זוהר בראשית — דף קעט ע”א

Rabbi Yose opens with the verse “You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from distress”: the Holy One, blessed be He, shelters and protects the one who walks in the ways of the Torah, and the “distress” is the evil inclination, which oppresses above and below; without it, no one in the world would have an adversary. The word “You will surround me” refers to songs that contain degrees of deliverance, and David’s songs were spoken through the holy spirit, in the secrets of wisdom. Rabbi Elazar explains “You thrust me down to fall”: it is the Other Side that constantly seeks to turn man away, and David asks not to be handed over to it. One must guard against it, and then God protects a person in all his ways. On “Jacob settled,” Rabbi Ḥiya observes that the evil inclination joins a person from birth, whereas animals protect themselves from the start.