Close To Torah

King David expresses God’s true desire to be revealed and known by His beloved people. Just as a father naturally loves and cares for his children and wishes to provide a protective and caring environment for them, so too, Hashem wishes to grant this to Israel. Yet, Hashem waits to reveal Himself, so to speak, until His children acknowledge Him and turn towards Him (verses 1-7). What is this process?

Closeness

Hashem wishes for us to work to connect with Him and to show our sincerity. As a father, His love outshines that of the son’s love and so Hashem wishes for us to show our love first. Hashem’s love fills the world and encompasses us; we simply have to look around and experience it. When we show our love then Hashem replies in kind in an even deeper way. God knows that life is challenging and often people make mistakes. In the time of the Beis Hamikdash this was remedied with the bringing of a karban, sacrifice. The root of karban is that of “karov, closeness.” One must understand that a karban only brought one closer to God by awakening the heart and soul and not just the physical act of burning items on the altar (verses 8-15). With no Beis Hamikdash how do we draw close to God in our times?

Study

The study of Torah is the method with which one draws closest to God. When we study the Torah we recognize our great bond and connection with Hashem. We state in Shmoneh Esrei, “return us our Father, to your Torah study.” This shows us that the greatest closeness is accomplished through Torah diligence. When one puts in effort to seek God, he will succeed and achieve great heights (v. 23).

High Standard

The verse (3) states, “in His surroundings, strictness abides.” The Yerushalmi (Shekalim 5:1) explains that God is very strict with those who are close to Him. This is because God wishes to help them achieve perfection in this world and thus a small offence that may be ignorable is given great attention. Just as a father is the only one that would straighten his son’s slightly crooked tie or slightly questionable usage of words, so too Hashem, lovingly wishes to help His children reach perfection. This is a privilege that only those who are on the level fully appreciate. The theme of this psalm is that of closeness with Hashem. This is why the psalmist concludes the psalm (v. 23) stating that, “one who follows the proper path in life, will see the salvation of God.”

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