The final pasuk of kapitel gimmel rabosai לה' הישועה על עמך ברכתך סלה. And the Malbim comments יען שהיה המלחמה נגד עם ישראל ותהי מגפה גדולה בעם
that Avshalom’s mered really triggered a civil war and the potential was for massive casualties. That’s the background of Dovid Hamelech’s bakasha שלא יאבדו עם רב מישראל במלחמה. And in fact Hakadosh Baruch Hu fulfilled that bakasha וכן היה שעל ידי שנהרג אבשלום פסקה המלחמה. וזה שאמר על ידי שהישועה הזאת לה' הוא.
That’s the pshat in the pasuk. Since the yeshuah if it’s forthcoming is from Hakadosh Baruch Hu so then there’s no constraints as to how that yeshuah will play out. אבקש שעל עמך תשרה ברכתך ובל יאבדו במלחמה. There’s the clear implication in the Malbim which is simple fact is that when basar vadam are fighting and making calculations so they can’t obviously, not only can’t they but they’re not even, they can’t even aspire to this type of targeted yeshuah that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives. You know sometimes one hears, most recently in, it concerned American forces when they had this raid in Syria to kill the head of ISIS so it was reported that the president opted for an operation that was more dangerous for American forces to try to avoid civilian casualties on the other end. And lehavdil lehavdil, sometimes one hears such reports of decisions made by Tzahal as well. But lemaise it’s not right al pi din. Al pi din, there’s no justification for exposing a chayul to an added element of danger to avoid civilian casualties on the other side. The notion that a civilian casualty is more of a tragedy than a military tragedy, the whole hanacha is mufroch. The whole hanacha is mufroch. The obligation of Tzahal is to protect, to protect including the chayalim, not just the civilian population, including the chayalim. And lehavdil, the same thing is true, it’s an example of what we had but where was it back in kapitel aleph of how with seichel enoshi, although this would even appear to be seichel enoshi frankly, but with seichel enoshi you come up short. Mishpatim bal yeda’um. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you can say, Hakadosh Baruch Hu make the yeshuah come without there being any collateral damage, any. Basar vadam doesn’t have such control. Basar vadam doesn’t have such control. If the terrorists yimach shemom are using human shields so what right does anyone have to jeopardize chayalim or civilian population in Eretz Yisrael? those civilian lives. It's not a correct it's not a correct compass. What HaKadosh Baruch Hu does miraculously, so a person doesn't aspire to do. A person doesn't it's not part of our Halakha to to emulate what HaKadosh Baruch Hu can only do with his miraculously with his with his omnipotence. A person has to make people have to make hishtadlus within the constraints of of human of human endeavor. למנצח בנגינות מזמור לדוד. The Malbim understands this isn't necessarily a consensus amongst all the meforshim that that the background to to this kapitel is again what's recounted in Sefer Shmuel that that there was a famine for three years. And as the Malbim says, ולייצני הדור אמרו שהוא בעבור חטא דוד. The leitzonei hador attributed the the famine which was afflicting Klal Yisrael to Dovid's cheit, his cheit with Bas-Sheva. ודוד שאל אז באורים ותומים ויאמר ה' אל שאול ואל בית הדמים על אשר המית את הגבעונים.
It was because of the cheit of of Shaul having killed the Givonim. ופייסו את הגבעונים וירד הגשם. And in fact, once the Givonim with their achzariyos were appeased so then the the drought came to an end. That's the background to to this this kapitel and and once again the word selah as we saw yesterday for the Malbim indicates full stop which which tells us that the that the kapitel is is divided into three parts. בקראי ענני אלקי צדקי בצר הרחבת לי חנני ושמע תפלתי.
So the Malbim explains that עת אקרא בתפילה ענני מפני שלושה דברים. A, Elokei tzidki, B, batzar hirchavta li, C, chaneni ushma tefillasi. What what are each of the three? Aleph, מצד שאתה אלקי צדקי מצד שאתה יודע צדקתי ומעשי הטובים.
