Midras Mazmur 118:6: Midrash Tehillim & Aggadat Bereshit

To the chief musician, a psalm of David: In the Lord I have taken refuge. This is what the verse says, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid" (Psalm 118:6). It can be compared to a king who had a servant whom he loved, but his other servants were jealous of him. The king said, "Whoever is compassionate towards me, I am grateful to him." "Nodi" should be read as "Nodu" (meaning "flee"), as Rabbi Acha said, "When Israel was exiled, the nations of the world rejoiced and tried to remove them from their place." Rabbi Acha explained that the verse "Like a bird wandering from its nest, so is a man wandering from his place" (Proverbs 27:8) refers to the Lord, who is a warrior and has no place other than the Temple, as it says, "This is my resting place forever and ever" (Psalm 132:14).

Chapter 15: Writings [1] "A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1) "You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you." (Deuteronomy 3:22) When Israel fears God, even the nations fear them, as David also said, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 118:6) When I have God with me, I have nothing to fear. But when we abandon our fear of God, even the nations rebel against us, as it is said, "Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him." (Hosea 8:3) What is good? "The LORD is good to all." (Psalm 145:9) When the nations fear God, everyone fears Israel, even the animals fear them. From whom did we learn this? From Daniel, who was thrown into a den of lions and was not harmed. As it is said, "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me." (Daniel 6:23) Yet you say that only those with a soul can fear, but how do we know that even those without a soul can fear? We learn this from Abraham, to whom God said, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans." (Genesis 15:7) Even fire feared Abraham, as did Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Even water feared Israel, as it is said, "And the children of Israel went on dry ground through the midst of the sea." (Exodus 14:29) In the future, it will be the same, as it is said, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." (Isaiah 43:2) Therefore, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Even the nations seek to come under the protection of God's presence when Israel does His will. This is also found in David's writings and all the prophets, as in "David and six hundred men who were with him went to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath." (2 Samuel 15:18) And in Solomon's words, "And Solomon counted out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them." (2 Chronicles 2:18) And in the days of Mordecai, many people in the land became Jews. (Esther 8:17) And Isaiah says, "Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me." (Isaiah 54:15) What is "behold"? It is a Greek word meaning "one." The Lord says, "One man will be stronger than they are, because he is under My authority." From here on, whoever opposes Israel will not succeed.

"The Lord is for me, I shall not fear; What can man do to me? Abraham said, "What will you do to me, Abimelech?" Jacob said, "What will Esau do to me?" David said, "What will you do to me, Goliath?"