Mid-century illustration of a shepherd's staff resting against a stone in still water

Psalms 17:14 · World English Bible

Psalms 17:14 Meaning From Men by Your Hand

from men by your hand, Yahweh, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.

What does Psalms 17:14 mean?

Here are the people whose entire portion is in this life. They seek their fullness in form alone, in possessions and comfort, in the belly filled and the wealth handed down to their children.

From the Ego v. Being reading below.

Psalms 17:14 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

EGO & BEING

Ego v. Being

Here are the people whose entire portion is in this life. They seek their fullness in form alone, in possessions and comfort, in the belly filled and the wealth handed down to their children. Their whole reality is the world of things that come and go.

There is nothing wrong with any of it. Yet to place your whole portion in this life is to live only in the dimension of form and to remain a stranger to the stillness within. They possess everything the world can give, and never discover the peace that no possession can provide.

Ego v. Being lensGo deeper in the app

Ego v. Being lens

Live Psalms 17:14 today

  1. Sometime today, when a purchase or an upgrade starts looking like the answer, pause before buying and ask what it is actually promising you. Often the promise is peace, and the box does not contain it.
  2. With your family or your closest person, let one conversation be about something other than money, plans, or things. Ask how they actually are and wait for the second answer.
  3. When work pressure makes the paycheck or the title feel like the whole point, take a minute outside and feel the air. None of what you are chasing is doing the breathing.

If everything you own were gone tomorrow, what would still be yours?

The same truth in other traditions

Tao Te Ching 46

There is no calamity like not knowing what is enough. Chasing the outer thing is a thirst that drinking cannot end.

Buddhism · Dhammapada

Even a shower of gold coins would not satisfy a craving mind. Fullness is not a quantity.

Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius

Soon you will have forgotten all of it, and all of it will have forgotten you. Hold the outer things lightly, since they are only passing through your hands.

Mid-century illustration of Jesus teaching the crowd on a hillside above the sea

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