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Wednesday 04/23/25
Thru the Bible: Psalm Book V: Chapters 120-124
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The Songs of Ascent Pt. 1
Psalm 120
Psalm Book V
Tonight we begin with Psalm 120 which is the first of a sub-category of psalms which are referred to as songs of ascent. There are 15 of these psalms in all and as their name somewhat suggest, they appear in order.
What is a Psalm of Ascent?
Well it is a matter of mild skepticism but Jewish tradition calls these ‘Pilgrim Songs’ and while they may have been sung anytime someone of the Jewish faith were traveling up the road entering Jerusalem. However, it is more likely that these were sung on the final approach to the city of Jerusalem during the three annual Pilgrim Feasts. These include Passover, Shavuot (now known as Pentecost), and Sukkot (also known as the Feast of Tabernacles). Jerusalem being on a hill, the songs would be sung as they were ascending to the city at the end of their pilgrimage.
Additionally, some claim that Jewish priests sang these songs as they walked up the steps to the temple in Jerusalem.
Four of these songs are authored by King David (Psalms 122, 124, 131, 133). One is attributed to Solomon (Psalm 127) and the rest are anonymous. Obviously with this lineup of contributing writers, these psalms were not originally composed for the purpose of being a collection of psalms – much less a collection called Songs of Ascent. However, whenever the compositions which make up all five books of Psalms were placed in their current order, these were grouped together for use by those on annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Psalm 120:1-7,
The genre and structure of this psalm are not clear.
However, to me it seems like a recollection – a re-calling to mind times of distress in which the psalmist found himself, and during which he called upon the Lord for help.
That this cannot be a single event seems certain since both Meshech and Kedar are mentioned which are not geographically near to one another. Neither is there a recorded time in which anyone in Israel faced peoples from both areas simultaneously.
So this psalm begins with thanksgiving, with a brief and passing mention of God hearing his cry for help. Then, specifics of his cry are brought up and regard the lying lips of his enemies.
They evidently spoke words of peace to his face, when all the while war was in their hearts. They spoke bold-faced lies, with the intent to deceive or at least intimidate, while harboring plans of attack in their hearts.
The psalmist longs for peace. When he speaks he communicates his true heart. This is a common enough experience of those who are of God’s household. We are inwardly compelled to seek peace and pursue it. To speak truth and not deceive. But these values are rarely reciprocated but rather reversed.
Nothing in this psalm tells us if war was the final outcome, only that God delivered.
Interestingly, the prayer was more focused upon deliverance from encounters with those who lie and deceive than it was upon deliverance from war itself.
When the Psalmist approached his enemies he spoke words seeking peace, but inwardly he knew their hearts were bent on war.
“(1) A Song of Ascents.
In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me.
(2) Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
(3) What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue?
(4) Sharp arrows of the warrior, With coals of the broom tree!
(5) Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar! (6) My soul has dwelt too long With one who hates peace.
(7) I am for peace; But when I speak, they are for war.”
I used to be confused about this last verse by the way it was worded. I assumed it was saying that in his heart, the psalmist was for peace but when he went to speak, he found his words turned towards war. This caused me to read this psalm entirely wrong for years. I viewed this psalm as an inward struggle between wanting to have an honest heart and a deceitful mouth, but never being able to tame it. As we have recently covered in Romans 7 this is not out of the realm of possibilities for human experience in any way, but such is NOT the meaning here.
Psalm 121:1-8,
Though personal language is employed with the use of words like “MY eyes” & “MY help”, this psalm, like so many of the Songs of Ascent, is written as an encouragement to Israel.
The encouragement here is to not lose heart, even as Jesus our Lord commanded for all men. We are encouraged to remember that God, the all powerful Creator, is ever aware of His covenant people, and not only aware He actively cares for them – He cares for us!
“(1) A Song of Ascents.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help?
(2) My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
(3) He will not allow your foot to be moved; He Who keeps you will not slumber. (4) Behold, He Who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
(5) The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand.”
In this translation He is said to be the One Who keeps us, but the idea is more regarding protection. This along with the previous verse would more literally be translated,
“(4) Look! Israel’s protector does not sleep or slumber! (5) The LORD is your protector; the LORD is the shade at your right hand.” – Psalm 121:4-5
Then a reference is made to the days of God’s daily faithfulness to Israel during their wilderness wanderings. We can speculate as to why this, as well as many of the psalmists, seem to refer back to the wilderness to retrieve examples of God’s faithfulness. My personal speculation is that it serves to possibly remove any excuses the reader might have for unbelief. God’s faithful love displayed in His acts of protection and solicitous care over Israel in the wilderness was nearly always while they were unfaithful to Him in one fashion or another. This is why that generation died in the wilderness. They were stiffnecked and disobedient and slow to trust – yet God was faithful.
What does such an example evoke in the Israelite reader – or in any of us for that matter, but a defibrillation towards trust. “If God was faithful to them, would He not also be faithful to me?”
“(6) The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. (7) The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. (8) The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.”
Psalm 122:1-9,
This psalm seems to best fit the assumed purpose of these songs of ascent, in that it begins with an invitation to go to the house of the Lord – which of course is the temple in Jerusalem.
This to me stands in stark contrast to the response of God’s people today, unless they are attending a church which is very social and which puts on a well polished and time sensitive performance every Sunday.
