1 In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
5 The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
<html><b>How do you say to my soul, “Wander from your mountain, etc.</b> This is on the order of (I Sam. 26: 19): “for they have driven me today from cleaving to the Lord’s heritage,” for they drove him out of the [Holy] Land to outside the [Holy] Land, and here he says, “I took refuge in the Lord [hoping] that He would restore me to cleave to His heritage. How do You, who drive away my soul, say to me,…<b>“Wander from your mountain”?</b> Pass over your mountain, you wandering bird. For every wandering person is compared to a bird that wanders from its nest, as it is written (in Prov. 27:8): “As a bird wandering from its nest, so is a man wandering from his place.” For your nest has wandered, because we have driven you from the entire mountain like a wandering bird. The masoretic spelling is נודו [plural] because it is also expounded on in reference to Israel, that the nations say that to them.</html>
<html><b>For behold the wicked</b> Doeg and the informers of the generation who cause hatred between me and Saul. <b>tread</b> The expression of treading is appropriate for the bow, because if it is stout, he must place his foot on it when he wishes to bend it. <b>the bow</b> They have directed their tongue treacherously [as] their bows (Jer. 9:2). <b>they set their arrow on the bowstring</b> lit. the cord [the string], of the bow, corde d’arche in French, a bowstring. <b>in the dark</b> In secret. <b>at the upright of heart</b> David and the priests of Nob. <b>to shoot</b> ajeter in French.</html>
<html><b>For the foundations were destroyed</b> Because of you the righteous priests of the Lord, who are the foundation of the world, were slain. <b>what did the righteous man do</b> David, who did not sin, what did he do in this entire matter? [He said to Doeg,] You shall bear the iniquity, not I.</html>
<html><b>The Lord is in His Holy Temple</b> Who sees and tests their deeds, and although His throne is in Heaven and is lofty, His eyes see you on the earth.</html>
<html><b>The Lord tries the righteous</b> And if, because I suffer and am pursued by you, you boast, saying (below 71:11), “God has forsaken him,” it is not so, but so is the custom of the Holy One, blessed be He, to chasten and to test the righteous but not the wicked. This flax workeras long as he knows that his flax is of high quality, he beats it, but when it is not of high quality, he crushes it only a little because it breaks. <b>His soul hates</b> He lays away the recompense for his iniquities for the “long world,” and then He showers [punishment] upon them [sic] in Gehinnom.</html>
<html><b>charcoal</b> Heb. פחים, an expression of charcoal (פחם). <b>burning</b> Heb. זלעפות, an expression of burning. Menachem (p. 79) interprets it as an expression of (Isa. 28:2) “a storm of destruction (שער קטב).” Likewise, (in Lam. 5:10), “because of the heat of (זלעפות) hunger”; (below 119:53), “burning (זלעפה) seized me.” That is to say, (as in Ezek. 27:35), “became greatly alarmed (שערו שער).” (The quotation from Menachem appears only in several early printed editions, and not in any manuscript.)</html>
<html><b>For the Lord is righteous; He loves [workers of] righteousness</b> and has mercy on the righteous and loves those whose faces see the straight [way], in whose sight the straight way is proper. <b>whose faces approve of the straight</b> This refers to “The Lord is righteous; He loves [workers of] righteousness and those whose faces approve of the straight [way].” Our Sages [Mid. Ps. 11:2, Sanh. 26a, Lev. Rabbah 5:5] interpreted “the wicked tread the bow” as referring to Shebna and his company, and they interpreted “the upright of heart” as referring to Hezekiah and his company. <b>For the foundations are destroyed</b> If the foundations are destroyed by them, what did the Righteous One of the world accomplish? The sequence of verses, though, does not concur with the Midrash.</html>