Psalms
Psalm 120
KJV
In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me.
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
Overview
Psalm 120 opens the Songs of Ascents with a cry from distress. The speaker asks God for rescue from lying and deceptive speech, reflects on the serious consequences of falsehood, laments life among hostile people, and ends by identifying with peace.
Setting and context
Meshech and Kedar are ancient geographical and ethnic names used poetically to express distance and alienation. The psalm should not be mapped onto modern peoples as a basis for ethnic or religious hostility. Its judgment imagery leaves vengeance with God while the final verse distinguishes the speaker’s pursuit of peace from the surrounding appetite for conflict.
Themes
Prayer in distress · Truth and destructive speech · Divine judgment rather than private revenge · Alienation among hostility · Commitment to peace
Key passages
undefined: undefined undefined: undefined undefined: undefined
Questions readers ask
What are Meshech and Kedar in Psalm 120? They are ancient names used in the poem to portray the speaker’s sense of living far from peace; they should not be projected onto modern peoples as moral labels. Does Psalm 120 tell believers never to confront conflict? No. The closing commitment to peace can coexist with truthful confrontation, boundaries, and lawful protection.