Psalm 120: Approaching God means stepping away from the world

A song of ascents.

[Preliminary Comments: This psalm is the first of fifteen psalms headed ‘A song of ascents’, psalms of going up. It is uncertain what that ‘going up’ referred to. These fifteen may be songs sung going up the steps into the Temple, or they may be simply psalms that pilgrims sang as they went up to Jerusalem to worship. Perhaps we may see them as steps to take us nearer into the presence of God.

The start comes with the psalmist registering his discontent, his unhappiness, of having to listen to people bad-mouthing others [v.1,2], of having no stable basis to their lives [v.5], people who are violent in outlook [v.6,7], people who just deserve God’s punishment [v.3,4]. In all of this he seeks to distance himself from the unrighteous as he approaches the Lord.]

v.1,2 A cry to be delivered from those who speak unrighteously

v.1 I call on the Lord in my distress,
    and he answers me.
v.2 Save me, Lord,
    from lying lips
    and from deceitful tongues.

v.3,4 The Lord will punish those who speak like that

v.3 What will he do to you,
    and what more besides,
    you deceitful tongue?
v.4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
    with burning coals of the broom bush.

v.5 I live among those with lives without foundations

v.5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, [tribal wanderers]
    that I live among the tents of Kedar!

v.6,7 I almost despair of living among violent people, I long for peace

v.6 Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
v.7 I am for peace;
    but when I speak, they are for war.

[Additional Comments: In approaching the Lord, ascending into His presence, the psalmist starts out by recognizing the state of the world about him, and declares his intent to distance himself from such attitudes and such lives.

After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through

1 I call on the Lord in my distress,
    and he answers me.
2 Save me, Lord,
    from lying lips
    and from deceitful tongues.

3 What will he do to you,
    and what more besides,
    you deceitful tongue?
4 He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,
    with burning coals of the broom bush.

5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
    that I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace;
    but when I speak, they are for war.

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: