Psalms 120

This short psalm opens the Songs of Ascents, the pilgrim songs sung on the way up to Jerusalem. A believer surrounded by liars and troublemakers cries to the LORD for rescue. He is a man of peace living among people who want war.

Psalms 120:1

The psalmist looks back on a past cry and finds that God answered. His trouble was real, yet he took it straight to the LORD. The song begins with a testimony, and that gives him confidence to pray again in the next verses.

BSA: distress (“trouble, vexation, or being hemmed in”): Distress is pictured as a tight place with no room to move, from which only God can bring release. answered (“heard, responded, or gave an oracle to”): God’s answer means he truly listened and replied, not merely that the trouble ended.

See also: Psalm 18:6; Jonah 2:2.

Psalms 120:2

His particular trouble is slander and deceit. He asks the LORD to rescue his very self from people whose words are false and treacherous. Lies can wound as deeply as blows, and he does not try to answer them in his own strength.

BSA: soul (“the essence of my being, my living self”): The lies threaten his whole life, not only his reputation. deceitful (“treacherous, untrustworthy”): These are words that betray trust, not just mistaken statements.

See also: Proverbs 12:22.

Psalms 120:3

He turns to speak directly to the lying tongue and asks what God will do to it. The question is not doubt. It is a warning that deceit will not escape judgment. Whatever punishment comes, more will follow.

BSA: added (“or done more”): The picture is of consequences piling up, with judgment on the liar growing heavier.

Psalms 120:4

The answer is in two pictures. Sharp arrows from a warrior are swift, piercing judgment. Burning coals from the broom tree are a lasting fire, since broom wood was known for burning hot and long. The tongue that wounds will be met with a fitting and thorough reply from God.

BSA: broom tree (“a type of desert plant, also known as the Spanish broom”): A desert shrub whose wood makes glowing coals that hold their heat, suggesting lasting judgment. arrows (“of the mighty, like those used by archers”): These are the weapons of a trained fighter, so God’s judgment strikes with certainty.

See also: Psalm 64:3-7; James 3:6.

Psalms 120:5

He cries out in sorrow over where he lives. Meshech and Kedar were far apart, one in the north and one in the desert east, so he is not literally in both. They stand for a harsh, foreign, hostile world. He feels like a stranger among rough people.

BSA: dwell (“sojourn, live as a stranger”): He lives there as a foreigner, never at home among such neighbors. Kedar (“a people of darkness, descendants of Ishmael”): Kedar was a desert tribe of tents, a byword for a rough and unfriendly world.

See also: Genesis 25:13; 1 Peter 2:11.

Psalms 120:6

He has lived among people hostile to peace for far too long, and his soul is weary of it. His longing for home grows stronger here. Believers can feel this same ache when they live among those who care nothing for God’s ways.

BSA: peace (“shalom, completeness and wellness”): Shalom means wholeness and well-being in every part of life, not just the absence of fighting. hate (“intensely dislike, are hostile towards”): These neighbors are actively opposed to peace and not merely indifferent to it.

See also: Psalm 122:6-8.

Psalms 120:7

He is for peace, but when he speaks, they turn to war. His gentle words only provoke them. The psalm ends without a neat solution. As the pilgrim sets out for Jerusalem, he leaves his hope with the God who answers, and Christ, the Prince of Peace, shares in this experience.

BSA: war (“battle, conflict”): Their answer to his words is open conflict, so his peace meets hostility.

See also: Romans 12:18; Matthew 5:9.