Psalm 120
Psalm 120, The Prayer and Journey of the Outsider
Psalm 120 begins the collection known as the Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134. Each of these 15 psalms bears the title, “A Song of Ascents.” The exact meaning of that title has been discussed in several ways. Some have connected these psalms to the temple steps, others to gradual songs, processional songs, or songs connected with return from exile. The strongest explanation is that they were pilgrim songs, sung by the people of God as they went up to Jerusalem for the appointed feasts, especially Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
The word “ascents” fits the idea of going up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was geographically elevated, but more importantly, it was spiritually central because the temple was there. The pilgrim journey was not merely travel. It was movement toward worship, toward the covenant community, and toward the place where the LORD had set His name.
This gives Psalm 120 a fitting place as the first Song of Ascents. It begins not in Jerusalem, but in distress. It begins with a man surrounded by lies, deceit, hostility, and people who hate peace. He feels like a stranger among warlike people. His soul has lived too long among those who reject God’s peace. So the journey begins with longing, prayer, and the desire to be among the people of God.
This also means that Jesus likely knew and sang these Songs of Ascents on His journeys to Jerusalem. As the perfect pilgrim, He knew what it was to live among deceitful tongues, to seek peace among those who wanted conflict, and to be rejected by men while remaining faithful to the Father.
A. The Distress and Destiny of Liars Who Oppose
Psalm 120:1 to Psalm 120:2, Distress and Deliverance From Deceitful Tongues
Psalm 120:1, “In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.”
Psalm 120:2, “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.”
Psalm 120 begins with distress. “In my distress I cried unto the LORD.” The people of God are not promised a life without distress. They often face trouble, slander, hostility, false accusations, and the grief of living among people who do not love truth. Yet they have a refuge. The psalmist does not first run to retaliation, self pity, or manipulation. He cries unto the LORD.
Distress often gives urgency to prayer. A comfortable man may pray casually, but a distressed man cries. Trouble can drive a man deeper into communion with God. The psalmist’s affliction becomes the occasion for prayer.
The testimony is simple and powerful, “and he heard me.” The LORD is not deaf to the cry of His servant. The psalmist remembers that God has heard him before, and this memory strengthens present faith. The God who heard once can hear again. His mercy is not exhausted by previous answers.
Psalm 34:4, “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
Psalm 34:6, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
Verse 2 identifies the distress, “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.” The danger is not first physical violence, but speech. Lying lips and deceitful tongues can wound deeply. Lies can damage reputation, divide relationships, stir conflict, mislead the simple, and bring great distress to the righteous.
The psalmist asks for deliverance of the soul. This is important. Lies do not merely attack circumstances. They trouble the inner man. The soul needs deliverance from the pressure, pain, confusion, bitterness, and temptation that come from deceitful speech.
There is some comfort in knowing that what is spoken is false. The distress is real, but the accusation is not true. A righteous man can bring the matter before God, knowing that the LORD knows the truth and cannot be deceived by slander.
Psalm 31:18, “Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.”
The lies from which the soul needs deliverance are not only lies spoken about us, but also lies spoken to us. Men lie about God, saying He is not good, not sovereign, not faithful, not holy, or not near. They lie about man, saying sin is harmless and judgment is unreal. They lie about identity, purpose, happiness, morality, peace, and salvation. The servant of God needs deliverance from all such deceit.
Jesus knew this perfectly. He was slandered, misrepresented, falsely accused, and condemned by lying witnesses. Yet He committed Himself to the Father.
Matthew 26:59, “Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;”
Matthew 26:60, “But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,”
1 Peter 2:23, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”
Psalm 120:1 to 2 teaches that the pilgrim journey begins in distress, that the righteous must cry to the LORD, that God hears His people, and that the soul needs deliverance from lying lips and deceitful tongues.
Psalm 120:3 to Psalm 120:4, The Destiny of the Deceitful Tongue
Psalm 120:3, “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?”
Psalm 120:4, “Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.”
The psalmist now turns from prayer to warning. “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?” The deceitful tongue will not escape judgment. Lies may appear successful for a time, but God sees them. The tongue that wounds others will answer to the God of truth.
The question is poetic and judicial. What is fitting punishment for a false tongue? Verse 4 answers, “Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.” The lying tongue had sent out words like weapons. Now judgment comes back in the form of sharp arrows.
Scripture often describes the destructive power of the tongue with weapon imagery.
Psalm 52:2, “Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.”
Psalm 57:4, “My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.”
Proverbs 25:18, “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.”
The judgment also includes “coals of juniper.” The juniper, or broom tree, was known for coals that burned hot and long. The image is severe. Lying words set fires, and the liar will face fiery judgment. The tongue that burns others with deceit will meet the burning coals of divine justice.
