“Hashem is in the abode of His holiness, Hashem’s Throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids examine mankind” (Tehillim 11:4)
The Malbim comments on this pasuk that Hashem’s conduct of the world is at times revealed and at times hidden. An intelligent person can envision Hashem sitting in the holy Beit Hamikdash, like a king sitting among his subjects, judging them for all their deeds. On the other hand, the masses imagine that His Throne is in Heaven. They assume that He abandoned His supervision of this world and resides only in Heaven.
In truth, Hashem is in His holy Sanctuary, and He supervises all with individual supervision. The reason it seems that He closes His eyes, i.e., does not supervise, is because “His eyelids scrutinize mankind.” (The eyelids, which close the eyes, are a reference to the removal of Divine intervention. It seems as though He does not see what is happening in this world.) The purpose of this “closing His eyes,” removal of Divine intervention, is in order to give people free choice to serve Him or to sin.
“From heaven Hashem looks down, He sees all mankind. From His dwelling place He oversees all those who dwell on earth. He fashions their hearts together, He comprehends all their deeds” (Tehillim 33:13-15)
“My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young buck. I thought I would be forever alone, but behold! He was standing behind our wall, observing through the windows, peering through the lattices” (Shir Hashirim 2:9)
The author of the sefer Kad Hakemach (Hashgachah) tells us that Yirmeyahu Hanavi divided Divine intervention into two categories: General and individual. This is in regard to all creatures, not only mankind. Yirmeyahu proclaimed (32:19), “Great in counsel and mighty in deed, your eyes survey all the ways of mankind.” This refers to general supervision of the world.
The continuation of that pasuk, “To grant each man according to his ways” refers to individual supervision. The pasuk in Shir Hashirim (2:9) alludes to both of these approaches. “My Beloved is like a gazelle…” refers to Hashem in the third person, denoting a distant type of relationship. It continues with the words “He was standing behind our walls,” which indicates a more intimate relationship. Hashem is compared to our betrothed, at once close yet incomprehensible. Although a wall is separating us from Him, He observes us from the windows on High and peers at us through the cracks in the Heavenly Throne. This negates the assertion that man’s lowliness in comparison to Hashem’s awesomeness causes a lack of direct Divine supervision.
The terms observing and peering are used to refer to these two types of supervision. Individual Divine supervision is relevant only to matters of intellect. It does not apply to the animal kingdom, and certainly not to vegetation. For instance, when a leaf falls from a tree, this is not caused by a higher level of Divine intervention. When a spider preys on a fly, this is not according to an individual Heavenly decree. When a person spits onto a mosquito to kill it, it is not a Divinely-inspired act. A fish which swallows a worm in the water is not sent to do so by Heaven. These instances fall under the category of general supervision. The following pasuk (Chavakuk 1:14), “You have made man like the fish of the sea” provides evidence of the absence of hashgachah pratit in the animal kingdom. From here we see that all other creatures are left to their own devices. But regarding man, it is different, as the pasuk states (ibid. 12), “O Hashem, You have established him for judgment.” This teaches us that Hashem regards each person with individual supervision, chastising him with justice for his wrongdoings.
