אִם־לֹ֤א שִׁוִּ֨יתִי ׀ וְדוֹמַ֗מְתִּי נַ֫פְשִׁ֥י כְּ֭גָמֻל עֲלֵ֣י אִמּ֑וֹ כַּגָּמֻ֖ל עָלַ֣י נַפְשִֽׁי׃
Au contraire, j’ai apaisé et fait taire mon âme; tel un enfant sevré, reposant sur le sein de sa mère, tel un enfant sevré, mon âme est calme en moi.
Rabbeinu Bahya
It is a well known fact (based on the wording in Chovat Halevavot by Bachyah ibn Joseph Pekudah) that man’s confidence is subject to eight stages of developments:
At birth, he places all his trust into the breast of his mother who supplies his nourishment. This corresponds to Psalms 22,10 “You have made me secure at my mother’s breast.”
As he grows a little older he still relies on his mother to feed him only food which is wholesome, tasty, and nutritious. Concerning this stage in man’s development the psalmist says (Psalms 131,2) “but I have taught myself to be contented like a weaned child with its mother.” What David meant was that his trust in G’d could now be compared to the trust he displayed in his mother during the early years of his childhood.
A third stage in man developing reliance on an outside force occurs when he learns to trust his father.
The fourth stage is reached when he begins to become self-reliant, trusting his body and his mind, learning how to fend for himself and to earn his livelihood. At that stage in his development he relies less and less on his father and he relies instead on his own machinations.
At a fifth stage in his developing maturity he begins to rely on G’d and to and put his faith in Him. He develops this faith in G’d as a result of having experienced that his own machinations are not as reliable as he had thought. By that time in his life he has learned the shortcomings inherent in all creatures and the fact that they cannot be relied on. At that point in his life he learns that trusting in himself is a form of vanity. He will realize that, to quote only one single example, all his efforts as a farmer are doomed unless rain materializes at the proper time, a factor which is controlled exclusively by G’d. This teaches him dependence on G’d’s goodwill. If he is a mariner, he learns that he who controls the winds controls his fate.
The sixth stage in man’s developing maturity is reached when he realizes that he is dependent on G’d even in matters not involving external forces such as rain or wind, etc., i.e. when man learns that he overestimated the assessment of his capabilities. He may realize that whereas his own faculties enabled him to wrest a meager livelihood from the earth thanks to backbreaking labor, he is in need of G’d’s help in order to secure a better and less physically exhausting kind of livelihood.
The seventh stage of his progressively better appreciation of G’d’s role in his survival and success is reached when he realizes that G’d has a part to play in all his activities.
The eighth and final stage in his development is reached when he realizes that only G’d’s input determines his success or failure. He must learn to be happy with whatever G’d has decided should be his fate. He must give G’d credit for his health — or otherwise; he must give G’d all the credit for his wealth — or otherwise. He must appreciate that if G’d saw fit to subject him to trials and tribulations in his life on earth, that G’d had a benevolent purpose in all this, that He has his best interests at heart. G’d is equally active in protecting someone’s freedom or keeping him in jail. Seeing that G’d’s superior wisdom decrees if man is to undergo afflictions of one sort or another, it behooves man to accept such afflictions willingly. He is not to look for “natural” ways to escape such predicaments. If he does so, this demonstrates that his faith in G’d is not absolute but that part of his being is still convinced that he can escape what is decreed for him.
At birth, he places all his trust into the breast of his mother who supplies his nourishment. This corresponds to Psalms 22,10 “You have made me secure at my mother’s breast.”
As he grows a little older he still relies on his mother to feed him only food which is wholesome, tasty, and nutritious. Concerning this stage in man’s development the psalmist says (Psalms 131,2) “but I have taught myself to be contented like a weaned child with its mother.” What David meant was that his trust in G’d could now be compared to the trust he displayed in his mother during the early years of his childhood.
A third stage in man developing reliance on an outside force occurs when he learns to trust his father.
The fourth stage is reached when he begins to become self-reliant, trusting his body and his mind, learning how to fend for himself and to earn his livelihood. At that stage in his development he relies less and less on his father and he relies instead on his own machinations.
At a fifth stage in his developing maturity he begins to rely on G’d and to and put his faith in Him. He develops this faith in G’d as a result of having experienced that his own machinations are not as reliable as he had thought. By that time in his life he has learned the shortcomings inherent in all creatures and the fact that they cannot be relied on. At that point in his life he learns that trusting in himself is a form of vanity. He will realize that, to quote only one single example, all his efforts as a farmer are doomed unless rain materializes at the proper time, a factor which is controlled exclusively by G’d. This teaches him dependence on G’d’s goodwill. If he is a mariner, he learns that he who controls the winds controls his fate.
The sixth stage in man’s developing maturity is reached when he realizes that he is dependent on G’d even in matters not involving external forces such as rain or wind, etc., i.e. when man learns that he overestimated the assessment of his capabilities. He may realize that whereas his own faculties enabled him to wrest a meager livelihood from the earth thanks to backbreaking labor, he is in need of G’d’s help in order to secure a better and less physically exhausting kind of livelihood.
The seventh stage of his progressively better appreciation of G’d’s role in his survival and success is reached when he realizes that G’d has a part to play in all his activities.
The eighth and final stage in his development is reached when he realizes that only G’d’s input determines his success or failure. He must learn to be happy with whatever G’d has decided should be his fate. He must give G’d credit for his health — or otherwise; he must give G’d all the credit for his wealth — or otherwise. He must appreciate that if G’d saw fit to subject him to trials and tribulations in his life on earth, that G’d had a benevolent purpose in all this, that He has his best interests at heart. G’d is equally active in protecting someone’s freedom or keeping him in jail. Seeing that G’d’s superior wisdom decrees if man is to undergo afflictions of one sort or another, it behooves man to accept such afflictions willingly. He is not to look for “natural” ways to escape such predicaments. If he does so, this demonstrates that his faith in G’d is not absolute but that part of his being is still convinced that he can escape what is decreed for him.