Tehilim Perek 27

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 25. This perek is essentially split up into two parts.

The perek opens with Dovid expressing confidence in God’s protection. No matter what Dovid was up against, Hashem protected him. “God is my light,” and “Who should I fear?” asks Dovid. His strong emunah provided him with the wherewithal to deal with whatever life brought his way.

“Achas sha’alty,” says Dovid. “One thing I ask of You—to sit in Your house all the days of my life.” He always wanted to feel God’s Presence.

In the second half of the perek, verses 7 through 14, Dovid asks God for continued success against his enemies, begging Hashem not to forsake him. Dovid also acknowledges that, if for not his unwavering faith in God, his enemies would have already overtaken and killed him.

In the last verse, Dovid proclaims a message for all of Am Yisrael: place your hope in God. Be strong, and He will give you courage. In return, you’ll have an increased measure of hopefulness.

In passuk 4, Dovid says:

אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֝הוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ׃

I make one request of God, that which I seek; to sit in the House of God all the days of my life, to gaze upon the pleasant ways of God and to meditate in His Sanctuary.

Even before we get to any of the Meforshim, the words themselves are so beautiful. Dovid only wanted to be close to Hashem. There are many things in life that someone could desire: money, a nice house, vacations, a good family, honest and independent children, a spouse, fame, a career, more friends, a new job, respect, status, honor, financial security, a quiet mind, emotional and physical health, etc., and the list goes on. There is no end to the amount of things that we can desire from life, and we become distracted and pulled into the illusions of this world.

We often have competing desires for all sorts of things. Dovid had one singular strong ratzon-will, to bask in God’s light.

Similarly, the Malbim notes “sha’alti – requested” refers to the mouth. You ask for something with your mouth, but “avakesh- seek” refers to the heart. Dovid’s mind and heart were unified in wanting to feel God’s Presence because the main thing in life is to serve the Creator.

Every one of us has a purpose and mission in life. There are so many things that detract us from our true purpose however, that we need to constantly refocus and remind ourselves to fill our mission in this world. Dovid, despite all his distractions, and always on the run from his persecutors, wanted only to unify his mind and heart to fulfill his purpose.

The Malbim asks why “sha’alti – requested,” is written in the past tense while “avakesh- seek” refers to the future. Dovid was saying that anything that he has asked for in the past, and anything for which he will ask in the future, ultimately boils down to one thing only: to sit in the House of God.

At the core, the heart, of every Jew’s prayer, is ultimately to do the will of God.

The Yalkut Shimoni explains the following: God said to Dovid, “You start off by saying you only ask for one thing, but then You go on to list several, to sit in the House of God all the days of my life, to gaze upon the pleasant ways of God, and to meditate in His Sanctuary.

“ God,” responds Dovid, “I learned this from You. You said that all You request of YIsrael is only that we love and fear You, yet You gave us many commandments! Isn’t it proper that I emulate the Creator?”

The Ramad Walli asks the same question, and answers that there are infinite levels of consciousness through which a person can see and experience God. Dovid is referring to deeper and deeper levels of experiencing and seeing God’s infinite Glory. This explains the progression of his words. First he asks to sit in the House of God. This is followed by to gaze upon the pleasant ways of God, leading up to meditate in His Sanctuary. These are references to the different levels of experiencing the Oneness of God in creation and the heavenly realms.

May we all merit to physically sit at the entrance of the 3^rd Beis Hamikdash and experience being in the Presence of God.

Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.