Trusting Divine help over self-reliance

ובמדרש יבש חציר כו' משל למלך שהבטיח מתנה לאחד ומת ונתן לבנו כו'.

And in the Midrash: "The grass withers…" (Yeshayahu 40:8) — a parable of a king who promised a gift to someone, and he died, and the king gave it to his son, etc.

The Midrash compares the Land's promise to a king who pledged a gift; though the original recipient (the generation of the wilderness) passed away, the pledge was fulfilled for his son — the next generation that would enter Eretz Yisrael.

י"ל בהקדם הגמ' על מ"ש דוד המע"ה בחנני ה' ונסני כו' ולבסוף נתחרט כו'.

One may explain this by first citing the Gemara on what Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him, said: "Examine me, Hashem, and test me…" (Tehillim 26:2), and in the end he regretted it.

The Sefas Emes invokes the Gemara that Dovid asked Hashem to test him, but afterward came to regret the request when he could not withstand the test.

כי האבות לא היו צריכין סיוע כמ"ש ע"פ התהלך לפני.

For the Avos did not need assistance, as it says on the verse "Walk before Me" (Bereishis 17:1).

The Patriarchs were able to "walk before" Hashem under their own spiritual power, requiring no special Divine help to stand firm.

אבל דוד המע"ה כתיב בי' ויתחזק דוד בה' וכן איתא גברא דמארי' סייעי' והוא חפץ להדמות עצמו להאבות.

But concerning Dovid HaMelech it is written, "And Dovid strengthened himself in Hashem" (Shmuel I 30:6), and likewise it is said, "a man whose Master assists him," and he wished to make himself resemble the Avos.

Dovid, by contrast, succeeded specifically because Hashem assisted him ("his Master helped him"). Yet he aspired to be like the Avos and stand on his own merit — which is why he asked to be tested without Divine support.

וכמו כן י"ל בעסק המרגלים כי מסתמא אמרו אמת שנראה להם שלא יוכלו לעלות פי' מצד מעשיהם וזכיותיהם.

And similarly one may explain in the matter of the spies (meraglim): presumably they spoke truth, that it appeared to them they would not be able to go up — that is, by virtue of their own deeds and merits.

The spies were not simply lying. Judging by the nation's own actions and accumulated merits, they correctly assessed that Bnei Yisrael could not conquer the Land on their own strength.

אכן השי"ת הי' מכניסם בדרך נס וסיוע מצד הבטחת אבות.

However, Hashem was going to bring them in by way of miracle and assistance, on account of the promise to the Avos.

What the spies failed to account for was that Hashem intended to bring the people in supernaturally — through Divine help granted in the merit of the promise made to the Patriarchs, not through the people's own worthiness.

אך הם רצו להדמות ג"כ לאבות ולעשות הכל מעצמם וזה הי' החטא שלהם כי אין להתחכם על הנהגת הבורא ב"ה וב"ש:

But they too wished to resemble the Avos and to do everything by themselves — and this was their sin, for one must not outsmart the conduct (hanhagah) of the Creator, blessed is He and blessed is His Name.

Their error, like Dovid's, was the desire to stand on their own merit like the Avos rather than accept miraculous Divine help. The sin lay in second-guessing how Hashem chooses to run the world instead of trusting His way.

Summary: The spies' report was not a simple falsehood — measured by Bnei Yisrael's own deeds and merits, they truly could not have conquered the Land. Their sin, paralleling Dovid HaMelech's regretted request to be tested without Divine aid, was the wish to resemble the Avos and accomplish everything by their own strength, ignoring that Hashem meant to bring them in miraculously in the merit of the promise to the Patriarchs. One must not "outsmart" Hashem's chosen way of running the world.