“From those who die by Your hand, O God, from those who die of old age [—those whose portion is in life, and Your concealed treasure fills their bellies; they are sated with children and leave their excesses to their young]. As for me, in righteousness, I will behold Your face; [I will be sated, upon awakening, by Your image].” (Psalms 17:14-15)

The rule is: The ultimate goal is nothing other than to serve and go in God’s ways for His sake, in order to merit recognizing God and knowing Him. This is the ultimate goal and it is God’s Will that we recognize Him. Nor is it fitting for a person to have any other intention in his service to God, other than to fulfill His Will; that He declared and His Will was done.

For one person works throughout his life and pursues the desires of this world in order to fill his belly with worldly pleasures. Another works hard at serving God in order to merit the World to Come. This, too, is called filling the belly; he wants to fill his belly and desire with the World to Come.

This is the concept of “those whose portion is in life, and Your concealed treasure fills their bellies.” “Those whose portion is in life, and Your concealed treasure”—i.e., those who choose as “their portion in life” to satisfy their desires with the life of this world, and also those who choose the abundant good that is concealed, namely, the World to Come. This is “Your concealed treasure”—they choose the concealed good, i.e., the World to Come. Both of these are the concept of filling the belly.

And this is “whose portion is in life, and Your concealed treasure fills their bellies.” These two groups, those who choose this world as well as those who serve God to attain the World to Come—the concept of “whose portion is in life” and “Your concealed treasure”—are both in the category of “fills their bellies.” They want to fill their bellies and their desires; one, with this world, and the other, with the World to Come.

Just that the one who chooses the World to Come is smarter, because he chooses a world which is permanent—it is everlasting and it is eternal—and he disdains this world, which is fleeting and perishes. And though it is actually certainly much better to serve God even for the sake of the World to Come, nevertheless, it, too, is called filling the belly.

And this is “they are sated with children”—their satiation is children. All their effort is in order to leave an inheritance for their children.

In fact, a person who lacks holiness and pursues pleasures and leaves his money for his children is like someone who soils himself with filth and then takes [more] filth to cover the filth. For, in truth, money that is associated with holiness is very lofty and manifests many very exalted and holy aspects, as is explained elsewhere. Nevertheless, the money associated with worldly pleasures is extraneous matter. What remains of a person after satisfying his appetite in this world is extraneous matter. The extraneous matter remaining after all his pleasures is the money he leaves behind.

So, too, are the children not born in holiness. They are also quite literally extraneous matter, because they stem from the mind’s extraneous matter, fetor and turbidity, which emerge. This produces children, the concept of “a fetid drop” (Avot 3:1)—literally, fetor. This is the reason the children are called olelim (young), which connotes filth, as in Rashi’s interpretation of olel (Psalms 8:3)—“filth and dirt,” and as mentioned above.

And when someone leaves such children, it is a disgrace and an embarrassment. This is because conceptually they are extraneous matter and filth. Consequently, he wants to mask and beautify them with the money, which is also entirely extraneous matter that remains after all the pleasures, as mentioned above. This is the inheritance he leaves them after his death. It follows, that he covers filth with filth. This is the meaning of “they are sated with children”—their satiation is children, for whom they waste their lives. “And leave their excesses to their young”—they mask the young in extraneous matter, who are likewise synonymous with extraneous matter. This is the inheritance which they leave their children, for which they waste their lives.

2. But I choose for myself neither of the aforementioned two groups, but to merit “to behold the pleasantness of God” (Psalms 27:4). And this is “As for me, in righteousness, I will behold Your face.” King David, may he rest in peace, said that in merit of his righteousness he chose nothing for himself other than to behold the face of God and recognize the blessed Creator.

And even the children he wishes to leave over, his intention is only for God, in order to complete, as it were, “the image of His likeness” (Sheva Berakhot Liturgy). For the children of holiness are very lofty. And as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: Whoever does not engage in procreation is regarded as if he has diminished the Divine likeness (Yevamot 63b). This is because with each additional child born into the world, an additional image of the Lord is born, as it were, and so “the image of His likeness” is [more] complete.

This is the meaning of “I will be sated”—i.e., the satiation from children, as in “they are sated with children,” is only “upon awakening, by Your image.” In essence, his satiation from children is derived only from awakening and rousing the Blessed One’s image, the concept of “the image of His likeness.”

3. {“From those who die by Your hand, O God, from those who die of old age—those whose portion is in life, and Your concealed treasure fills their bellies; they are sated with children and leave their excesses to their young. As for me, in righteousness, I will behold Your face; I will be sated, upon awakening, by Your image.”} And this is “From those who die by Your hand, O God….” There are those who die a natural death. Born with a constitutional vigor and other similar properties allowing for a certain number of years, they go on living all those years until their moisture and vitality are depleted and they die of old age—the concept of “those who die of old age.”

And there are others upon whom God decrees premature death, as punishment, this being “From those who die by Your hand, O God….” Having died before their time, they are deserving of the World to Come. But those who die of old age are denizens of this world. They have no portion in the World to Come because they go on living in this world without any punishment, until they die of old age.

Thus King David, may he rest in peace, said that from the aforementioned two groups, the denizens of this world and the denizens of the World to Come:

From those who die by Your hand, O God, from those who die of old age— that is, from those whom God puts to death and so have the World to Come, and from those who die of old age, i.e., the denizens of this world. And this is:

whose portion is in life, and Your concealed treasure— that is, the two groups, both of whom are aspects of fills their bellies— that is, filling the belly with either this world or the World to Come. And this is:

are sated with children and leave their excesses to their young— as mentioned above. And even someone who chooses the World to Come and wants to leave his merit for his children, that, too, is “are sated with children and leave their excesses….”

But for myself, rather than either of the aforementioned two groups, I choose in righteousness, I will behold Your face— that through all my righteousness I merit beholding the face of God, be sated, upon awakening, by Your image, as mentioned above.

Despite all this, it is very good even if a person serves God for the sake of the World to Come. It is also good to leave one’s merit for one’s children. As is brought, a person should not receive his entire reward, but instead leave some over for his children.

However, the perfect tzaddikim, those who genuinely love God, such as David and those like him, do not choose any of this. They have no interest in this world, or the World to Come, or in leaving their merit and righteousness to their children—but only to fulfill the Will of the Blessed One, as mentioned above.