Tehilim Perek 14

Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll be discussing Tehilim, perek yud daled

The Ramad Walli explains the connection between this perek and the previous one, which ended with the greatness of someone who had strong emunah in God. This perek shows the opposite, what happens when a person doesn’t have belief in God.

Rashi explains that this kapital was said prophetically about Nevuchadnetzer, who destroyed the first Beis Hamikdash. (Dovid also said kapital nun gimmel, about Titus Harasha who waltzed right into the Heichel Hamikdash and not a single person protested.)

לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָ֫וִ֥ד אָ֘מַ֤ר נָבָ֣ל בְּ֭לִבּוֹ אֵ֣ין אֱלֹהִ֑ים הִֽשְׁחִ֗יתוּ הִֽתְעִ֥יבוּ עֲלִילָ֗ה אֵ֣ין עֹֽשֵׂה־טֽוֹב׃

For the leader. Of David. The fool said in his heart, “God does not care.” Man’s deeds are corrupt and loathsome; no one does good.

The foolish man is Nevuchadnetzer, who thought “D’leis din, v’leis Dayan.” There is no morality and no God in the world.

The Ramad Walli explains that the word naval, fool, comes from the word nevailah, meaning corpse, because the “Sitra Achra – impeding negative side” grabs hold of a rasha, causing that person to deny God and the spiritual dimension of the world. Therefore, they see themselves and the world around them like an empty shell of a corpse.

Therefore, the Rasha says as follows;

יְֽהוָ֗ה מִשָּׁמַיִם֮ הִשְׁקִ֪יף עַֽל־בְּנֵי־אָ֫דָ֥ם לִ֭רְאוֹת הֲיֵ֣שׁ מַשְׂכִּ֑יל דֹּ֝רֵשׁ אֶת־אֱלֹהִֽים׃

The LORD looks down from heaven on mankind to find a man of understanding, a man mindful of God.

There’s a great Ramad Walli on this passuk. This statement can be said by a person who lacks faith, or it can be said by one who has faith, depending on how you read it. For example,

A person who lacks faith would say this in an accusatory manner, “Do you actually think God looks down on us and cares about what we do?”

A person with emunah, on the other hand, would say that God cares about the world so much that He looks down to find a person who cares about Him!

The Ramad Walli explains that the fact that you can read this passuk either way points towards the reality of free choice. You can look at the world and say, “Why is this happening? God has forgotten me,” or you can look at the world and see that He is with you.

There’s a deep psychological and spiritual lesson over here.

The deeper truth is that we go through life interpreting the situations in which we find ourselves. Life happens on a neutral script, but we use our invisible gift of thought to write the subtitles. Often, without even realizing what we’re doing, our minds are very active, judging and defining the way that we experience the situations in our life.

Seeing the neutrality and oneness of life, has given me so much flexibility in my own life by helping me to see that ultimately, we are the ones who use thought to author our experiences, writing the script by interpreting our experiences. Feel free to re-write the script in any way that you see fit!

Free choice is a powerful thing which we often take for granted. The ball is in our court not only fifty percent of the time, not sixty percent, but one hundred percent of the time. We decide how we want to use our gift of free will via thought to interpret our circumstances in life.

As the Ramad Walli points out, the same words can mean totally different things depending on how you look at the situation. That’s why our passuk can be read in two completely opposite different ways.

הַכֹּ֥ל סָר֮ יַחְדָּ֪ו נֶ֫אֱלָ֥חוּ אֵ֤ין עֹֽשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב אֵ֝֗ין גַּם־אֶחָֽד׃ הֲלֹ֥א יָדְעוּ֮ כָּל־פֹּ֪עֲלֵ֫י אָ֥וֶן אֹכְלֵ֣י עַ֭מִּי אָ֣כְלוּ לֶ֑חֶם יְ֝הוָ֗ה לֹ֣א קָרָֽאוּ׃

All have turned bad, altogether foul; there is none who does good, not even one. Are they so witless, all those evildoers, who devour my people as they devour food, and do not invoke the LORD?

This is another reference to Nevuchadnezter, who destroyed the Beis Hamikdash. After that, everything went downhill. The color of life became diminished.

שָׁ֤ם ׀ פָּ֣חֲדוּ פָ֑חַד כִּֽי־אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים בְּד֣וֹר צַדִּֽיק׃ עֲצַת־עָנִ֥י תָבִ֑ישׁוּ כִּ֖י יְהוָ֣ה מַחְסֵֽהוּ׃

There they will be seized with fright, for God is present in the circle of the righteous. You may set at naught the counsel of the lowly, but the LORD is his refuge.

מִ֥י יִתֵּ֣ן מִצִּיּוֹן֮ יְשׁוּעַ֪ת יִשְׂרָ֫אֵ֥ל בְּשׁ֣וּב יְ֭הוָה שְׁב֣וּת עַמּ֑וֹ יָגֵ֥ל יַ֝עֲקֹ֗ב יִשְׂמַ֥ח יִשְׂרָֽאֵל׃

O that the deliverance of Israel might come from Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of His people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice.

You think that God has left the Jewish people, Dovid says. Things look bleak, especially now that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, but trust in God. One day He’ll return His nation back to Eretz Yisrael and all of Am Yisrael will sing and dance in the streets.

Baruch Hashem we’re currently amidst those days, as Dovid has predicted in this perek, “B’shuv Hashem es shvus amo.”

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.