Tehilim Perek 34B

Welcome to NachDaily, covering the entire TANACH one perek at a time. I’m Rabbi Shaya Sussman, and today we’ll finish discussing Tehilim, chapter 34.

Just a quick recap: this perek was written in the order of the aleph-beis after Dovid escaped from the city of Gas, from King Achash, also known as Avimelech. While on the run from Shaul, Dovid had been forced to leave Eretz Yisrael and cross into Plishiti territory.

While in the first shiur we primarily discussed Dovid’s intention in the perek, I now want to highlight two pessukim.

In verse ten it says, and we repeat these words in Birkas Hamazon,

יְר֣אוּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה קְדֹשָׁ֑יו כִּי־אֵ֥ין מַ֝חְס֗וֹר לִירֵאָֽיו

Fear God, O His holy ones, for those who fear Him lack nothing.

The Radak and Ibn Ezra explain the simple meaning of these words to be that ‘kedoshim- holy people’ who minimize their desires for this world and pursue the fear of God need not fear anything. God will make sure that they lack nothing.

In other words, when you seek out God, you’ll never lose out.

We also find this idea in passuk eleven:

׃ כְּ֭פִירִים רָשׁ֣וּ וְרָעֵ֑בוּ וְדֹרְשֵׁ֥י יְ֝הוָ֗ה לֹא־יַחְסְר֥וּ כָל־טֽוֹב׃

Young lions may want and go hungry, but those who seek God will not lack any good.

The Ibn Ezra explains that “young lions,” who pounce on their prey, refer to people who aggressively chase after livelihood. People can be overly assertive when it comes to making money, but in the end people see through them, and things don’t always work out in the way that they had hoped.

When you seek out God, however, you’ll never lose.

There’s also a great lesson in emunah here for us. People might think that they might lose out, for example, by not being sharp or pushy with people. There may be a temptation to tweak something on a resume to misrepresent ourselves in a more flattering light. It’s not always easy to show others exactly the way we are. It can be easier just to tell someone something they want to hear and then move on. Being a kosher, ehrlich Yid is not easy in these times; we get pulled in so many different directions.

We need to approach Hashem and life with great simplicity, utter joy, honesty and sincerity. If there’s Kavod Hashem in our actions, we should simply do them. And if there’s not, just don’t!

Dovid Hamelech tells us that “Dorshay Hashem lo yachsaru kol tov – if we seek out God, we’ll never lack any good.” Either what we initially wanted will be replaced with something better, or it’ll work out in some other way. We shouldn’t feel that we’ll be missing something by doing what Hashem desires. He is watching out for us.

As Dovid Hamelech says in Ashrei, “Tov Hashem lakol – God is good for everything!” God is good for relationships, business, emotional security, raising kids, and helping you to find a shidduch. He is even good for helping you find a parking spot!

Tov Hashem lakol – God is good for everything! By conforming to His will, we’ll never lose out!

May we merit following in the way of Dovid Hamelech to have complete emunah in God, to realize that serving Him does not entail sacrifice and burdens.

Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.