As as the Malbim explains in the Be'urei HaMilos, it's the same what what provides this insight is the same as we saw in in the previous kapitel when Dovid HaMelech spoke about hoshieinu Elokai, so the Malbim explained that Elokai meant with respect the the hashgacha that you're mashgiach on me. And as we discussed yesterday, that when when the possessive is attached to the Shem Elokim, it means that the that that as it were, HaKadosh Baruch Hu's Elokus is is expressed, is manifest klapei that person. So here when when Dovid HaMelech says Elokei tzidki, right, the the God of my righteousness, so that's what it means, המשגיח ובביאור המלות על צדקי ויודע כי צדקתי. What does it mean? Doesn't Rashi tell us in Parshas Va'etchanan that va'etchanan is lashon matnas chinam? That tzaddikim are not toleh b'ma'aseihem hatovim when they when they daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu but they only ask for matnas chinam. So what does it mean מצד שאתה יודע צדקתי ומעשי הטובים? So lechoira what it means is that that over here in this context where if the leitzonei hador had been correct, the the sheker that they were espousing... would be bebechinas acharon shem that they'd look and see how the entire nation is suffering because of the cheit of the melech. So when Dovid Hamelech is imploring Hakadosh Baruch Hu that aneini מצד שאתה אלהי צדקי is not he's not looking to clear his name for personal reasons. משל למה דבר דומה. The Rambam has at the end of Hilchos Talmud Torah based on a Gemara in Yoma that if someone is mevazeh a talmid chacham in private, so then that's when the midah should be הנעלבים ואינם עולבים שומעים חרפתם ואינם משיבים ושמחים בייסורים. But if it happens in public where the affront creates a bizayon hatorah, so then the talmid chacham is mechuyav to respond. Bechinah that's the, it's in a similar vein that Dovid Hamelech says מצד שאתה אלהי צדקי. What are beis gimmel? The other two beisis as it were for Dovid Hamelech being mevakesh from Hashem בצר הרחבת לי חנני ושמע תפלתי. So let's see them together in the Malbim. Beis, metzad harachamim ומצד שאתה רגיל תמיד לענות בעת צרה וזה שכתוב בצר הרחבת לי.
Gimmel, where did he see rachamim here? Maybe he's just assuming it, but where did the Malbim see rachamim here? Gimmel, מצד החנינה ומתנת חינם, right? חנני ושמע תפלתי כמו שכתוב וחנותי את אשר אחון אף על פי שאינו כדאי וזה שכתוב חנני ושמע תפלתי.
So what's the difference between asking Hakadosh Baruch Hu metzad harachamim and metzad hachnina? So in Parshas Ki Sisa where the Yud Gimmel Middos appear, so the Malbim defines rachum vechanun. So there too we differentiate them as two middos. So the Malbim defines that rachamim is מצד דקות האיש שמעורר רחמים. When a person has rachmanus, the rachmanus is aroused by the predicament in which the person finds himself. You see a poor person, nebach, who just doesn't, someone reduced to poverty, doesn't catch, make ends meet, has to come asking for money. You see a choleh, so rachamim is aroused מצד דקות האיש שמעורר רחמים. That's how, that's why betzar hirchavta li means the betzar represents the dikus haish. The state of the eis tzarah is what elicits rachamim. But chanina, going back to quoting from the Malbim in Parshas Ki Sisa, הוא מצד מציאת חן. Chanina is משל למה הדבר דומה, no dikus haish. A poor person comes and asks for tzedakah, that's rachamim. Let's say a young person comes, Baruch Hashem everything's fine. He wants to start a business and he wants you to invest in the business or to lend him 100,000 dollars so he can get the business started. There's no rachmanus that's going to be triggered by that request. But the person may choose to respond metzad chanina, just a pure matnas chinam, a pure matnas chinam that's not even in response to a circumstance of dikus haish. So that's what Dovid Hamelech is asking, alef, Ribono Shel Olam have rachmanus because of the tzarah, but beis even leaving aside the dikus, the predicament, the tremendous eis tzarah, chaneni ushma tefilati. Obviously we'll have more soon in the next. How Dovid Hamelech davens is a binyan av, is a binyan av for davening. בני איש עד מתי כבודי לכלימה תאהבון ריק תבקשו כזב סלה.
Dovid Hamelech now is not, obviously the pasuk beis represented the tefillah, pasuk gimel, he's not addressing them panim el panim in that sense, but in terms of giving us a limud of what the response is to these letzanei hador who were trying to wrongly assign the blame to him. The emphasis on bnei ish is the contrast to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, He knows tzidki and you, bnei ish, you are seeking to humiliate me. You're seeking to humiliate me in two ways: te'ehavun rik and tevashu chazav. Rotze lomar או שתאהבו להכלימוני על ידי דבר ריק שאין בו ממש ותעשו ממנו דבר גדול להגדיל עלי עקב או אם גם דבר ריק לא תמצאו תבקשו ותמציאו דבר כזב ועלילת שקר.
So either you'll blow something out of proportion or you'll fabricate, right, and that's tevashu. And it's not just rik, it's not just something hollow that you're looking to inflate and to blow out of size, but it's a davar chazav. The whole thing is sheker vechazav. ודעו כי הפלה ה' חסיד לו ה' ישמע בקראי אליו.
