Tehillim 119:28
דָּלְפָה נַפְשִׁי מִתּוּגָה קַיְּמֵנִי כִּדְבָרֶךָ
dalfa nafshi mituga kaimeni kidvarecha
My soul melts away in grief; sustain me according to Your word.
Some say that David asks to be granted the kingship that G-d promised him at the hand of the prophet Shmuel. "My soul melts away in grief" at all my many troubles. "Sustain me" in my kingship "according to Your word."
David Hamelech speaks appropriately of his soul "melting away," for that is how the soul departs from the body. As Chazal teach, "Today a handbreadth, tomorrow a handbreadth, until it makes the effort and departs."
Similarly, the Midrash says, "My soul melts away in grief" as a result of the calamities that beset me. There is no year without some calamity, no month without an evil tiding, no day without some trouble. Every moment, evil tiding follows evil tiding. So, "Sustain me according to your word."
What is "Your word"? It is what Moshe said, "Hashem will establish you a holy people to Himself" (Devarim 28:9).
The Hebrew term דלפה (dalfa - melts, drips) connotes a trickling flow, a leak drop by drop, become less by less. A corresponding interpretation says that David Hamelech refers to his troubles as coming upon him one after another: drip by drip without interruption. Unable to bear this constant flow of afflictions, he pleads for help.
Throughout his entire life, David Hamelech never had a good dream. As Chazal declare concerning this matter, "His melancholy helped him endure." That is what he says here, "My soul melts away in grief," so "sustain me according to Your word."
- Me'am Lo'ez, Midrash, Chazal
