The Book of Psalms, or Tehillim, is full of David's prayers, his praises, his cries for help. And Psalm 18, verse 30, it’s a powerhouse: "For by You I run upon a troop... and by my God I scale a wall." (Tehillim 18:30). Beautiful. But the Midrash, specifically Midrash Tehillim, doesn’t just let the verse stand alone. It asks: what wall? What troop? And then it answers with a story.
R’ Chiyah, quoting R’ Levi, paints us a vivid picture: David is about to go to war against the Jebusites. A formidable foe! He knows this won’t be easy. So, he makes a proclamation, almost like a challenge: "Whoever smites the Jebusites and reaches the tower..." will be rewarded (Shmuel II 5:8). And in another version, he sweetens the deal: "Whoever smites the Jebusites first will be a chief (l’rosh) and an officer..." (Divre HaYamim I 11:6). The pressure is on!
Now, Yoav, David's general, he’s a clever one. He sees the seemingly insurmountable wall protecting the Jebusite city. So what does he do? He gets resourceful! He finds a fresh, flexible cypress tree – a brosh, in Hebrew. He plants it right next to the city wall. image for a second.
Yoav bends the top of the cypress tree way back. Then – and this is where it gets really interesting – he climbs onto David’s head, uses the leverage to grab the top of the tree, and swings himself onto the top of the wall! Talk about a daring move!
But here's where the story takes an unexpected turn. David, witnessing this whole spectacle, recalls another verse from Tehillim: "May a righteous man strike me with kindness and reprove me (yochicheni rosh)..." (Tehillim 141:5). It’s like he's realizing something in that moment. Maybe Yoav's boldness, his willingness to literally climb over David to achieve victory, is a kind of rebuke. A reminder that sometimes, you have to think outside the box, even if it means bending the rules a little.
So, what does the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? The Midrash tells us that God lowers the wall, making it easier for David to follow Yoav. It's a collaborative effort, a divine assist. And then David understands. That is the wall he scales with God's help! That is what he means when he says, "...and by my God I scale a wall” (Tehillim 18:30).
It's not just about physical walls, is it? It's about the obstacles in our lives, the challenges that seem too big to overcome. The Midrash Tehillim invites us to see that even in the face of those walls, with a little ingenuity, a little help from our friends (and maybe a flexible cypress tree!), and a lot of faith, we too can find a way to scale them. We too can find a way through.
So what's the wall you're facing today? And how will you, with God's help, find a way to climb it?