That Hakadosh Baruch Hu has answered me, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is answering me, is going to answer me, so is discernible in two ways: aleph מצד שהפלה ה' חסיד לו שהבדיל את החסיד בהפלאה ובהשגחה פרטית לברר צדקו.
Right, vehiflah Hashem בין בין מקנה מצרים, the Malbim quotes in the Be'urei Hamilos, and between mikne Yisrael, to separate. Hakadosh Baruch Hu has singled out, has singled out the chasid. And beis מצד שה' ישמע בקראי אליו. As a result, רגזו ואל תחטאו אמרו בלבבכם על משכבכם ודמו סלה. Rigzu, fear Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Al techeta'u, stop with the hotza'as sheim ra. And as a tikkun, as a commensurate middah kineged middah tikkun for maligning me, אמרו בלבבכם על משכבכם. So interesting in both in the Be'urei Hamilos and the peirush here, so the Malbim explains that al here doesn't isn't the preposition that we're used to but is the word avel, the same as the word avel. It's a different form of the word avel. So the translation of imru bilvavchem means that instead of, instead of maligning me for a cheit that you've distorted and for which I've done teshuvah, so instead you should confess: אמרו בלבבכם אבל שמשכבכם מה שאתם חטאתם במשכב. How does Dovid Hamelech know that they're guilty of that? The fact the fact that they were maligning him. So how does Dovid Hamelech know that they were guilty of this? So Chazal say that whenever you see someone who's wrongly, falsely, cynically poseling someone else, is כל הפוסל במומו פוסל. If if one person maligns another person and whatever he accuses him of, so generally כל הפוסל במומו פוסל. So Dovid Hamelech says you're making this commotion and you're ignoring the fact that כל היוצא למלחמת בית דוד כותב גט כריתות לאשתו and you're A blowing my sin out of proportion, B ignoring the teshuvah, so כל הפוסל במומו פוסל. So what you need to do now in response to that is אמרו בלבבכם על משכבכם ודמו. Vedmou, Vayidom Aharon, which according to, to be quiet, ושסקו מהוציא דיבה על דוד. זבחו זבחי צדק ובטחו אל השם.
The pasuk is addressed to the kohanim. Bring the shelamim, the zvachim that I brought. Dovid Hamelech refers to them as zivchei tzedek because they were brought as hoda'ah that his righteousness was established. Ubit'chu el Hashem and have bitachon that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will provide rain. רבים אומרים מי יראנו טוב נסה עלינו אור פניך השם.
Rabbim omrim says the Malbim be'eis ra'av yomru during the years of famine they were pining מי יראנו טוב שיבוא הגשם and this is part of the rabbim omrim נסה עלינו אור פניך השם ושהשם ינוסס עליהם אור פניו והשגחתו שנעלמה מאתם בעת הרעב והסתרת פנים.
Right, so kanes al ha'aretz, a nes is a banner, something that's elevated. So the Radak and then maybe he's the first, I'm not sure, but then others as well afterwards explain that sometimes in Lashon Hakodesh, samech and sin are interchangeable. Similarly, often hey and aleph are interchangeable. So rom venisa, right? So nisa means nun sin aleph, nisa means something which is high, which is elevated. So that's the same thing here about nesa aleinu is lift over us and that's the same, it's basically the same shoresh as kanes as a banner. Right, one of the pshatim in והשם ניסה את אברהם in nisayon is that it doesn't mean trial, it doesn't mean test, but it means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu raised and elevated the banner, meaning He publicized Avraham Avinu's incredible madrega of ahavas Hashem. So נסה עלינו אור פניך השם. Or panecha stands in contrast to hester panim. Nesa aleinu means so that your shining countenance, which means that when again, it's the opposite of hester panim, it means that Hakadosh Baruch Hu exercises His hashgacha. נתתה שמחה בלבי מעת דגנם ותירושם רבו. The mem here for the Malbim means from the time that the drought ended and as a result, so then the crops began to grow and to flourish, deganam vesirosham rabbu, so from that time nasatta simcha belibbi. בשלום יחדיו אשכבה ואישן כי אתה השם לבדד לבטח תושיבני.
So the imagery the Malbim explains is that kavyachol shalom is... And it's מצייר כאילו שוכב ביחד עם השלום. That I'm able to lie down and sleep alongside Shalom because כי אתה ה' לבדד לבטח תושביני is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has now made us secure in the sense that with the drought ending, so we're not dependent upon imports; and in that sense, even levadad, even when we're alone, it's l'betach toshiveni. Okay, we'll stop there.