Tehilim Perek 37C

Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll be discussing Tehilim, chapter 37. This is the third shiur on this perek.

Please listen to the earlier shiurim on this chapter for further background information.

Just a quick recap:

This chapter is written in accordance with the aleph-bais. Dovid speaks about the advantages of a person who completely relies on God. He contrasts the difference between life with emunah versus a life without it.

Emunah in Hashem is really a wonderful thing. How can we make sense out of the many happenings in life without faith in God? They who lack faith are often bothered by the many difficult things that occur throughout their lives.

A person without emunah is “kasheh kushiyos harbei – asks so many questions.” This is a little bit of a play on words – the many questions they ask are difficult for them. The lack of understanding that everything God does is for the good weighs on their hearts and minds. This, of course, causes them more suffering.

How great is life with emunah! With it we are able to settle our minds and make sense out of the difficulties that life brings our way. Praiseworthy are they who grab emunah with all their strength. It takes no sophistication to come close to Hashem. We need only simple emunah, utter joy, and great sincerity in serving the Creator!

In verse 10 Dovid says;

וְע֣וֹד מְ֭עַט וְאֵ֣ין רָשָׁ֑ע וְהִתְבּוֹנַ֖נְתָּ עַל־מְקוֹמ֣וֹ וְאֵינֶֽנּוּ׃

A little longer and there will be no wicked man; you will look at his place and he will not be there.

The simple meaning is in the greater context of the perek. The passuk really says that Hashem is telling us to be patient, because in a short time He is going to destroy them. We will look at the place where they once stood, but they will no longer be there, because Hashem removed them!

Rashi and the Malbim add that we need to just wait a little bit longer to see the punishment of the reshaim. If we look deeply enough at their lives, we would quickly see that they are not as successful as they seem. They often suffer from emotional difficulties and poor relationships.

Rebbe Nachman, in Leuktei Maharan Torah 282, explains a great lesson in teshuvah from this passuk.

He begins by saying that it is a mitzva to judge other people favorably, to become experts in finding their good points. There is no one on earth who hasn’t done a mitzva or good deed of some sort. Focus your attention on their deeper natures and the good that they have within them. One by one, collect their good points and be don lechaf zechus towards them – judge them favorably.

Through focusing on their inherent goodness, you’ll come to bring them to teshuvah. The words lechaf zechus – to judge favorably – literally means the meritorious side of a scale. Zeroing into their innate goodness has the ability to bring them to teshuva.

Why focus on people’s bad actions when they have good ones? Why stress negative traits, when we can find the good? We all know those whom we perceive as difficult. Focusing on their negative traits is no aid to feeling peace of mind, and is certainly no help in mending the relationship!

Little by little we need to search, sift, and become expert in finding the good in other people, even those who have wronged us over the years.

This is what the passuk means by saying, “v’od me’at v’ain rasha – in that little bit of good he has, he’s not a rasha,” because that person’s good point is totally pure. “V’hitbonta al hamokom v’anenu – And when we’ll look at his original low level, he will no longer be there because you were able to bring him to teshuva through being don lechaf zechus – judging him favorably.

May we merit finding the good in others and, more importantly, in ourselves. To look at the bright side of things, be more optimistic, feel calmer about the events in our lives, and ultimately follow in the ways of Dovid Hamelech.

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.