Now I’ve been in churches where there was an active movement of God going on for weeks and you could not keep the people away.
This is a blessing beyond words and while we would love to see it as the norm, there really is nothing in scripture which would indicate that a heightened experience of God’s presence was the norm in the early church. There are a few examples, the most notable of which is when everyone in the house was filled with the Spirit and the foundation shook. The result was the believers went out into the city and spoke the word with boldness. This is set forth as a unique experience and no doubt one of many, but no indication is given that such was the norm. In fact, much of the contents of the letters of Paul would have been necessary if this had been the norm.
Furthermore, it could hardly be recalled as a “heightened” experience if it WERE the norm.
Nevertheless, times like that are powerful, igniting and stirring. The modern church, including our own, are in desperate and honest need of times like these!
“(1) A Song of Ascents. Of David.
I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
(2) Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! (3) Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, (4) Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the LORD. (5) For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.”
Now I want you to consider that this was under the old covenant. They had no productions, they had no gifts of the Spirit, they had no air conditioned foyers with coffee and videos of upcoming events to keep the crowd interested. They had a courtyard filled with people which no doubt smelled of defecating livestock. A line of people leading up to an altar. The sound of slaughtering animals, the smell of warm blood and meat being consumed on the altar. A temple in the distance with a large bronze laver in front and the tents of the Levites running along the periphery of the temple sides and behind it.
This was the scene.
Additionally, and I will admit this is the only place I am aware of it being mentioned in all of scripture, but this passage has the elders of Israel within the courtyard as well and they are there for judgment because the wording is “THERE they sit”.
Now as a matter of practicality this makes sense. Jesus in His teaching often called the Beatitudes, He addresses anger and offenses between fellow Isaelites. He sets the scene for this in the temple courtyard. He tells the one bringing a gift to the altar who remembers his brother has an offense against him to go make it right first. Then He mentions the elders and judgments.
Let’s read it…
Matthew 5:21-26,“(21) You have heard that it was said to an older generation,
‘Do not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’
(22) But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says ‘Fool’ will be sent to fiery hell.
(23) So then, if you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, (24) leave your gift there in front of the altar.
First go and be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your gift.
(25) Reach agreement quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison.
(26) I tell you the truth, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!”
While these two passages in Psalm 122 and Matthew 5 cannot by themselves establish a new understanding of the courtyard where sacrifices are brought and where judges are at the ready to set issues before sacrifice is made, it at least seems to suggest such may have happened, at least upon occasion.
All that being said… There were times in Israel’s past when as a nation they were in love with God and they would be singing, praising and even dancing in celebration in the courtyard where sacrifice was made.
All of this just set me to wondering if this scene was all the modern church had to look forward to, what kind of response would it evoke from those who attended? What response would it evoke from me?
Now the reader is encouraged to go beyond themselves and their personal experience and pray for the nation.
“(6) Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you. (7) Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.”
(8) For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say,
“Peace be within you.” (9) Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.”
Psalm 123:1-4,
This is a psalm of hopeful expectation. The composer begins with a personal declaration which was also meant to include all Israelites. It is a declaration of looking up in anticipation to God.
He follows this by offering two examples where the word “up” is not used but is implied. These examples are of the lesser looking UP to the greater. He then brings it back around to finish his thought, that it is for mercy that we look to the Lord.
“(1) A Song of Ascents.
Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You Who dwell in the heavens.”
“(2) Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us.”
Now the psalmist offers up a prayer as an example –
“(3) Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. (4) Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.”
Though this could no doubt fit in any number of time periods of Israel’s history, being as it is in the 5th book, it is likely that this was composed during the Babylonian exile.
Psalm 124:1-8,
Here is another proof text that these psalms appear to have been written for Israel to make their own, in that David is encouraging them to repeat his words after him. This is of course to encourage them to channel their thinking along a positive line. To not deny adversity, but at the same time not to forget the faithful interventions of the Lord their God.
“(1) A Song of Ascents. Of David.
“If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say—
(2) “If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side, When men rose up against us, (3) Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; (4)
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul; (5) Then the swollen waters Would have gone over our soul.”
While during the writing of this Psalm, David no doubt had particular instances in mind, the overall idea was timeless and could fit any future situation. As such David seems confident that in most cases God will not turn His people over to their enemies and even if He does, it will not be forever. He will again visit His people with mercy and deliverance.
“(6) Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
(7) Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
(8) Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.”
This passage, like the one we read earlier encourages hope in prayer which is to say, they should pray believing! I mentioned this earlier while also mentioning that such was a command we received from Jesus Himself.
In fact, in closing let’s read that passage which is found in Luke 18:1-8…
“(1) Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, (2) saying:
“There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
(3) Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying,
‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’
(4) And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself,
‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, (5) yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
(6) Then the Lord said,
“Hear what the unjust judge said. (7) And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” – Luke 18:1-8
So the truth Jesus was conveying in this teaching was that it is appropriate for men to always pray to God and NEVER lose heart in the praying. Faith, which is to say relational trust, is the real point and goal.
The entire fall of man was predicated upon the seed of distrust germinating in the hearts of Eve and then Adam. So is it any wonder that trust, springing up from a relationship with Him, is the one thing God seems to be unwilling to do without? It is set forth in scripture as one of the primary things which pleases God in His relations with man – is when we trust in His good heart towards us!
Blessings!
Tri
