641 - Transform Your Bitachon! (Part-78)

We now move forward to a beautiful passage from the Malbim to Tehillim (27:14), where the Malbim states, Placing one's hope in Hashem differs from placing one's hope in another individual in two ways. Firstly, that when we rely on another individual, that actually causes pain and grief in our heart. Because sometimes when we rely on another individual, we get let down, either because that individual tricked us and did not help us out in the way we needed, or alternatively, even when it comes to a well-meaning individual, because they are limited by their human resources and capacity, we might have been let down because they were not able to help us in the way that we needed.

 

Whereas when it comes to placing our hope in Hashem, not only does that not cause us grief and pain to our hearts, but rather it has the opposite effect. It causes us a feeling of strength and courage in our hearts. Because we know we are in the hands of the master of the universe, who certainly can help us, and when we rely on Hashem properly to its highest degree, as we've learned so many times by Bitachon, we know that He will help us without a shadow of a doubt.

 

And the Malbim now states the second difference that there is between relying on another individual as opposed to relying on Hashem: When we are hoping to another individual for a certain outcome, the hope itself is not the desired result, but rather what we truly desire is the desired result itself. So let's say, I am hoping to a doctor to cure me. I don't place any value necessarily in the actual act of hoping to the doctor to send me my cure, but rather I just want to be cured. And therefore it comes out that the true goal of placing my hope in another individual is to not have to hope in them anymore, because I'm hoping now that this individual will give me money, and the goal is that I should get the money and not need to place my hope to them anymore.

 

Whereas hoping to Hashem is an ends to itself, and not just a means to an ends. It is not just that I'm hoping to Hashem to send my salvation, and the goal is receiving my salvation. Rather, the hope itself that I'm placing in Hashem has tremendous intrinsic value. To the point that the whole purpose of placing our hope in Hashem is not just that we're hoping to receive our desired result, but rather it is building a relationship with Hashem. And one of the main ways that we build our relationship with Hashem is hoping to Hashem for all of our needs.

 

Although ideally, certainly each one of us want to receive the salvations that we are hoping Hashem will send us, however much more important than actually receiving the salvation is the act of placing our kivui, our hope and reliance on Hashem. Because as we've discussed many times, receiving the salvation that we need, although it might be something that we see as the grand prize, however ultimately, a relationship with Hashem and everything that that leads to is way greater than the greatest grand prize that we might be able to imagine for ourselves.

 

So it's much more than just receiving the salvation. It's actually about creating a personal relationship with Hashem, and when we hope in Hashem once, what that should ultimately lead to is hoping in Hashem again and again and again. Because it's not about just receiving what I need and then being done with the hope, but rather we see tremendous intrinsic value in the kivui itself. B'ezrat Hashem, let's move forward in this incredible journey together and transform our Bitachon.