Keys To Salvation

In Psalm 27: 2-3 King David states that “When evil doers approach me to devour my flesh my tormentors and my foes against me – it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army would besiege me, my heart would not fear; though war would arise against me, in this I trust”.  

In his book A Daily Dose of Pesukim of Bitachon Rabbi David Sutton highlights the phrase “In this I trust.” What does the word “this” signify? Rabbi Sutton posits three factors: 

Torah 

The Hebrew word ” זאת , this” refers to the Torah. King David feels confident that he will receive Hashem’s protection because of his devotion to learning and practicing the teachings of the Torah. Learning and fulfilling the Divine will undoubtedly find favor in the eyes of Hashem. 

Emuna and Bitachon 

King David trusts in Hashem completely. The fact that he is not afraid is the “this” that saves him. Because he relies on Hashem, he can depend on His salvation. 

Hashem acts towards us like a shadow. The more we trust in Him, the more He protects us and helps us. In other words, the more we believe the more we receive. Hashem says “I see that this person believes in Me and is counting on Me. I see that he understands that I am the One that’s running the world. Now I’ll take care of him and address all his needs.”  

In a daily talk on bitachon, Michael Safdie gives an example of a father who receives a call in the middle of the night from his teenage son. He picks up the phone and hears: “Dad, I’m driving through this dangerous part of town, and my car just broke down. My cell phone is about to run out of battery. I’m so afraid, and I don’t have anyone else to help me. Please, you’ve got to come and get me.” That parent will certainly not go back to bed. He will rush to help his son and rescue him. Why? Because he loves his son and knows he’s completely relying on him to help.  

Our Father in Heaven has an unfathomable and unconditional love for every one of His children. When we declare that we are completely dependent on Him and rely on Him only, we can be assured that He will come to our aid.  

Selfless Service 

In pasuk 27:4 King David says, “One thing I asked of Hashem, that I shall seek to dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life.” David has one goal: to serve Hashem. He is not just looking out for himself.  His goal is to serve Hashem, to promote Hashem’s honor and to reveal His sovereignty in the world. Because he is praying for the sake of Hashem, he can count on “this” to bring Hashem’s protection and salvation.  

Perseverance in Prayer 

In pasuk 27:14 David says: “Hope to Hashem; strengthen yourself and He will give you courage, and hope to Hashem.” Why is “hope to Hashem” repeated? This is to teach that if we are not immediately answered we should continue to pray. 

Rabbi Nosson says that whenever he sees a deficiency, he sees a deficiency in prayer. Either there is no prayer or insufficient prayer.  

We recently read in the weekly parsha how Yitzhak and Rivka continued praying for a child for 20 years until they were answered. If we look at the numerical value of the names “Yitzhak” and “Rivka”, it adds up to 515, the same value as the Hebrew word for prayer (“tefillah”). When we continue to pray to Hashem even though we are not answered quickly, we show Him that we continue to believe in Him and rely on Him. This creates a vessel of emuna and bitachon which evokes tremendous Divine compassion.  

Summary 

King David has shown us four keys to secure Divine protection and salvation:  

• Immersing ourselves in the study of Torah  

• Complete trust and reliance on Hashem.  

• Devotion and selfless service to the Creator.  

• Being patient, persistent, persevering, and really believing in the power of prayer. 

May we implement these concepts throughout these challenging times and may we see great salvations for the Jewish people!