּרְכּוֹ אִמְרַת יְהֹוָה צְרוּפָה מָגֵן הוּא לְכֹל הַחֹסִים בּוֹ׃ (לא) - The God whose way is perfect, the word of Hashem is refined, He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. (31)
"The God whose way is perfect" - the way of the Holy One is in complete perfection: when a person does a good deed, Hashem repays him according to his deserving, according to his wholeness. "The word of Hashem is refined" - a term of refining and purifying, like a smith who purifies metal: there is no dross in it and no waste in it. And this is the wondrous thing about the Torah, that there is not a superfluous letter in it and not a superfluous word, there is nothing that could have been written in a shorter manner while Scripture lengthens it. The words of the Holy One are refined without dross. "He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him" - whoever truly trusts in Hashem, the Holy One shields him and guards him, everyone who is in the category of one who takes refuge in Hashem, blessed be He.
כִּי מִי־אֵל מִבַּלְעֲדֵי יְהֹוָה וּמִי צוּר מִבַּלְעֲדֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ׃ (לב) - For who is a god besides Hashem, and who is a rock besides our God? (32)
"El" means power, as in "it is in the power of my hand" - there is strength in my hand. And David asks: where have you found power besides Hashem, blessed be He? "And who is a rock" - "tzur" is a description of Hashem as a firm and strong rock, and who is strong besides our God?
הָאֵל מָעוּזִּי חָיִל וַיַּתֵּר תָּמִים דַּרְכִּי׃ (לג) - The God who is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. (33)
"My strength" is from the expression "a stronghold for me," my refuge, He is my power. "Chayil" is also a term of power - Hashem strengthens me with my might. And what is the meaning of "vayater tamim darki"? The Metzudot explains: He causes me to leap in my way so as to be perfect without obstacle. And from where did he derive the sense of leaping? From the language of springing. That is, Hashem springs me and makes me jump in my way over the obstacle, and consequently my way is perfect and complete and has no obstacle in it, for Hashem springs me over the obstacles.
And the Radak explains differently: "vayater" is from the term of loosening, like the untying of knots. Hashem loosened and opened my way in battle, meaning that when they would go out to war they would return complete without any lack and no man was missing. There was, as it were, a knot and a tangle, and Hashem untied all the tangles of the battle and opened before me the way, so that I would succeed in winning.
מְשַׁוֶּה רַגְלַי כָּאַיָּלוֹת וְעַל בָּמֹתַי יַעֲמִדֵנִי׃ (לד) - He makes my feet like those of the deer, and He sets me upon my heights. (34)
"Mashveh" comes from the root meaning to set or place: He sets my feet like those of the deer, so that I can run swiftly and my enemies will not overtake me. "And He stands me upon my heights" - after the running there is the place where a person stands, whether after having conquered or when he has fled from his enemies, a place where he is elevated and saved; and in that very place Hashem stood me, with no fear that they would harm me once I arrived there.
And so it always is, as the verse says "Who shall ascend the mountain of Hashem and who shall stand in His holy place" - there are two stages here. The first stage is to ascend the mountain of Hashem, and that is still the easier stage. The second stage, after you have reached the level, is "who shall stand in His holy place" - to hold your position there and not fall afterward, and this is an additional level. This is "and He stands me upon my heights": after I succeeded in reaching a high place, some peak, Hashem stood me there so that I would not fall and stumble again.
מְלַמֵּד יָדַי לַמִּלְחָמָה וְנִחַת קֶשֶׁת־נְחוּשָׁה זְרֹעֹתָי׃ (לה) - He trains my hands for war, and my arms bend a bow of bronze. (35)
"He trains my hands for war" - Hashem assists my hands so that I can fight and defeat my enemies. And what is "venichat"? An expression of breaking, like "lelo chat" - without breaking. "My arms bend a bow of bronze" - a bow as strong as bronze was broken by the strength of my arms. Some commentators explain that David would break the mighty bows of his enemies with his arms, and the Gemara describes with this an immense strength. And others explain that when one draws the bowstring the bow bends, and David had such enormous strength that when he would draw the string he was able to draw it until the bow would bend and break.
And Rashi explains that "venichat" here is not an expression of breaking but an expression of drawing: I would draw the bow with my arms, for I had the strength to draw it. For if you give an ordinary person a strong bow, how far can he pull it? Twenty centimeters and no more. But an especially strong person can pull with tremendous force, much farther, until the bow actually bends. According to Rashi "venichat" is an expression of bending and lowering: Hashem placed in my arms great strength so that I could draw the string to such an extent.