This is a sober warning. God does not treat speech lightly. Words reveal the heart, wound others, spread either truth or falsehood, and will be judged.
Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
Matthew 12:37, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
The believer must remember this when falsely accused. The false tongue may seem powerful now, but it will not have the last word. God’s arrows of truth and coals of judgment are stronger than human lies.
Psalm 120:3 to 4 teaches that the deceitful tongue has a destiny of judgment, that lies are weapons in God’s sight, and that those who wound others with falsehood will answer to the righteous Judge.
B. Living in a Troubled Place, Longing for God’s Peace
Psalm 120:5 to Psalm 120:6, The Weariness of Living With Those Who Hate God’s Peace
Psalm 120:5, “Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!”
Psalm 120:6, “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.”
The psalmist cries, “Woe is me.” His distress is not only the presence of lying tongues, but the grief of dwelling among people who do not share his love for God’s truth and peace. He feels out of place.
He says, “that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.” Mesech was far to the north, associated with distant peoples. Kedar was associated with nomadic tribes in the Arabian desert. These two places were far apart geographically, so the psalmist likely uses them symbolically to describe life among hostile, ungodly, warlike people. He feels as though he lives among the heathen, among those who are far from the spirit of worship and covenant peace.
The word “sojourn” is important. He may live there, but he does not belong there. He is a pilgrim, a stranger, an outsider. His true home is with the LORD and among the people of God.
This fits the beginning of the Songs of Ascents. The pilgrim starts from a place of alienation and begins the journey toward Jerusalem. He leaves the hostile environment and moves toward the worshiping assembly.
The believer knows something of this. He lives in the world, but the world is not his home. When surrounded by lies, strife, perversion, false worship, and hostility to God’s truth, his soul feels the ache of exile.
Hebrews 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Hebrews 11:14, “For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.”
1 Peter 2:11, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;”
Verse 6 says, “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.” The problem is not merely geographic. It is spiritual. He lives among people who hate peace. The word peace carries the rich biblical idea of shalom, wholeness, order, harmony with God, righteousness, blessing, and covenant well being. His enemies hate that peace.
This is a good discontentment. It is not sinful complaining to grieve over dwelling among deceitful and warlike people. A man of God should not feel at home where lies are practiced and strife is loved. Contentment in sin soaked company can be dangerous if it means the soul has grown comfortable with what God hates.
Yet God can use such difficult company for good. The hostility of enemies can make the believer more watchful, more prayerful, more dependent, and more eager for fellowship with the people of God. The weariness of Meshech and Kedar can sharpen the longing for Jerusalem.
Jesus was the ultimate Man of peace living among those who hated peace. He came to make peace by the blood of His cross, yet He was rejected by men.
Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”
Psalm 120:5 to 6 teaches that the faithful often feel like strangers among ungodly people, that dwelling with those who hate God’s peace wearies the soul, and that such distress rightly creates longing for the worshiping community and the presence of God.
Psalm 120:7, The Contrast Between the Singer and the Community Where He Lives
Psalm 120:7, “I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.”
The psalm ends with a sharp contrast. “I am for peace.” The Hebrew idea can be stated even more strongly, “I peace.” The psalmist is not merely interested in peace as an occasional preference. His whole posture is peace. He desires shalom, covenant order, reconciliation, truth, righteousness, and harmony under God.
This is not weak passivity. Biblical peace is not compromise with lies. It is peace rooted in truth. The psalmist has already prayed against deceit and warned of judgment. He is not willing to make peace with falsehood, but he is a man who longs for true peace.
Jesus teaches this same blessedness.
Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
Jesus Himself is the perfect fulfillment. He did not merely desire peace. He made peace through His blood.
Ephesians 2:14, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;”
Ephesians 2:15, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”
Ephesians 2:16, “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:”
The psalmist then says, “but when I speak, they are for war.” His words of peace are met with hostility. This is the grief of living among those who love conflict. He speaks truth, they answer with war. He seeks peace, they stir strife. He wants reconciliation, they want battle.
The psalm ends with a sigh. It does not end with immediate outward deliverance. It ends with the unresolved tension that drives the pilgrim upward. This is fitting for the first Song of Ascents. The journey begins because the soul is weary of lies and war. The pilgrim longs for something better, a better fellowship, a better city, a better worship, and ultimately the peace of God.
Psalm 120 teaches that the pilgrim people of God often begin their ascent from a place of distress. They cry to the LORD against lying lips and deceitful tongues. They trust that falsehood will face judgment. They grieve over dwelling among those who hate peace. They confess that they are for peace, even when others are for war. This psalm prepares the heart to leave the atmosphere of lies and strife and begin the journey toward worship, truth, fellowship, and the presence of the LORD.
