Tehilim - Protection in Times of Trouble

There are many individuals who recite Tehilim daily. They express the misery in their hearts over their tribulations and many who, to the contrary, express their happiness and joy at their good fortune and blessings with praise of their Creator. At times they sing these Psalms in anticipation of salvation from the depths of despair, and at times for relief of their ills or success in their endeavors. Their hopes flow from this book of Psalms that speaks to the very heart of every man and woman at all times. (Sefer Gedolas Dovid)

RECITING TEHILIM in times of trouble brings salvation to those who utter them.

Many years ago, in one of the Arab cities, there lived a simple G-d fearing Jew. This Jew had a burly Arab neighbor who was always pressed for money and pressured this Jew to lend him a sizeable sum. The Jew was compelled to lend his neighbor the money, but only on the condition that the sum is paid in full by a specified time. When the day the loan was due arrived, the Jew approached the Arab for payment. The Arab postponed the loan and told the Jew to leave. One Friday, the Jew appeared at the house of the Arab and demanded payment of the loan. The Arab asked the Jew to sit down and wait while he would bring him the money. The Jew sat down patiently and in the meanwhile began reciting Tehilim. When the Arab saw the Jew sitting and praying, he became enraged and decided on the spot to kill the Jew. The Arab began searching for a weapon to carry out this evil deed. The Jew who was a G-d fearing man, kept repeating Tehilim and from time to time came to the verse “Free me, Hashem, from the evil man, from the violent man preserve me” (Tehilim 140:2) whenever he said this verse, the verse seemed to repeat itself! The Jew understood this as a message of approaching danger, and left the Arab’s house and hid outside. As the Jew was leaving from one door, the Arab’s brother, tired and weary, entered through another door. He sat down on the chair that the Jew had just sat on, to rest from his traveling, when suddenly, the Arab came charging into the corridor in a fury with his sword drawn and attacked the person sitting in the chair. When the Arab recognized that the person in the chair was not the Jew, but his own brother, he fainted in shock at what he had just done. The Jew saw this from his hiding place and escaped before the Arab could recover! (Sefer Gedolas Dovid)