Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy 32:4/אור החיים על דברים ל״ב:ד׳

1 הצור תמים פעלו, "The Rock, His work is perfect." Moses had stated in the last verse that the cause of rainfall and dew is Torah study. Moses now adds that if someone who does study Torah nonetheless experiences extreme poverty, or if one sees a person who had suffered deprivations until he shook off the yoke of Torah and suddenly became very wealthy, the reason is not due to this person shaking off the yoke of Torah. The onlooker should not make such phenomena an excuse to become an heretic, but should acknowledge G'd as a fair Judge. This is reason Moses describes G'd as הצור, as someone Who is strong and steadfast even if He appears to discipline man. Our response has to be that תמים פעלו, "that whatever He does is perfect." This is the correct reaction to when we observe that G'd apparently compensates very sparingly people who have been very generous doing good works and who have studied Torah. The words כי כל דרכיו משפט, "for all His ways are justice," refer to the reverse phenomenon, i.e. people who have apparently done hardly anything to deserve the way in which G'd appears to lavish His bounty on them. We have to remember that G'd does not afflict the righteous until he has become guilty to suffer afflictions, and He does not lavish His goodness on the wicked unless they had done something to deserve it.

2Moses continues with אל אמונה ואין עול, "A G'd of faith without iniquity, etc." Our sages in the Sifri understand the word אמונה, to mean "faithful to repay the righteous in the hereafter," and the words אין עול, "without iniquity," they understand as His repaying the wicked for the good they have done in this life. The sages' thinking may be understood when one reads how they interpret Psalms 4,8: "You put joy in my heart when their grain and wine show increase." Midrash Tehillim on this verse explains that when David observed all this he said to himself: "if people who constantly violate many of G'd's commandments fare like this, I, who strive to carry out G'd's will, will most certainly fare at least as well. This is why my heart is filled with joy when I behold the success of the nations." The meaning of אל אמונה then is that the righteous draws additional faith from the way G'd deals with those who are merely Gentiles. The words ואין עול refer to G'd's need to pay the Gentiles their reward in this life as it is the only life they have.

3צדיק וישר הוא. "He is righteous and upright." This is a reference to the fact that G'd the Creator created the universe based on justice, as we know from Proverbs 29,4: "a king sustains earth by justice." Our sages in Tanchuma Shoftim say that G'd swore an oath that He would erect the universe based on justice. On the other hand, we find that He has at least 13 attributes (virtues) which are all various forms of mercy rather than justice. If G'd swore that the universe is based on justice, how does the attribute of Mercy fit into the picture?

4We have to understand this on the following basis. When G'd first assumed His seat of justice He placed justice on its appropriate place. When it came to executing justice, G'd allowed Himself to be influenced by considerations of mercy. David described this in Psalms 145,17: "whereas G'd is righteous (just) in all His paths, He is pious (flexible) in His actions." In other words, G'd first established what justice demanded under the given circumstances, but He made allowances before carrying out the demands of strict justice." When man entreats G'd He will show him mercy צדיק וישר הוא. "He is righteous and upright." He is righteous by judging justly. When the Talmud asks in Avodah Zarah 6 whether it it is not impossible that Noach could have been "treifah," seeing he is described in the Torah as "perfect," the Talmud retorts that the word תמים did not necessarily refer to his being unblemished physically (able to live for 12 months) but it could refer to his character being unblemished. Rashi comments on this that Noach was righteous in his דרכיו, "his attitude was guided by justice." All of this was only the original attitude. Afterwards G'd is ישר, more accomodating to man than required by the strict rules of justice as our sages in Baba Metzia 16 explain based on Deut. 6,18.