Bible Strands
Psalms 55:4
My heart pounds within me, and the terrors of death assail me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God amid immediate persecution, describing the moment when the voice and pressure of a wicked enemy bring disaster and resentment (Psalms 55:3). The words — The terms יָחִ֣יל (yaChil) and נָפְל֥וּ (naFeLu) literally describe a trembling heart and terrors of death that have fallen upon the speaker. The thread — This visceral experience of death's terrors and overwhelming fear runs through Psalms 116:3, where ropes of death and Sheol's anguish entangle the speaker, and Mark 14:33, where Jesus begins to be deeply troubled and distressed. Why it lands — The text first records a concrete physiological and emotional collapse under mortal threat before framing that terror as a legitimate posture before God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Cross-references
- Psalms 116:3 The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
- Mark 14:33 He took with Him Peter, James, and John, and began to be deeply troubled and distressed.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
- Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
- Psalms 6:3 My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
- Psalms 69:20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.
- Psalms 88:3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
- Psalms 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Isaiah 38:10 I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”