^3:6I lay down and slept: I lay down in security and slept in peace, like a man who has no fear.

^3:6I awoke: and I am not alarmed, like a man who sleeps in the midst of trouble, who is alarmed when he wakes; for while he sleeps he sees bad dreams, as he thinks in his heart out of his fear. And why do I trust in You so much? Because I know

^3:6that Hashem supports me: for so I saw in a dream. And in the derash (Midrash Shocher Tov, on this place): “I lay down” from prophecy, “and slept” from ruach hakodesh; “I awoke” through Chushai HaArki; “for Hashem supports me” through Nasan the prophet. That is to say: ruach hakodesh departed from David because of the sadness and the fear that were in him, and ruach hakodesh rests only amid joy (Shabbos 30b; Pesachim 117a). When he saw Chushai HaArki he was glad, for he knew that he would undo for him the counsel of Achitofel; and he awoke, and ruach hakodesh rested on him, and he said, “for Hashem supports me” through Nasan the prophet, who had said to him, “Hashem too has removed your sin; you will not die” (Shmuel II 12:13).

^3:7I will not fear the myriads of people: for all Yisrael were with Avshalom, except for those who were with David in Yerushalayim, who went out with him, and those who gathered to him afterward.

^22:9One who casts upon Hashem: gol is a descriptive word, on the pattern of “hot bread” (Shmuel I 21:7) and “a stronghold to the upright” (Mishlei 10:29). Its meaning is: one who turns his ways, his requests and his prayers to Hashem.

^22:9He will rescue him; He will save him, for He desires him: for Hashem desires him and hears his prayer, as in “If Hashem desires us” (Bamidbar 14:8). Or its meaning is: for the man desires G-d, as in “For he has desired Me, and I will rescue him” (Tehillim 91:14). That is: this we have seen and heard many times, that one who turns his ways and his prayer to G-d, He rescues him; if so, why do You not save us, when our eyes are turned to You?

^31:25Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all who hope to Hashem: be strong, all who hope to Hashem, for He will give your heart courage.

^32:10Many are the pains of the wicked: who trusts in the greatness of his wealth, and did not look to G-d and did not understand. Through his iniquities and his sins many pains come to him, and there is no one to save him from them.

^32:10But one who trusts in Hashem: but one who trusts in Hashem, and understands that he has no support besides Him, must return from his sins and from the things that kept [good] from him, and understand that good and bad come to him from G-d according to his deeds, and trust in Him alone.

^32:10Kindness will surround him: the reverse of the wicked, whom many pains surround.

^37:3Trust in Hashem and do good; dwell in the land, and be sustained by faithfulness: its meaning is reversed: “Do good” and “trust in Hashem”; “be sustained by faithfulness” and “dwell in the land”; for the reward comes after the good deed. One may also explain the whole pasuk as about the good deed. In this pasuk he spoke of the three faculties of a person for good and for bad, which are the heart, the hand and the mouth. “Trust in Hashem” is the service of the heart: that he trust in Hashem with all his heart, and understand that He is the One who helps and the One who makes stumble; not like “the evildoers,” “the doers of wrong,” who trust only in their wealth and their strength, as he said earlier, in the psalm before it, “There is no fear of G-d before his eyes” (Tehillim 36:2). “And do good” is the deed of the hand: that he give tzedakah and do the mitzvos of G-d. “Dwell in the land and shepherd faithfulness”: in every place you dwell, teach the many to serve Hashem, as Avraham did, as it says, “And Avram called there in the name of Hashem” (Bereishis 13:4): he taught the many the way of Hashem. One who teaches people shepherds them, as it says, “and they will shepherd you with knowledge and understanding” (Yirmiyahu 3:15), and as it says, “The lips of a tzaddik shepherd many” (Mishlei 10:21). And this is the main service of G-d with the mouth. For what a person needs for himself in the service of G-d, may He be blessed, with the mouth, such as declaring the Oneness of the Name, and the prayers and the praises, their main part is the heart, and even if he does not bring them out with his mouth he has fulfilled his obligation; but teaching others is impossible except with the mouth.

