My vindication will come from You;
Your eyes will behold what is right.
Rashi’s Commentary
- May my judgment come forth from before You May the sins for which I deserve to be judged with torments, go forth from before You and not come before You in judgment.
- may Your eyes see [my] upright acts If I have merits, may Your eyes see the upright acts.
You have visited me at night, probed my mind,
You have tested me and found nothing amiss;
I determined that my mouth should not transgress.
Rashi’s Commentary
- You have tried my heart, etc. I know that I am guilty of a transgression, and, if the judgment of its punishment comes before You, I will not be declared innocent in the judgment, for You have already tried my heart.
- You have visited [upon me] at night at eventide for the iniquity of Bathsheba, concerning which it is stated (in II Sam. 11:2) “And it came to pass at the time of evening, that David arose, etc.”
- You have refined me You have tested me.
- and not found You have not found in me Your desire.
- If I think, let it not pass my mouth If it enters my thoughts again to be tried before You, let it not pass my mouth to say again, “Try me, O Lord, and test me,” as I have already said, as is written (26:2) “Try me, O Lord, and test me,” for David asked the Holy One, blessed be He, “Why do they say, ‘the God of Abraham,’ yet they do not say, ‘the God of David’?” He replied, “I tested him with ten tests, and he was found perfect.” He [David] said, “Try me and test me,” as appears in tractate Shabbath (?).
בָּחַנְתָּ לִבִּי פָּקַדְתָּ לַּיְלָה צְרַפְתַּנִי בַל־תִּמְצָא זַמֹּתִי בַּל־יַעֲבׇר־פִּי׃
רש"י
- בחנת לבי וגו'. ידעתי כי יש עבירה בידי ואם משפט עונשי יבא לפניך לא אצדק בדין אשר כבר בחנת לבי:
- פקדת לילה. לעת הערב בעון בת שבע שנאמר ויהי לעת ערב ויקם דוד וגו' (שמואל ב י״א:ב׳):
- צרפתני. נסיתני:
- בל תמצא. לא מצאת בי חפצך:
- זמותי בל יעבר פי. אם תעלה עוד במחשבתי ליבחן לפניך בל יעבר פי לומר עוד בחנני ונסני כמו שאמרתי כבר כמו שנאמר (לקמן כו) בחנני ה' ונסני שאמר דוד לפני הקב"ה מפני מה אומרים אלהי אברהם ואין אומרים אלהי דוד אמר לו אני בחנתיו בי' נסיונות ונמצא שלם אמר בחנני ונסני כדאיתא במסכת שבת:
As for man’s dealings,
in accord with the command of Your lips,
I have kept in view the fate of the lawless.
Rashi’s Commentary
- As for man’s deeds, because of the word of Your lips, etc. To support my feet, etc. From then on, for every deed of man that I came to perform, I watched myself because of the word of Your lips; [I watched] the ways of the profligate, to turn away from them, so that I should not walk in them, but [would] support my feet constantly in Your paths, that my feet should not falter from them. Another explanation: For the deeds of man according to the word of Your lips, etc. Since a person must use his deeds according to the uprightness (decree - early editions) of the word of Your lips, as You said, “You shall not commit adultery,” I kept myself from the ways of the profligate although I behaved unseemly according to the good You have done.
לִפְעֻלּוֹת אָדָם בִּדְבַר שְׂפָתֶיךָ אֲנִי שָׁמַרְתִּי אׇרְחוֹת פָּרִיץ׃
רש"י
- לפעלות אדם בדבר שפתיך וגו', תמוך אשורי וגו'. מאז והלאה לכל פעולת אדם שבאתי לפעול אני שמרתי בשביל דבר שפתיך ארחות פריץ לנטות מהם שלא אלך בהם אך לתמוך אשורי תמיד במעגלותיך לא נמוטו מהם פעמי, פירוש אחר לפעלות אדם בדבר שפתיך וגו' לפי שצריך אדם להשתמש בפעולותיו לפי ישרת דבר שפתיך אשר אמרת לא תנאף אני שמרתי ארחות פריץ אע"פ שעשיתי שלא כראוי בטובתך:
Display Your faithfulness in wondrous deeds,
You who deliver with Your right hand
those who seek refuge from assailants.
Rashi’s Commentary
- Distinguish Your kind acts Heb. הפלה, esevre in Old French, to separate, as (in Exod. 33:16): “and I and my people will be distinguished (ונפלינו).” With Your right hand You save those who take refuge in You from those who rise up against them. (This does not appear in manuscripts or in most early editions.) [The literal meaning is:] Distinguish Your kind acts, You Who save those who take refuge, etc. This is a transposed verse, meaning: Distinguish Your kind acts to save with Your right hand those who take refuge, etc.
