Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 120 (MT) / Psalm 119 (LXX) opens the fifteen-psalm SONGS OF ASCENTS (Pss 120–134, shir hamaalot / ōdē tōn anabathmōn) — sung by pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem for the three annual-festivals (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles). The psalm opens the pilgrimage from the farthest-distance — from exile-in-hostile-lands (Meshech and Kedar, the far north and far south) yearning-for-Zion.
Notable Variants
120 opens the Songs of Ascents pilgrimage-cluster; 120:5 'Meshech and Kedar' as far-distance exile-locations; the 'deceitful tongue' complaint framing the ascent as escape-from-hostile-speech.
Structural Notes
MT Ps 120 = LXX Ps 119. 7 verses. First Song of Ascents.
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me.
Superscription 'a Song of Ascents' tracks MT. SHIR HAMAALOT — pilgrim-song. The 15-psalm cluster may correspond to the 15 steps leading up to the Court of Israel in the Second Temple, at which Levites sang these psalms at Sukkot (Mishnah Middoth 2:5, Sukkah 5:4).
LORD, rescue my life from lying lips, from the deceitful tongue.
'In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me' tracks MT.
What will He give you, and what more will He add to you, you deceitful tongue?
'Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue' tracks MT. LYING-LIPS the psalmist's crisis-source.
Sharp arrows of a warrior, with burning coals of broom wood.
'What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?' tracks MT.
What misery for me, that I live as a foreigner in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
'A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!' tracks MT. ARROWS-AND-BROOM-TREE-COALS — the deceitful-tongue's deserved-punishment.
Too long my soul has lived among those who hate peace.
'Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!' tracks MT. MESHECH (north of the Caucasus) and KEDAR (Arabian desert) — far-distant lands symbolizing alienation from Zion. The pilgrim yearns-home.
I am for peace, but when I speak, they choose war.
'Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace' tracks MT.
'I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!' tracks MT. PEACE-MAKING vs. WAR-MAKING stance. Matthew 5:9 ('blessed are the peacemakers') extends.