^37:4Delight in Hashem, and He will grant you the requests of your heart: if you do what I have commanded you, you will delight in Hashem; that is, you will find delight in Him in all that you desire, and He will grant you the requests of your heart. The command form comes here in place of the future, as in “and die on the mountain” (Devarim 32:50), meaning “you will die,” and “and set your nest in the rock” (Bamidbar 24:21), meaning “you will set.” Or the meaning of “delight” is: that you rejoice in your service of Hashem and take pleasure in it, and He will fulfill your desire.

^37:5Cast your way upon Hashem: cast all your needs, and roll them, upon Him

^37:5And trust in Him: and not in another

^37:5And He will do it: for He will do and complete everything.

^37:34Hope to Hashem: he says to the one who listens to his reproof: If you trust in Hashem,

^37:34And keep His way: and you keep His way, not turning aside from anything He commanded you,

^37:34And He will raise you up to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it: for the wicked have no standing and no endurance; and I have seen this; therefore listen to me.

^40:5Fortunate is the man who has made Hashem his trust: for in Hashem alone he has made his trust,

^40:5And has not turned to the arrogant or to those who stray after falsehood: he has not turned to men of strength and pride, and he has not turned to people who “stray after falsehood,” that is, who lean toward the way of falsehood, like the diviners, and do not trust in the G-d of truth.

^46:2G-d: when the troubles come, which are the birth pangs of Mashiach, He will be a refuge and help for us.

^46:2Readily: for the help will be great, when one nation such as Yisrael is saved from many peoples.

^46:3Therefore [we will not fear]: this is a parable for the mighty wars that will be among the nations; and so “its waters roar and foam”: all of it is a parable for the great wars and the great troubles.

^55:23Cast: David said this of himself and of all the tzaddikim: Cast your burden upon Hashem, for He will bear you; and do not fear people, for if you trust in Him He will support you; for “He will never let the tzaddik falter”: He will never let him falter.

^62:9Trust: he said to those in exile: Trust in Him at every time, that He will bring you the redemption. “At every time”: even though the time of exile grows long and the time of redemption has not come, trust in Him at every time; that is, O people of G-d.

^62:9Pour out your hearts before Him: in complete teshuvah, and the redeemer will come to you.

^62:9For G-d is a refuge for us: and His refuge will not be a false refuge, as the refuge of people is; therefore he says after it:

^84:13Hashem, Master of Legions: fortunate is the one who trusts in You, and whose heart does not despair through the length of the exile, and who trusts in You that You will bring us out of the exile and build Your Beis HaMikdash, and bring him to the place the souls have longed for.

^112:7From evil tidings: the reverse of the wicked man, of whom it is said, “A sound of terrors is in his ears” (Iyov 15:21). But the tzaddik will not fear: if he hears evil tidings about his children or his relatives who are in another land, or if he hears that enemies are coming upon him, he will not fear; for “his heart is firm, trusting in Hashem.” He does not trust in his wealth, or in the greatness of his strength, or in many friends and relatives, but in Hashem alone he places his trust; therefore he will not fear.

^112:8Steadfast: leaning [on Hashem]; therefore he does not fear any man, and he goes in security at all times.

^112:8Until he sees [the fall of] his adversaries: the harm that he wishes to see come upon them.

^115:9But “Yisrael, trust in Hashem”: not like those who trust in idols; but you, trust in Hashem, for you will see in all the generations that have passed that He was the help of Yisrael and their shield. And he said “trust” to Yisrael as a whole.

^115:10House of Aharon: these are the kohanim and the levi’im. He spoke to them on their own, because they are close to Hashem and stand before Him always: he said that they should trust in Him, for their service before Him will help them.

