TEHILLIM LIGHT

Commentaries

Mizmor 004, Verse 002

בְּקָרְאִ֡י עֲנֵ֤נִי ׀ אֱלֹ֘הֵ֤י צִדְקִ֗י בַּ֭צָּר הִרְחַ֣בְתָּ לִּ֑י חָ֝נֵּ֗נִי וּשְׁמַ֥ע תְּפִלָּתִֽי

bekoreʾiy ʿaneyniy ʾelohey tzidkiy batzor hirchavto lliy chonneyniy ushemaʿ tefillosiy

Answer me when I call, O God who deals righteously with me. You freed me from distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

MIDRASH TEHILLIM

1.....(4.2)
You freed me from distress.
According to rabbi Yohanan, there were three matters that David was distressed about:
-the site of the house of God
-the taking of Bathsheba, and
-Solomon's succession to the kingship
But God set his mind at rest about them.
David found the site, as it is said:
"And the angel of the Lord said to Gad to say to David that David should go up to erect an altar to the Lord in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David went up according to the word of Gad that he spoke in the name of the Lord..... And David said, "This is the House of the Lord God, and this is the altar for burnt offerings for Israel." (Divrei Hayamim I - I Chronicles 21:18-19, 22:1)
On Bathsheba Nathan said to David:
"Also the Lord has removed your sin; you shall not die." (Shmuel II - II Samuel 12:13)
About the third matter a word of the LORD came to David:
"Behold a son will be born to you; he will be a man of peace, and I shall give him peace from all his enemies around about, for Solomon will be his name..." (Divrei Hayamim I - I Chronicles 22:9)
2.....(4.3)
Answer me when I call...
A.
These words must be considered in the light of the verse:
"For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is at all times that we call upon Him?" (Devarim - Deuteronomy 4:7)
B.
Rabbi Phinahas said in the name of rabbi Judah, though an idol of gold appears near, yet it is far away, as it is said:
"Those who let gold run from the purse and weigh silver with the balance; they hire a goldsmith and he makes it a god, they kneel, yea they prostrate themselves. They bear it, on the shoulder they carry it, and they put it in its place and it stands, from its place it does not move; yea he cries to it and it does not answer; from his distress it does not save him." (Yeshayahu - Isaiah 46:6-7)
C.
Rabbi Khannia asked rabbi Samuel, What is meant by the words: "You have enveloped Yourself in a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through." (Eichah - Lamentations 3:43)
Rabbi Samuel replied, there are times when the gates of prayer are thrown open, and times when the gates of prayer are shut, but the gates of mercy are never shut, for it is said, The LORD our God is near whensoever we call upon Him.

RADAK

1.
Answer me when I call, O God (Judge) of my righteousness: ...
This Psalm was uttered (by David) in his flight before Absalom; and he says, Answer me when I call, O God (Judge) of my righteousness, for You know that with me is the right, and with him who is against me the wrong and the violence; and Thou, Lord, art Judge over us.
In every instance where אלהים ('Elohim) occurs it has the meaning "judge," as we have interpreted the verse "Verily there is a God (Judge) that judges in the earth" (Tehillim - Psalms 58:12). And men who are judges are so called: "The cause of both parties shall come before the 'Elohim (judges)" (Shemot - Exodus 22:8); 'Then his master shall bring him unto 'Elohim (the judges)" (Shemot - Exodus 21:6).

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
bekoreʾiy ʿaneyniy (Answer me)...
Here David does not demand an immediate answer to the prayer, nor a prompt change for the better in his distressing situation. He merely asks that he might come to truly realize the fact that God is close to everyone that calls upon Him, that He will hear his cry. This awareness that God is near makes David's burden lighter to bear.
God Himself has already set him free in the past, even in such distress as that in which he now finds himself.
[בַּ֭צָּר]- Distress no longer frightens him, nor does it oppress him (that is the actual meaning of the word צר); his spirit has found release; he has already overcome the distress within himself through the knowledge that God is near him and hears his cry.
2.
...have mercy on me and hear my prayer
Filled with this newly-won peace of mind, he now rises to TEFILLAH. It is not simply a plea directed to God. Derived from פלל, “to reason”, means to acquire, through the power of reasoning, the proper discernment of what is good and true; to gain from God the proper perspective and the correct attitude. And when a TEFILLAH does take the form of a plea, then its purpose is not simply to bring a request of ours before the Lord, but to fill our hearts with the knowledge that God is the sole source of the fulfillment of our desires and that we must pledge whatever good He may send us solely to the fulfillment of His will on earth.

WORDS