Rabbi Roodyn

יג) לִפְנֵי ה’ כִּי בָא כִּי בָא לִשְׁפֹּט הָאָרֶץ יִשְׁפֹּט תֵּבֵל בְּצֶדֶק וְעַמִּים בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ:

Before Hashem, for He has come, for He has come to judge the earth; He will judge the inhabited world justly and the peoples with His faith.

We conclude Chapter 97 with the following idea.The phrase ‘He has come’ is repeated in this verse.  Although the Radak explains that this is more poetic and for emphasis than for any deeper reason, the Malbim does explain its significance in light of the ideas and themes he has been developing throughout the chapter.

He says that the first ‘He is coming’ refers to Hashem’s running of the universe through the laws of nature, most importantly the fact that the sun, moon, planets and stars run according to fixed cycles.  The second mention of ‘He is coming’ refers to the way that Hashem runs this world in general and our lives in particular. This is understood in the context of the next phrase, namely that ‘He is coming to judge the world…’

This now brings us to the conclusion of the chapter ‘He will judge the inhabited world justly and the peoples with His faith.’ The G-d of Israel is not just a Creator who brought this world into being and left it to its own devices, this alone would be referred to as emunah. Rather, He is also intimately aware of and involved with us and our choices on a micro and macro level and responds to them with tzedek, justice.

Therefore when Hashem responds to our actions through hasghacha of the natural world, there is a combination of tzedek and emunah. Hence the closing words of the chapter, ‘He will judge the inhabited world with tzedek and the peoples with His emunah.

Tomorrow we will PG start the next chapter… stay tuned!