Our journey through Tehillim continues, with a psalm that looks into our future. King David was prophesising about the famed war of “Gog and Magog,” that will take place at the end of days, before the coming of Mashiach. We mention this war in various Haftarahs throughout the year, such as on Succot. We are assured by this Psalm that no matter what people try to do to us, Hashem’s plan will always prevail. Even though nations have tried to “cut the cord of Israel” on many occasions, as a people , we are still around. There is a well-known Yiddish expression that translates as “Man plans, and G-d laughs,” and the origins are here in verse four. Very often, we make a life plan for ourselves,
however things do not always turn out like we had initially planned. For example, a happily married couple who now live in Manchester, met at a Shabbat table abroad when the girl had missed a flight and wasn’t even supposed to be there! Or the broke businessman in Borehamwood, who’s chance encounter with an old friend led to a Parnassa for a lifetime. We all know many such occasions, and perhaps Purim is the best time of the year to recognise Hashem’s guiding hand behind the scenes, in our everyday life, not just in the Megillah.