תהלים, פרק קי״ו, פסוק י״א

In moments of extreme crisis, when a person is hunted and fears for their life, their view of the people around them can fundamentally change. King David experiences a profound breaking point, a moment of deep isolation and distress where he loses his trust in humanity. He describes a state of panic and frantic escape, driven by intense pressure and torment [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. In this fragile state, he feels surrounded by deceit [מצודת ציון] and the bitter disappointment of being betrayed by those he once trusted [רש״י]. This perception might also reflect the subjective, clouded view of a suffering individual who mistakenly assumes that no one genuinely cares about his pain [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The primary approach among commentators is that these feelings emerged during David’s desperate flight from King Saul, when he lived in constant fear of death, or later during his escape from the rebellion of his own son, Absalom [רש״י]. Arising from these harsh circumstances, two contrasting perspectives emerge regarding David's mindset, representing the opposite poles of despair and faith.

The first view interprets his reaction as a complete crisis of trust. During Absalom’s rebellion, witnessing his own son and his closest allies turn against him, David concluded that all people are inherently treacherous. This overwhelming sense of betrayal even caused him to believe the lies of Ziba, accepting the false claim that his loyal friend Mephibosheth had also turned against him [רש״י]. Applying this same mindset of despair to the period of Saul’s pursuit, another explanation suggests that David began to severely doubt his divine destiny. Gripped by the fear of death, he suspected that even Samuel the Prophet, who had anointed him as the future king, was a liar. He feared the prophecy was merely a product of Samuel's own imagination rather than a true message from God, reasoning that if God had truly promised him the throne, he would not be facing such imminent destruction [רש״י, אלשיך].

In sharp contrast, a second approach views these thoughts not as despair, but as a declaration of immense faith in God. According to this perspective, even while impoverished, persecuted, and fleeing from Saul in sheer panic, David leaned entirely on God’s promise that he would one day rule. When he declared that all men are liars, he meant that anyone who claimed he would not survive to become king was speaking a falsehood [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. Surrounded by danger and enemies hoping for his downfall, David’s reliance on God only grew stronger. He reached a profound realization that the malicious hopes of his enemies would ultimately fail, and that true, unwavering trust can only be placed in God alone, rather than in any human being [מאירי, ביאור שטיינזלץ].