מגן

O LORD, my crag, my fortress, my rescuer, my God, my rock in whom I seek refuge, my shield, my mighty champion, my haven.

Some time later, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. He said, “Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

the way of God is perfect; the word of the LORD is pure; He is a shield to all who seek refuge in Him.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him. I was helped, and my heart exulted, so I will glorify Him with my song.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say: on three things does the world stand: On justice, on truth and on peace, as it is said: “execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16).

R. Simon said: When the time came for the Holy Blessed One to make the first human being, The Ministering Angels made themselves into competing counsels, with one group opposing the other. Some of them said, “Don’t create humans,” and the others said “Create them.” So it is written: (Ps. 85:11) “Kindness and Truth met against one another, Righteousness and Peace faced each other.” The angel of Kindness said, “Create them, for they will do acts of loving kindness.” Then the angel of Truth said, “Do not create them, for they will be full of lies.” The angel of Righteousness said, “Create them, for they will establish justice.” The angel of Peace said, “Do not create them, for they will be in constant strife!” What did the Holy Blessed one do, but grab up Truth and hurl it to the earth, so it is written: (Daniel 8:12) “You hurled Truth to the earth.” Whereupon the Ministering Angels said before the Holy Blessed One, “Ruler of all worlds, what have You done? Why have You so chastised the chief of your court? Let Truth arise again from the earth.” So it is written, (Ps. 85:12) “Truth springs up from the earth.” The Rabbis have said the following in the name of R. Hanina bar Adai, and R. Pinchas and R. Hilkiah in the name of R. Simon who said: “Very” [MeOD] is an anagram in reference to “Humans” [ADaM] so it is written: (Gen 1:31) “And God saw all that God had made, and found it very good.” Read it rather: “God found Humans to be good.” R. Huna of Tzipori said: While the Ministering Angels were occupying one another with litigation and debate, The Holy Blessed One created them and turned to the angels saying, “What are you arguing about? Humans have already been created.”

The LORD is near to all who call Him, to all who call Him with sincerity.

He who lives without blame, who does what is right, and in his heart acknowledges the truth;