וַתִּתֶּן־לִי מָגֵן יִשְׁעֶךָ וַעֲנֹתְךָ תַּרְבֵּנִי׃ (לו) - You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your humility makes me great. (36)
"You have given me the shield of Your salvation" - Your salvation was for me a shield. "And Your humility" - in Tehillim it appears as "ve'anvatcha," from the word for humility. When the great one comes and takes interest in the small one and assists him, what does this indicate? The humility of the great one. For otherwise, why would he go down to help him? And if he comes and helps, this is a manner of humility: even though the person is lowly and inferior, he descends to him and helps him. And this is what David is saying: You increased for me the trait of Your humility, and "tarbeni" is an expression of increase.
And the Metzudat David explains differently: the humility within You to watch over me made me as if I were a numerous people. That is, through Your watching over me - even though we were few in number - we were victorious as if we were thousands; a small army succeeded in winning as if it were a vast army.
תַּרְחִיב צַעֲדִי תַּחְתֵּנִי וְלֹא מָעֲדוּ קַרְסֻלָּי׃ (לז) - You widen my stride beneath me, and my ankles did not give way. (37)
When a person's feet are pressed close together, it is easy for him to fall; and when he spreads his feet apart, he is more stable. And this is what David is saying: You, Hashem, widened my stride, and through this "my ankles did not give way" - I did not fall from my standing position.
אֶרְדְּפָה אֹיְבַי וָאַשְׁמִידֵם וְלֹא אָשׁוּב עַד־כַּלּוֹתָם׃ (לח) - I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed. (38)
I will not turn back until I have wiped them out completely.
וָאֲכַלֵּם וָאֶמְחָצֵם וְלֹא יְקוּמוּן וַיִּפְּלוּ תַּחַת רַגְלָי׃ (לט) - I consumed them and struck them down so that they could not rise, and they fell beneath my feet. (39)
"Va'emchatzem" comes from the language of wounding and striking, as in "machatz rosho" (crushed his head).
וַתַּזְרֵנִי חַיִל לַמִּלְחָמָה תַּכְרִיעַ קָמַי תַּחְתֵּנִי׃ (מ) - You girded me with strength for battle; You brought those who rose against me down beneath me. (40)
"Vata'zreni chayil" - You girded me with strength to fight against my enemies, and those who rose up against me You brought down beneath me.
וְאֹיְבַי תַּתָּה לִּי עֹרֶף מְשַׂנְאַי וָאַצְמִיתֵם׃ (מא) - As for my enemies, You made them turn their backs to me; my foes, and I destroyed them. (41)
When Hashem drives the enemies into flight, what does the enemy turn toward his pursuer? His back, for he is fleeing. You, Hashem, in Your abundant kindness, gave me the backs of my enemies, and through this I destroyed those who hate me. "Atzmitem" means to crush them and dry them up.
יִשְׁעוּ וְאֵין מֹשִׁיעַ אֶל־יְהֹוָה וְלֹא עָנָם׃ (מב) - They looked for help, but there was no savior; even to Hashem, but He did not answer them. (42)
They cry out for salvation but there is no savior; even when they cry out to Hashem, He does not answer them. And why? Because, as David said earlier, Hashem was with me and Hashem helped me.
וְאֶשְׁחָקֵם כַּעֲפַר־אָרֶץ כְּטִיט־חוּצוֹת אֲדִקֵּם אֶרְקָעֵם׃ (מג) - I ground them like the dust of the earth; like the mud of the streets I crushed them and stamped them down. (43)
I ground them like the dust of the earth, and this is a metaphor. "Like the mire of the streets" - mire that is cast into the streets, which people constantly trample and tread upon until it becomes fine; so too "I did beat them small" - I made them fine, "I did stamp them" - I trod them down. All of this comes to express the absolute victory. There are subtleties of linguistic meaning here, and the Malbim dwells upon them, but we do not linger on them; rather, we wish to see the plain meaning of the matter and move forward.
וַתְּפַלְּטֵנִי מֵרִיבֵי עַמִּי תִּשְׁמְרֵנִי לְרֹאשׁ גּוֹיִם עַם לֹא־יָדַעְתִּי יַעַבְדֻנִי׃ (מד) - You have delivered me from the strivings of my people, You have kept me to be the head of nations; a people I did not know shall serve me. (44)
"You have delivered me" - You rescued and delivered me from those who came to strive with me from among my own people: Doeg, Achitophel, Shaul, the Ziphites - all of these were from among his people and pursued him, and from them too You saved me.