Guard me like the apple of Your eye;
hide me in the shadow of Your wings
Rashi’s Commentary
- as the apple Heb. (כאישון). That is the pupil (lit. the black) of the eye, on which the vision depends. Because it is black, it is called אישון, an expression of darkness, and the Holy One, blessed be He, prepared a guard for it, viz. the eyelids, which constantly cover it.
now they hem in our feet on every side;
they set their eyes roaming over the land.
Rashi’s Commentary
- [By] our footsteps they surround us now By our footsteps, the enemies surround us now, and they set their eyes roaming over the land, to raid the land. It appears to me that David prayed this prayer after the incident of Uriah and Joab had happened to him, and the Israelites were in the land of the children of Ammon besieging Rabbah (II Sam. 11), and David feared that they would be defeated there because of the sin that he had committed, and the Philistines, Moab, Edom, and all the evil neighbors of Eretz Israel, who looked forward to the day of their misfortune, would hear and march against them.
אַשֻּׁרֵינוּ עַתָּה (סבבוני) [סְבָבוּנוּ] עֵינֵיהֶם יָשִׁיתוּ לִנְטוֹת בָּאָרֶץ׃
רש"י
- אשורנו עתה סבבונו. את עקבנו עתה סבבונו האויבים ועיניהם ישיתו לנטות בארץ לפשוט בארץ ונראה לי שנתפלל דוד תפילה זו לאחר שבא לידו מעשה של אוריה ויואב וישראל היו בארץ בני עמון צריך על רבה (שמואל ב י״א:א׳) ויירא דוד שלא יכשלו שם בשביל עבירה שבידו וישמעו פלשתים ומואב ואדום וכל שכני א"י הרעים המצפים ליום אידם ויבאו עליהם:
Rise, O LORD! Go forth to meet him.
Bring him down;
rescue me from the wicked with Your sword,
Rashi’s Commentary
- confront him The enemy.
- bring him down to his knees Beat his legs, and he will kneel and fall.
- rescue my soul from every wicked man who is Your sword, for You give him the power to rule, to requite those who are bound to You.
from men, O LORD, with Your hand,
from men whose share in life is fleeting.
But as to Your treasured ones,
fill their bellies.
Their sons too shall be satisfied,
and have something to leave over for their young.
Rashi’s Commentary
- Of those who die by Your hand I choose to be one of those who die by Your hand on their bed.
- of those who die of old age Heb. מחלד. Of those who die of old age, after they have “rusted” (חלודה), rodijjl in Old French, [rouille in Modern French] rust, and of the righteous, whose share is in life.
- and whose belly You will fill with Your hidden treasure And of those whose innards You will fill with Your good, which You have hidden for those who fear You.
- their abundance Their property that they leave over when they die.
מִמְתִים־יָדְךָ יְהֹוָה מִמְתִים מֵחֶלֶד חֶלְקָם בַּחַיִּים (וצפינך) [וּצְפוּנְךָ] תְּמַלֵּא בִטְנָם יִשְׂבְּעוּ בָנִים וְהִנִּיחוּ יִתְרָם לְעוֹלְלֵיהֶם׃
רש"י
- ממתים ידך. מן המתים בידך על מטת' אני בוחר להיות:
- ממתים מחלד. מאותם שמתים בזקנה משהעלו חלודה רדוייל"א בלעז ומן הצדיקים אשר חלקם בחיים:
- וצפונך תמלא בטנם. ומאותם אשר תמלא מעיהם מטובך אשר צפנת ליריאך:
- יתרם. נכסיהם אשר ישאירו במותם:
Then I, justified, will behold Your face;
awake, I am filled with the vision of You.
Rashi’s Commentary
- I will see Your face with righteousness In the future, take my judgment away from before You and grasp the righteous deeds that I have performed, and through them I will see Your face.
- I will see Your face with righteousness in the future (Mid. Ps. 17:13), or I will see Your face with righteousness Take my judgment away from before You and grasp the righteous deeds that I have performed, and through them I will see Your face. In other editions, this is one interpretation: I will be satisfied with Your image upon the awakening I will be satisfied with the vision of Your image when the dead awaken from their sleep. In many editions, the following appears at this point: Another explanation: I will be satisfied from seeing Your face when the dead awaken from their sleep, for they are in the likeness of Your image, for so it is stated (in Gen. 9:6): “For in the image of God, He made man.”
אֲנִי בְּצֶדֶק אֶחֱזֶה פָנֶיךָ אֶשְׂבְּעָה בְהָקִיץ תְּמוּנָתֶךָ׃ {פ}
רש"י
- אני בצדק אחזה פניך. לעתיד, או בצדק אחזה פניך משפטי הוצא מלפניך והצדקות שבידי אחוז ובהם אחזה פניך:
- אשבעה בהקיץ תמונתך. אשבעה מראיית תמונתך בהקיץ המתים משנתם ל"א אשבעה מראות פניך בהקיץ המתי' משנת' שה' בדמות תמונתך שכן נאמר כי בצלם אלהים עשה את האד' (שם ט):