Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+120

 

Psalm 120 (ESV)

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of Ascents.

1 In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
² Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.

³ What shall be given to you,
and what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
⁴ A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!

⁵ Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
⁶ Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
⁷ I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!

REFLECTION:

1. How do you feel when Sunday comes and you approach the church where you worship? This group of psalms reminds us that worship is to be a joyous occasion, rich in meaning for the believer.
2. These 15 “songs of ascents” (Ps. 120-134) on a variety of themes, were probably chanted by Hebrew pilgrims as they approached Jerusalem to attend one of the Old Testament’s annual worship festivals.
3. 120, the first psalm of ascents pictures a burdened person of God, far from his spiritual homeland. This land of strife is not his home. His homeland is a land of peace. In this psalm, the psalmist asked God for protection from people who wanted to stir up war. This psalm has been called an individual lament that anticipates thanksgiving.
4. The Jews were called to turn in their hearts, if not possible to return physically, to Jerusalem at specified times during the year to join the believing community in worship at the temple of the Lord.
5. This psalm pictures a person living among the ungodly, who realized afresh at this time of year that he was a man of peace, who lived among those who were for war.
6. How important for us Christians to return to our roots, and with the community of faith, look to and call on the Lord.

 

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

In My Distress I Cried to the Lord – www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK76IGkmSDs