In this Psalm David haMelekh prays to God to save him from the hand of his enemies.
David recognizes that “His enemies are many, too many” for him to handle. His enemies are completely aware that they outnumber David and his army.
And this is why they proclaim:
רַבִּים, אֹמְרִים לְנַפְשִׁי אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לּוֹ בֵאלֹ-הִים סֶלָה
“David’s life, has no hope anymore.” The enemies believe that “Now, not even God can save King David”.
וְאַתָּה ה’ מָגֵן בַּעֲדִי כְּבוֹדִי וּמֵרִים רֹאשִׁי
“But You HaShem, You are my shield”. You protect me against my enemies even before I request Your protection. Some times, I’m not aware that is was You Who saved me. And while You protect my life, “You don’t let my enemies to humiliate me”. You spare my life while “You hold my head up”.
אֲנִי שָׁכַבְתִּי, וָאִישָׁנָה הֱקִיצוֹתִי כִּי ה’ יִסְמְכֵנִי
Knowing that You are on my side, “I lay down in my bed and I’m able to sleep”. Because I know that during the night You are awake, watching over me. And “when I wake up” in the morning, I’m confident, knowing that “You will sustain me” during the day.
לֹא-אִירָא מֵרִבְבוֹת עָם אֲשֶׁר סָבִיב, שָׁתוּ עָלָי
Knowing that You are on my side, “why should I be afraid of my enemies?” You are my shield, “why should I be afraid, even when millions of brutal enemies are surrounding me from every corner.”
לה’ הַיְשׁוּעָה
“The salvation”, the decision of who will be victorious and who will be defeated in battle, “is YOURS”. We have our army, our wonderful and courageous sons/soldiers who are ready to fight and if necessary, to sacrifice their lives to protect our people. But we know that at the end the “salvation” is Yours. You determine who is victorious and who is defeated.
עַל-עַמְּךָ בִרְכָתֶךָ סֶּלָה
Our enemies are many. Too many to handle by ourselves. They outnumber us greatly. Literally, 100 to 1. For them it is obvious that the end of Israel is inevitable. For them, it is not IF, but WHEN and HOW. And even when they are busy fighting among themselves and killing each other, we are their biggest goal. The world, most of the world, is divided into two: those who are afraid of our enemies (because they don’t know YOU) and will never act in our defense, and those who are not afraid of our enemies but concur with their ideas that we, Israel, don’t deserve to live in peace.
You are our hope. Our only hope. HaShem, “bestow Your blessing” of victory and peace “upon YOUR people”, upon YOUR children.
