^13:6But I trusted in Your kindness; my heart will rejoice: the meaning of gil, rejoicing, is gladness over a good thing one never hoped for, and good news that comes suddenly. Accordingly he says: although “I trusted in Your kindness,” so that the salvation is nothing new to me, since I trusted in it, still “my heart will rejoice in Your salvation,” like one glad over a thing he did not hope for. For I trusted only in Your kindness, that You would do it for me out of kindness, not as reward, for I am not worthy of it; and now “I will sing to Hashem, for He has dealt kindly with me” as reward: in His goodness He counted it for me as though I were worthy of it through my deeds; and this is a new gladness, which I did not hope for.

^31:25Be strong: and if so, “be strong, and let your heart take courage, all who hope to Hashem,” for your hope will not return empty.

^32:10Many: only “to the wicked” are there “many pains”: many things are pains to him. The wicked man is pained when he falls ill, when he is hungry, and so in all kinds of suffering. But “one who trusts in Hashem” is not pained in all these, for these pains are, for him, “kindness [that] will surround him”: they are for his protection, as [the bridle is] for the wild beast, that it not turn from the way and not come near to harm him. Therefore “be glad in Hashem and rejoice,” you “tzaddikim,” and you “upright in heart, sing for joy” (Tehillim 32:11), for all that He does is for your good and your success.

^37:4Delight in Hashem: let your delight be a matter of the soul, in Hashem; unlike the evildoers, whose soul is grieved, for the one who could restore their soul is far from them. (5) The evildoers never find the requests of their heart: one who has a hundred wants two hundred. But one who trusts in Hashem, “He will grant you the requests of your heart.”

^37:5Cast: (6) One who does not trust does not know the means and the ways by which he will find his food, and he must seek many ways; but you, “cast upon Hashem” even “your way, and trust in Him that He will do it,” and will prepare also the way by which you will reach your destination.

^37:34Hope: after he has explained the matters of the one who trusts, and the benefit of bitachon for both worlds; and since sometimes the tzaddik does not succeed in this world, so that He may do good to him in his end, and he not be kept from the happiness of the World to Come, he says, “Hope to Hashem,” for everything is for your good. “And keep His way”: wait on His way, for it will lead you to the lands of eternal life, to a life better than these. And if you did not inherit the lower, lowly land, “He will raise you up to inherit” another “land,” which stands at the height of the world: the land of eternal life, where “you will see when the wicked are cut off,” how their soul is cut off from among their people in the World to Come.

^40:5Fortunate: the fortune of the man is if he “has made Hashem his trust.” That is: there is one who trusts in Hashem that He will save him through natural means. Such a man, although he trusts in Hashem, Hashem is not his trust; that is, the thing through which he hopes to attain what he trusts for is not Hashem. For he trusts in Hashem that He will save him through his business or his effort, and that is his trust, through which he hopes for help from Hashem; so Hashem is not his trust. Not so the man who makes no effort at all, but makes Hashem also his trust; that is, that He will choose for him also the means of his salvation (as it says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, and Hashem will be his trust” (Yirmiyahu 17:7), as I explained there). “And has not turned to the arrogant”: that is, that with his trust in Hashem to fulfill his request, he does not turn to [its coming] through natural means, or through people, who are “arrogant, and stray after falsehood.” Arrogance is raising one’s spirit beyond one’s strength, and falsehood is a thing that does not last; and these are the two lacks in trust in man: there is no substance in them, and no endurance, as is said in many places.

^46:2G-d [is] for us: that is, our trust in Hashem has three levels. (1) That He is “a refuge and strength for us.” (2) That He is not only a refuge in a time of peace, for He is also “a help in troubles,” in a time of trouble. (3) That one need not search for Him much and wait for His help, for He is “readily found,” and near to those who call Him.

^46:3Therefore we will not fear when the earth is changed: from its place; and at the time when “the mountains totter into the heart of the seas”; although “its waters roar and foam,” the waters of the river that he will mention soon, and although the mountains quake at the river’s swelling, with all this we will not fear.

^62:9Trust in Him, O people: you, the people, trust in Hashem; for trust in Hashem has an advantage over trust in anything else. (1) One who trusts in something else, in people and the like, cannot trust in it at every time, for in a bad time it cannot save him; but in Hashem “trust at every time.” (2) In trusting people, you cannot reveal to them all the hidden things of your heart, for there are things one is ashamed to reveal to people; but before Hashem “pour out your hearts,” revealing all the hidden things of the heart. (3) “For G-d is a refuge for us”: in a man one only trusts, but in Hashem one finds refuge, as it says, “It is better to take refuge in Hashem than to trust in man” (Tehillim 118:8), as I explained there. “Selah”: the end of the matter.

