Psalms 55:4 (YLT)

Passage

My heart is pained within me, And terrors of death have fallen on me.

Nearby Context

Psalms 55:2 Attend to me, and answer me, I mourn in my meditation, and make a noise,

Psalms 55:3 Because of the voice of an enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked, For they cause sorrow to move against me, And in anger they hate me.

Psalms 55:4 My heart is pained within me, And terrors of death have fallen on me.

Psalms 55:5 Fear and trembling come in to me, And horror doth cover me.

Psalms 55:6 And I say, `Who doth give to me a pinion as a dove? I fly away and rest,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heart", "pained", "within", "terrors", "death", and "fallen". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heart" and "pained", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Because of the voice of an enemy..." into verse 5's "Fear and trembling come in to me...", so "heart" and "pained" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "heart" and "pained" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.