Tehilim Perek 17A

Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll be discussing the first part of Tehilim perek yud zayin, pessukim aleph through hey.

In this perek, Dovid sincerely pours out his heart to God, asking Him to draw him close. He asks not to be tested by Hashem.

Rashi and the Radak tell us that this chapter was said in reference to Dovid’s “sin” with Bas Sheva. Obviously, any conversation around this topic needs to be prefaced by the Gemarah that maintains that anyone who says that Dovid sinned is mistaken.

This is not the time to delve into what exactly Dovid’s sin was. Anyone interested in learning more can look at the NachDaily archives found in the bottom of the email, click on the link for Shmuel Beis, then go to chapter eleven.

תְּפִלָּ֗ה לְדָ֫וִ֥ד שִׁמְעָ֤ה יְהוָ֨ה ׀ צֶ֗דֶק הַקְשִׁ֥יבָה רִנָּתִ֗י הַאֲזִ֥ינָה תְפִלָּתִ֑י בְּ֝לֹ֗א שִׂפְתֵ֥י מִרְמָֽה׃

A prayer of David. O God that is righteous pay attention to my song. Listen to my prayer uttered by lips of deceit.

The Radak and Malbim tell us that rina, song, is when person raises his or her voice during prayer and actually prays louder than usual.

Parenthetically, this is good advice for increasing concentration during davening. By davening with rina, raising your voice a little louder than you normally would, you’ll tend to find increased feeling behind your words.

Lips of prayer that were used for deceit again refers to Dovid and Bas Sheva.

The Gemarah in Sanhedrin 107A explains that we learn from Dovid that a person should never ask to be tested.

The idea of asking God to test him came into Dovid’s mind when he overheard people davening to “The God of Avraham, the God of Yitzchak and the God of Yaakov.” Dovid asked Hashem why his name was not included, to which Hashem responded, “They were tested and you weren’t!” Dovid then asked God to test him so that he could be raised to a higher level.

Then the test began. Dovid awoke in the middle of the night and saw Bas Sheva. For more insight into this, look up Shmuel Beis, chapter eleven.

With this the rest of the perek becomes easier to understand.

מִ֭לְּפָנֶיךָ מִשְׁפָּטִ֣י יֵצֵ֑א עֵ֝ינֶ֗יךָ תֶּחֱזֶ֥ינָה מֵישָׁרִֽים׃ בָּ֘חַ֤נְתָּ לִבִּ֨י ׀ פָּ֘קַ֤דְתָּ לַּ֗יְלָה צְרַפְתַּ֥נִי בַל־תִּמְצָ֑א זַ֝מֹּתִ֗י בַּל־יַעֲבָר־פִּֽי׃

My vindication will come from You; Your eyes will behold what is right. You have visited me at night, probed my mind, You have tested me and found nothing amiss; I determined that my mouth should not transgress.

The Mefroshim elucidates that Dovid was saying: God, you’ve even seen me at night, when I’m alone in personal prayer with You. You probe my mind, and see that not only do I choose my words carefully, but I also guard my mind. I try not to even think destructively.

Dovid also makes reference to how God tested him with Bas Sheva, saying, “You tested me and found nothing!”

The Gemarah explains that the reason that the story of Dovid and Bas Sheva was recorded was to teach Teshuva to the world.

Just think about this for a second. Chazal was willing to stain the reputation of one of its greatest leaders of all time, from whom Mashiach will come, to teach us that we can do Teshuva.

No matter what you may have done or been through in your life, no matter how much you feel that you messed up and destroyed, or how irreparable you think the damage is – YOU CAN COME CLOSE TO HASHEM AND DO TESHUVA! IT’S NEVER TOO LATE!

Admit your short comings, turn to the Master of the world in prayer, and be healed by His light, because Teshuvah brings you to a higher place than you originally were.

If you break a glass and somehow glue back the pieces, it will never be the same.

Picture, however, how wonderful it would be if when you put back the broken pieces the glass was somehow stronger and better than it originally was!

The power of Teshuva defies logic because all of your intentional sins get flipped to Merits. Imagine that the worst thing you’ve ever done in your life actually becomes an advocate for you! We can now see how important it is never to give up!

לִפְעֻלּ֣וֹת אָ֭דָם בִּדְבַ֣ר שְׂפָתֶ֑יךָ אֲנִ֥י שָׁ֝מַ֗רְתִּי אָרְח֥וֹת פָּרִֽיץ׃ תָּמֹ֣ךְ אֲ֭שֻׁרַי בְּמַעְגְּלוֹתֶ֑יךָ בַּל־נָמ֥וֹטּוּ פְעָמָֽי׃

As for man’s dealings, in accord with the command of Your lips, I have kept in view the fate of the lawless. My feet have held to Your paths; my legs have not given way.

Again we see how Dovid continues to turn to God with words of Teshuvah, wanting for God to shine His light upon him.

Be”H, we’ll finish the perek starting with passuk vav in the next shiur.

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.