And some explain that David HaMelech is pleading here: Master of the Universe, save me from the strivings of my people. When two Jews argue and quarrel with one another, they come before the judge or the king; David says: save me from this judgment, that I not err in it. For if I bend the judgment, or heaven forbid take from one who should not have had anything taken from him, it is written "and He will rob the soul of those who robbed them" - "He will rob" is a term of robbery, as in the expression "you rob Me, the whole nation"; and whoever robs from Israel, Hashem, as it were, takes his soul from him. Therefore I ask that You save me from the strivings of my people, so that when they come to me I may judge them justly.
"You have kept me to be the head of nations" - had I been the head over gentile peoples I would not have had such a problem, and nothing would happen even if I bent the judgment; but here, among the people of Israel, one incurs a capital penalty, heaven forbid. Therefore I ask: Master of the Universe, save me that I not bend their judgment. "To be the head of nations, a people I did not know shall serve me" - better for me to be the head over gentiles, a people I did not know, that they should serve me and come to me for judgment, than that Israel should come before me for judgment.
And there is yet another explanation that can be offered in a lighthearted way: David HaMelech says that he prefers to judge the gentiles. And why? For already with Moshe we found that the people of Israel are bothersome. Two would come to judgment, and he would say: this one is liable and this one is innocent. Did you think the liable one goes on his way? No. The next day he returns: I have two witnesses who say as I do. He brings two more witnesses, they reopen the case, and now the other one comes out liable - and he goes off to his own side and says: what do you mean, I too have two witnesses like myself. In short: they are bothersome, they wear you out.
I once told you about a group of Israelis who went on a trip abroad, and they were given a guide to accompany them the whole way. They said to him: arrange things properly and at the end you will get a hundred dollar tip from all of us. And he truly went above and beyond. At the end of the trip, when they came to the return flight, everyone got off the bus and took leave of him: thank you very much, it was wonderful, thank you very much. And he waits for someone to give, and another one gets off and another one gets off, and he sees the hundred dollars growing more and more distant. He said: maybe they left it with the last one. The last one came, said to him thank you very much, well done, and got off too. The guide understood that it was over, the money was gone, those were only promises. But after the Jew had gone down a few steps, he suddenly remembered, came back to him and took out an envelope: this is for you, thank you very much. The guide opened the envelope, saw a hundred dollars, and calmed down a bit. He said to the Jew: they say about you Jews that you killed Jesus. I do not know if that is true, but what is clear to me is that you wore him out. And this is what David says: "You have delivered me from the strivings of my people" - Master of the Universe, a strife I am willing to have, only not among Jews. Disputes among Jews there is no way out of them.
בְּנֵי נֵכָר יִתְכַּחֲשׁוּ־לִי לִשְׁמוֹעַ אֹזֶן יִשָּׁמְעוּ לִי׃ (מה) - The sons of the stranger shall submit themselves to me; as soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. (45)
When a person is backed into a corner and begins to lie, it is a sign that from the outset he is afraid and has no choice but to lie. And this is the meaning: the sons of the stranger, out of their great fear of me, will submit themselves to me and speak to me words of falsehood. "As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me" - they will yield to my authority even though they never saw me, but only heard with their ears that this is David. To such an extent did You glorify and exalt my name, Hashem, and help me to attain such victories, that the mere hearing of the name was enough for them. As it once was with the Arabs, that hearing the name "Moshe Dayan" would send a tremor through them; and to draw a thousand distinctions, when they heard "David HaMelech" that alone was enough for them to yield to his authority and obey him.
בְּנֵי נֵכָר יִבֹּלוּ וְיַחְגְּרוּ מִמִּסְגְּרוֹתָם׃ (מו) - The sons of the stranger shall fade away, and they shall come trembling out of their strongholds. (46)
"They will wither" - like a fading leaf, the language of "נבול תיבול" (you will surely wither), decay and withering: the nations will wither away. "And they gird themselves out of their strongholds" - "חיגר" means lame, and the meaning is: from the abundance of suffering with which I confine them, in the language of "bring my soul out of confinement," that I shut them in there, they come out lame. That is, from David pursuing them so relentlessly, defeating them in battle and closing in on them, they come out of the battlefield maimed and lame.