^112:7From evil tidings: even if he hears evil tidings, “he will not fear.” It could be that he would fear, either because his heart is not firm, and he fears because of his sins or his bad ways, in which he wronged people and they will take revenge on him; but he, “his heart is firm.” Or that he fears the mishaps of the times and the evil of the stars; but he is “trusting in Hashem” that He will change his fortune for the good.

^112:8Steadfast: and if he fears his enemies, that they will do him harm, in this too “his heart is steadfast, he will not fear,” for his heart leans on his righteousness; so much so that not only will he not fear that they will do him harm, but he will even “see” his vengeance “on his adversaries.”

^115:10–11House of Aharon: (verses 10–11) He explains that the greater the trust and the level of the one who trusts, the greater the help and the protection. So the House of Aharon, whose level and trust are greater than the House of Yisrael’s, “He is their help and their shield” with a particular help, beyond the House of Yisrael. And so those who fear Hashem, whose level is greater than the House of Aharon’s, since they serve by their own choice in a greater holiness: their help will be greater in particular.

^125:1A song of ascents: he explains that reason requires that kindness surround the one who trusts in Hashem. “Those who trust in Hashem” must find in Him a refuge and strength, and they are like “Har Tziyon, which does not falter,” since it is set firm on the mountains and hills around it, “and it stands forever.”

^131:1A song of ascents: he explains how he relies on Hashem in all his affairs. “Hashem, my heart was not proud”: pride of heart means going past the limit in one’s wants and longings, whether in amount or in kind. For example, one who wants to be like one of the angels on high goes past the limit of longing in kind; one who wants strength beyond the limit goes past the limit of longing in amount. “And my eyes were not lofty”: loftiness of eyes means going past the limit in the reasoning mind, if he thinks his grasp is without limit, and judges with his mind in divine matters, which are above the mind of man. These two stand for the practical mind and the reasoning mind: the practical mind has its source in the heart, and the reasoning mind has its source in the eyes, since the foundation of all understanding is the examination and the experience a person gains through the senses. And he added that also in bringing things into action, “I did not go after things too great and too wondrous for me”: great in amount, and wondrous in kind.

^131:2Surely: that is, he likens himself in all his affairs to a child weaned from milk. Just as the weaned child places all his trust on his mother, that she will sustain him and lead him, so “I have made my soul like a weaned child beside his mother”: I trusted only in Hashem, who grants understanding in matters of thought, and who leads me in matters of action. And just as the weaned child does not rely on himself at all, and knows that his strength is too short to do anything, so “like the weaned child is my soul within me”: for I know that on my own I am weak-handed and without strength. For this he said it twice, “I have made still and quiet,” and he explains: “I have made” my soul like a weaned child beside his mother, “and quiet” like the weaned child within me; that is, my soul is silent, like the weaned child who is silent and has no word on his tongue without his mother. And he explains who the mother is:

^131:3Let Yisrael hope to Hashem, who teaches them and leads them as a mother her children; and not like a weaned child, who looks to his mother only in his childhood, for Yisrael will hope to Him “from now and forever.”

^146:3Do not trust in nobles: accordingly he commands not to trust in nobles. Although the way and the wish of the noble is to do good, still one should not trust in him, for two reasons. (1) “In a son of man, who has no salvation”: since he is a son of man, the power to save is not his, for his strength is not in himself, and it may be that he cannot save. (2) That even if he can save, surely

^146:4His spirit leaves: it may be that his spirit will leave him and the body return to its earth, as it says, “And the dust returns to the earth, and the spirit returns, etc.” (Koheles 12:7); and on that day surely “his plans are lost.” And trust must be in something everlasting, not in something that ceases. But

^146:5Fortunate is the one whose help is the G-d of Yaakov: for Yaakov trusted in Hashem, who said to him, “Behold, I am with you, and I will guard you wherever you go” (Bereishis 28:15). And then “his hope” and his trust are “in Hashem,” and He has salvation.

^147:11Desires: only “Hashem desires those who fear Him,” who make no effort at all; only they “hope for His kindness,” that He will provide them their food out of His great kindness.