Tehilim Perek 109

Hello everybody, I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. Today’s NachDaily is Tehilim Chapter 109.

Dovid said this perek while a fugitive from Shaul. He was constantly slandered while Shaul was plotting ways to kill him. The Meforshim explain that this perek was said on behalf of Am Yisrael, which is constantly being slandered by the nations of the world. If not for Hashem helping us, we would have already been devoured by them.

This is also a good prayer to say when suffering with emotional and physical pain.

The Ramad Walli notes that both this and the previous perek deal with the pain that Dovid experienced from his enemies. Many people caused him grief while he was King. The previous perek dealt with Dovid’s enemies from below, while this one deals with his enemies from above, the impeding negative forces wanting to stop him in the upper worlds.

This prayer opens, therefore, with the words, “Elokaiy tehilsi, al techarash, Hashem I praise You, don’t be silent.” This was addressing the judgment in Shamayim. As Dovid attributed all din to Hashem, he was praying for the judgment to be mitigated.

In this prayer, Dovid relates the considerable amount of grief caused by his enemies, as he was attacked for no reason. Dovid prays for Hashem to find his enemies guilty for contriving plans to kill him, for them to be punished, asking for their children to be orphans with no one to take care of them.

Towards the end of the prayer Dovid expresses himself in a painful, deep manner. “I am a poor man; my heart feels completely dead! My life is like a passing shadow and my knees are worn out from shaking.”

He ends by stating that even though his enemies try to rebel against You, God, You remain unscathed and unaffected by them. True salvation comes from You, Hashem. As for me, I’ll continue to thank God forever and ever.

Verse 4 says:

תַּֽחַת־אַהֲבָתִ֥י יִשְׂטְנ֗וּנִי וַאֲנִ֥י תְפִלָּֽה׃

In return for my love they have denounced me. I am prayer.

The Gemarah in Brachos 5A explains that a person should only pray to God “mitoch kavod rosh, out of feelings of seriousness,” not being lax about approaching God.

The Maggid of Mezritch taught that “mitoch kavod rosh” means that we should daven for the Shechina, which is called rosh, the head, not only for our own needs. It is considered much more important to daven for Hashem’s needs. As we find in this prayer, Dovid davened for others, not only himself.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe in Lekutey Sichos asks on this: We know the Rambam brings in halacha that people should indeed daven for their own needs. How does this fit with the teaching of the Maggid of Mezritch?

We see, he says, that the Maggid challenges us to refine ourselves to such a point that we lose our entire egos and become nullified to Hashem. At this great state of bitul, nullification, “your needs” and “God’s needs” (so to speak) become one and the same because you only care about Him!

May we merit these great levels of bitul to Hashem through pouring our hearts out to Him every day of our lives.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.