The Ralbag brings a further interpretation: "יחגרו" as a term of fear. From the chambers in which they are shut up out of dread, from the hideouts and the sealed rooms, from there "they gird themselves out of their strongholds": you are inside the shelter and still fearful and terrified of King David. Their fear will be so great even while they are in their rooms hidden away in them. And the Ralbag brings another explanation: "יחגרו" from the language of weapons of war, as in "let not one who girds himself boast like one who unfastens" - they will gird on their weapons of war, but "out of their strongholds," each one will remain shut inside his house and inside his land and will not have the courage to go out to fight.
חַי־יְהֹוָה וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי וְיָרֻם אֱלֹהֵי צוּר יִשְׁעִי׃ (מז) - The Lord lives, and blessed is my Rock, and exalted is God, the Rock of my salvation. (47)
Hashem is in the aspect of a Rock - strength and might. "And exalted is God, the Rock of my salvation" - through all these things the Rock, God of my salvation, will be exalted, for Hashem is the One who saves me.
הָאֵל הַנֹּתֵן נְקָמֹת לִי וּמֹרִיד עַמִּים תַּחְתֵּנִי׃ (מח) - The God who grants me vengeance and brings down peoples beneath me. (48)
He is the One who avenges me, and brings the nations down beneath me so that I can conquer them.
וּמוֹצִיאִי מֵאֹיְבָי וּמִקָּמַי תְּרוֹמְמֵנִי מֵאִישׁ חֲמָסִים תַּצִּילֵנִי׃ (מט) - And who brings me out from my enemies, and lifts me above those who rise against me, and delivers me from the man of violence. (49)
You make me high and lofty, and deliver me from the man of violence - from people who come to plunder and harm me.
עַל־כֵּן אוֹדְךָ יְהֹוָה בַּגּוֹיִם וּלְשִׁמְךָ אֲזַמֵּר׃ (נ) - Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing praises to Your name. (50)
For the sake of all these kindnesses I give thanks to You and sing praises to Your name.
מִגְדּוֹל יְשׁוּעוֹת מַלְכּוֹ וְעֹשֶׂה־חֶסֶד לִמְשִׁיחוֹ לְדָוִד וּלְזַרְעוֹ עַד־עוֹלָם׃ (נא) - A tower of salvations is He to His king, and He deals kindly with His anointed, with David and his seed forevermore.
I praise and extol Hashem, and know that Hashem is a tower of salvations, He performs great salvations for His king, for the king He set over Israel, that is, for me, David the king. And do not think that this is a reward for what I supposedly give to Hashem, blessed be He, rather "and He deals kindly with His anointed" - everything Hashem does with me is only in the category of kindness, out of His abundant goodness. "With David and his seed forevermore" - and I ask, Master of the world, that just as this kindness was for David, so may it continue for my seed as well.
In our written text it is written "magdil" and the reading is "migdol," and the Radak says there is no difference between "migdol" and "magdil." And in Birkat Hamazon: on Shabbat and festivals we say "migdol," and on a weekday "magdil." Some say that in truth people always used to say "magdil," and the fact that we say "migdol" on Shabbat is nothing but a corruption: originally it was written in the siddur "in Shin-Bet migdol," meaning that in Shmuel Bet the word "migdol" appears (for in Tehillim it is written "magdil," and in parentheses they noted that in Shmuel Bet the wording is "migdol"), and the printers did not understand and mistakenly expanded the abbreviation: instead of "in Shmuel Bet" they read "Sh"B" as an abbreviation for Shabbat, and turned it into a law of Shabbat. So some wish to argue, but in my view the argument is not acceptable, for it is also found in ancient books that on Shabbat one should say "migdol." And the explanation is that on a weekday one must still increase, but on Shabbat this is already a state of completeness, a world that is entirely good, and there is no matter of increasing, rather it is already "migdol" - existing in its greatness.
David's song in this chapter is the song of Divine providence: "with the devoted You act devotedly, with the pure You act purely, and with the crooked You act perversely" - the Holy One, blessed be He, repays a person measure for measure, as we saw with David who did not kill Shaul and merited the kingship, and as we saw with Pharaoh who began with "come, let us deal wisely with them" and was answered with "let us please go a three days' journey." Hashem saves a poor people and humbles the lofty, illuminates a person's darkness, leaps him over his obstacles, sets him upon his heights so that he will not fall, gives strength to his arms in battle, and multiplies him through His humility as if he were a great people. And within all the praise, David also asks for himself: "and You delivered me from the strife of my people" - that he may merit to judge with righteousness and not stumble in the judgment of Israel. And he concludes with thanks that all this is not reward but kindness: "a tower of salvations is He to His king, and He deals kindly with His anointed, with David and his seed forevermore."