Psalm 120

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.

The first line is literally, “To YHWH in my distress I cried and He answered me.” YHWH is also the first word (in Hebrew) of the second verse. This first of the 15 Song of Ascents (Psalms 120-134) begins with the divine name, addressing the covenant-keeping God of Israel, the great I AM. The psalmist prays for deliverance from his distress, more specifically, from lying lips and deceitful tongues. Verse 5 tells us that the psalmist was dwelling in Meshech, possibly a location near the Black Sea, far from Jerusalem. So the psalmist is feeling the distance from home and his people. Perhaps he was taken captive in war and lives there in exile, likely to never return home. In this environment, he finds himself surrounded by liars. He is in a foreign culture, surrounded by unbelievers. They also seem to be a warring people (vss. 6-7). The psalmist is a cultural outsider and is subject to lies about his God, himself, and reality itself (his neighbors have a different worldview). These lies must have placed pressure on the psalmist to conform, to compromise and adapt his worldview in order to fit in. The Jewish people have been known historically for strongly maintaining their dietary and religious practices despite ostracization and persecution. This is the song of the Jewish person living outside of their homeland. It is also the song of the Christian in modern Babylon. Lies abound -- both from the loudest voices in our culture as well as from the father of lies. There are even lies that we tell ourselves about ourselves. Deliver me from every lying lip and deceitful tongue, even when those lips and tongues are mine. 

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!

The psalmist asks a rhetorical question, seeking judgment on those who are telling lies. The deceitful tongue is further described in two metaphors -- a warrior’s sharp arrows and the glowing coals of the broom tree. A sharp tongue is a tongue that inflicts immediate pain and even death if it strikes the right place. Sharp arrows easily pierce the flesh and because of their design, inflict even more damage on the way out. Think of the immediate pain that lying words cause as well as the more long-term wounding that they inflict on us. We all carry wounds from things that have been said to us or about us. Like arrows, words can travel far from us, sometimes even accidentally wounding others as they fly from our lips. Words can be deadly (see James 3). The second metaphor is that of the glowing coals of a broom tree. The broom tree is famous from the story of Elijah, who sat under a broom tree and wanted to die. In that case the broom tree provided shade and refreshment. The broom tree is the common name of a juniper, an evergreen whose dry branches were great for starting fires and burning hot. This metaphor speaks to the destructive potential of words, their ability to start fires and spread them. We’ve all seen the devastation of forest fires, and James speaks of how one little spark can set a whole forest ablaze. Words have tremendous power -- for good and evil. Here the psalmist is focused on the painful and destructive power of words, and he longs for judgment to come and bring an end to the lies. Be sure of this, judgment is coming, truth always wins. Lies and liars will be judged, so don’t compromise with the truth. 

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!

The psalmist grieves over his situation. He is sojourning in Meshech. “Sojourning” suggests a temporary home, but it is home nonetheless. Meshech is far from home in Israel. He is dwelling among the tents of Kedar. Kedar is the name associated with nomadic Arab tribes to the east of Israel. Since the psalmist can’t be in both places at once, perhaps he is speaking for other exiled Jews longing for pilgrimage home to Jerusalem. He represents the Jews of the Diaspora, scattered throughout the world, carried away in captivity and forced to spend their lives far from their homeland. Like modern refugees, they will forever feel out of place in their second home no matter how long they live there. In this case, the primary challenge has to do with competing worldviews. The psalmist lives among a people that value power above all else, and they prey on other nations they presume to be weaker. This presumably is why he is living there, having been captured in battle or deported following a military campaign. Unfortunately, the cry of the psalmist is all too common in world history up to this day. All over the world, citizens are captive to power-hunger leaders who are “for war”, unwilling to listen to voices for peace as they pursue their own expansionist ambitions. These struggles are simply the way the world is no matter how much we might wish it were not so. The truth is, the world is unfair. Life is unfair. Men of peace are assassinated. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God. They are also likely to get punched in the face while breaking up a fight. The main idea of this psalm is to remember that we are not living our true home. We are sojourners in Meshech and Kedar, awaiting our final pilgrimage to Zion. Until we get there, we can’t expect to live in peace.