Today's pasuk is the first of a new unit in the list from the Maharal called Pesukeh Chisayon/refuge. We finished the pesukei bitachon and we are now onto those that mention the word chisayon/refuge. Tehilim 18, 3 יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ סַ֥לְעִ֥י וּמְצוּדָתִ֗י וּמְפַ֫לְטִ֥י אֵלִ֣י צ֭וּרִי אֶֽחֱסֶה־בּ֑וֹ מָֽגִנִּ֥י וְקֶֽרֶן־יִ֝שְׁעִ֗י מִשְׂגַּבִּֽי׃ Hashem is my Rock and my fortress, and my rescuer, my God, my rock in whom I take shelter. My shield, and the horn of my salvation; my stronghold. These are all words describing tremendous strength and fortitude. They aren’t necessarily describing that he clearly relies on Hashem, but that Hashem is a great protection for him. We invoke this pasuk every morning in our prayers where we say in Shaharit, in the Beracha of Yotzer , Eloheh Avraham /God of the world, in Your great mercy… and we go on to describe God, Adon Uzenu/the God of our strength, Sur/the rock Misgabenu/of our fortress , Magen Yishenu/the shield of our salvation . Misgav BAdenu/the One who is our fortress in protection , and the Avudarham says that this Tefila is based on this pasuk of David Hamelech. So, every day we mention how God has this special power over us. David Hamelech uses many terms, but we're just going focus on one of them, which is Suri . God is my rock . Sali , also means My rock. What is this about the rock that David Hamelech is mentioning? Simply, it's a metaphor. God is like a rock that He saved me . But Rashi tells us he's referring to a specific incident in the story in Shemuel א ,perek 23. David Hamelech was hiding behind a mountain and the people of Shaul were surrounding the mountain, getting closer and closer to him. He did not know where to go. Then, just at that moment, An angel came to Shaul . He looked like a human but he was actually an angel from God, say the commentaries, who said, ‘ Mahara/go fast. You have to move now. It's not time for a local dispute between you and David. It's not time for an internal issue. We have a massive Pelishtim attack at the border. You have to refocus your army.’ When Shaul heard that, he left, at the last moment and he went to the Pelishtim. They called that rock, Selah Hamachlekot/the Rock of the Argument. The Radak, quoting from the Targum, explains that there was an argument between Shaul and his men. They were passionate; they were so close to getting David. But Shaul, the king, said, “ No, our responsibility is to the country.” They therefore left, and David Hamelech was saved. That's why David Hamelech said, “ God is my Selah/my rock, referring to the rock where they had this argument. How is this relevant to us? It’s extremely important. If David Hamelech did not tell us this story, we would never have known about how this angel got involved in saving him. God is our protection . The word מחסי Machsi , Rashi says, we translate as refuge . The Chet and Chaf are interchangeable. It also means אכסה Echseh/ He's my cover. Kisoy is a cover . God covers me. He covers me up when I, or things about me, shouldn't be seen. God covers up for me. Something like this happened to someone I know recently. A man told me he was driving on the Verrazano Bridge one night, coming back from Deal, admittedly speeding. (He shouldn't speed. It was a mistake. He wasn't paying attention. It was late at night and the roads were open and he was going way over the speed limit. We're not condoning his actions.) The officer pulled him over and took his license. The man said, “ Hashem, I can't afford a ticket now. I can't afford points. En Od Milevado. I'll never do it again. You're in charge. I'm sorry I made a mistake. And Hashem, you can make anything happen.” Normally they take your license and registration for around 10 minutes. But literally seconds later, the cop came back to the car and said, “ You're a lucky man. I just got a call on my radio. There was a shooting (or robbery) not far from here. I have to leave. Don't speed again.” So, Hashem can send that angel. In this case, it wasn't an open angel, but there are situations that we’ll never know about. Of course, we try to be honest and do everything right, but they could check anyone's taxes and they'd get in trouble. Who knows if they were looking to audit somebody and then some angel of God came and asked the guy to get a cup of coffee and he went to the next file and skipped your file… we don't know. But we have to understand how Hashem is always protecting us. And that's this pasuk. Hashem Sali/He's my rock, David Hamelech used this to remind himself of the miracle of the rock. These are beautiful, beautiful messages and lessons hiding in these pesukim. יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ סַ֥לְעִ֥י וּמְצוּדָתִ֗י וּמְפַ֫לְטִ֥י אֵלִ֣י צ֭וּרִי אֶֽחֱסֶה־בּ֑וֹ מָֽגִנִּ֥י וְקֶֽרֶן־יִ֝שְׁעִ֗י מִשְׂגַּבִּֽי׃ Hashem is my Rock and my fortress, and my rescuer, my God, my rock in whom I take shelter. My shield, and the horn of my salvation; my stronghold. The rabbis tell us the best time to remember these is in our prayers. Make a little mark on your siddur. I have a dear friend, who, anytime he hears a nice thought on the siddur, he puts it into his siddur and boosts his kavana . So tomorrow morning, remember- Sur Misgabenu/ God is my Rock , the rock of my protection. Magen Yishenu/ He's my shield. By remembering these concepts, we will earn Hashem's special protection.