^115:11You who fear Hashem: these are the wise, who seclude themselves in the house of Hashem to learn, and occupy themselves with wisdom, to know Hashem; for they know from their wisdom that there is no one besides Him in whom it is fitting to trust. And some explain: those who fear Hashem in every nation.

^125:1Which does not falter: like Har Tziyon, which will not falter; for it will stand forever when the exile returns: it will not falter and will never be destroyed, but will stand forever. And the meaning of “stands” is: it will stand forever and endure; and so “But You are holy, enthroned” (Tehillim 22:4), enduring forever; and so “You, Hashem, are enthroned forever” (Eichah 5:19).

^131:1A song: David said this about himself, and he said this matter among these Songs of Ascents, which are about the exile. That is: as he conducted himself, so Yisrael should conduct themselves in exile, in lowliness, and through this Hashem will have mercy on them, for Hashem is exalted and sees the lowly (Tehillim 138:6). Therefore he said at the end of the psalm, “Let Yisrael hope to Hashem.” He said, “my heart was not proud” in private, “and my eyes were not lofty” in public.

^131:1In things too great and too wondrous for me: in matters of G-d, I did not boast that I could grasp and know the matters and the secrets that are too wondrous for me, according to my understanding; but I went into them little by little, with fear, lest I break through to look into what my understanding cannot reach, and my mind be confused by it.

^131:2Surely: in the usage of the language, im lo is in the manner of an oath: that is, if it was not so, let such and such come upon me. So he said: if I did not make my soul still and quiet like a weaned child, let such and such come upon me. And the meaning of “I made still and quiet” is: I set myself [so].

^131:2Like a weaned child beside his mother: like the infant who is weaned from his mother’s breasts, who begins a little to grasp the matter of his growing up, and walks a little at a time, and still does not rely on himself but on his mother, who leads him and trains him a little. So I set my soul and silenced it, so that in hidden and wondrous matters it would not rely on its own understanding, but would rely on the teachers and on the tradition, which is the mother. And he added further to strengthen the matter, and said:

^131:2Like the weaned child is my soul within me: like the weaned child, so I set my soul within me, that I would not rely on my own understanding.

^131:3Let [Yisrael] hope: with these middos, conducting yourself with lowliness in private and in public, your heart not lifted up to rise into wondrous things, hope to Hashem, and He will grant your hope, from now and forever.

^146:3Do not trust: in the way that Yirmiyahu said, “and whose heart turns away from Hashem” (Yirmiyahu 17:5). Rather, if he trusts in a man, let him make G-d, may He be blessed, the main thing, who puts it into the heart of the generous man to help him. He said the matter twice in different words: “who has no salvation”; for if not by the will of G-d, it is not in a man’s hand to save his fellow from his trouble. For salvation is Hashem’s alone, and He brings it about through people, as He brought about the salvation from the exile of Bavel through Koresh; and so in the future He will bring about the redemption of Yisrael through the kings of the nations, whose spirit He will rouse to send them, as it is written, “And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to Hashem” (Yeshayahu 66:20). And this will be because Yisrael trusted in G-d alone, may He be blessed, in their exile.

^146:4His spirit leaves: and how can a man have salvation, when he does not rule over his own spirit, to hold his spirit back? For his spirit leaves suddenly, and he returns to his earth, and what he thought to do he cannot do; for his spirit that kept him standing has left; and on the day of his death “his plans are lost,” that is, his thoughts.

^146:5Fortunate is the one whose help is the G-d of Yaakov: he mentioned Yaakov Avinu, for he trusted in G-d. His brother was plotting to kill him and he fled from him, and he trusted in his heart that He would give him the needs of his living, although he was going to [Lavan]; for G-d had spoken to him, and [he asked that He] give him bread to eat and clothing to wear. And so Yisrael, his children, who trusted in Him: He brought them out of exile. And he said the matter twice in different words.

^147:11Desires: but what does He desire? Those who fear Him, who hope for His kindness, and do not trust in the strength of the horse or in the might of man.