Psalms — Chapter 56
For the leader; on yonath elem reḥokim.ayonath elem reḥokim Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Of David. A michtam; when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Have mercy on me, O God,for people persecute me;all day long my adversary oppresses me.
My watchful foes persecute me all day long;many are my adversaries, O Exalted One.
When I am afraid, I trust in You,
in God, whose word I praise,in God I trust;I am not afraid;what can mortalsbmortals Lit. “flesh.” do to me?
All day long they cause me grief in my affairs,cthey cause me grief in my affairs Meaning of Heb. uncertain. they plan only evil against me.
They plot, they lie in ambush;they watch my every move, hoping for my death.
Cast them out for their evil;subdue peoples in Your anger, O God.
dMeaning of verse uncertain. You keep count of my wanderings;put my tears into Your flask,into Your record.
Then my enemies will retreat when I call on You;this I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,in GOD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust;I am not afraid;what can mere humans do to me?
I must pay my vows to You, O God;I will render thank offerings to You.
For You have saved me from death,my foot from stumbling,that I may walk before God in the light of life.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
Luke 6:36
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Snp 1.8
“As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.”
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1
“One Universal Creator God. The Name Is Truth. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”