Deeper Commentary
Psa 120:1
A Song of Ascents-
Or 'degrees'.
Hezekiah’s response to being granted another 15 years of life was to edit
and produce the Songs of Degrees, so named after the degrees of the sundial.
Four of the 15 Psalms were by David, one by Solomon; and the other 10 it
seems Hezekiah wrote himself but left anonymous. These ten Psalms would
reflect the ten degrees by which the sun-dial went backwards. The point to
note is that Hezekiah taught others in an anonymous way in response to the
grace he had received. True preaching reflects a certain artless
selflessness. These songs of ascents were presumably also intended to be
sung by the exiles as they returned to Zion, and then every time they went
up to Jerusalem to keep a feast. But there is no evidence this happened.
For they didn't return in the kind of faith implied in these Psalms. The
plural "ascents" would then be an intensive plural referring to the one
great ascent, to Zion. Much of the language of these Psalms is typical of
David's language when under persecution by Saul. But the Psalm was
reapplied to Hezekiah, and then to the exiles on their return from
Babylon, and then by extension to all God's people on their journey
zionwards.
In my distress, I cried to Yahweh. He answered me-
This is typical of David's language when under persecution by Saul.
But the Psalm was reapplied to Hezekiah's cry for healing, and then to the exiles on their
return from Babylon, and then by extension to all God's people on their
journey zionwards. This is why some of the verses "fit"
some of these contexts but other verses don't.
The "distress" of :1 would refer to Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:3; Is. 37:3). The crying out to Yahweh would then be the prayers of Isaiah and Hezekiah at this time (2 Kings 19:3,4,14-19; Is. 37:15-20; 38:23). The request "Deliver me" (:2) would refer to the request to Yahweh to deliver Jerusalem from the siege (2 Kings 18:30,32). The abusive "lips" (:2), the one great lip, would refer to Rabshakeh’s abuse outside the walls of Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:19-35; 19:8-13). "They are for war" (:7) would refer to the Assyrian war against Judah (2 Kings 18:19; 2 Chron. 32:2; Is. 36:5). The other verses of the psalm don't "fit" so well because the psalm originated in a situation with David, and was repurposed for usage by the exiles.
The psalm however concludes with a lament,
indeed it is a lament, that the psalmist is still in exile in Meshech, and
cannot see the peace [of Jerusalem] he longs for. I suggest therefore that
the idea is that he begins his lament by accepting that in other areas,
God has indeed answered him in his prayer life. And this is important to
remember; for we can become fixated upon one request that goes unanswered,
and forget all the other prayers that were. Most psalms begin with a
lament and end with praise. A very few are the other way around- beginning
with praise and ending with lament. Psalm 120 is one of them. They are
examples of how life doesn't always work out but we never lose faith in
God, and are ever aware of His past mercies. Humans have a tendency to
forget past mercies and get cranky if their current request isn't heard.
We see it in children. Jeremiah sets the example, of beginning his
struggles with God with a rcognition right at the start that God has to be
right: "Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would
plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" (Jer.
12:1). However, the Songs of Ascents have some progression within them.
This opening song pictures a Jew feeling under persecution in exile, in
Meshech and Kedar, longing for the peace of Jerusalem. In Ps. 121 the
pilgrim begins to move towards Jerusalem, comforted by God's presence, and
then in Ps. 122 arrives at the gates of Jerusalem.
Psa 120:2
Deliver my soul, Yahweh, from lying lips, from
a deceitful tongue-
David would have been referring to Saul and later to Doeg and
Ahithophel (the same words are used about the deceitful tongue of Doeg in
Ps. 52:2); Hezekiah would have had in mind the lies pouring from the lips
of Rabshakeh outside the walls of Jerusalem. The returning
exiles singing this may have had in view the false accusations of Haman.
David's intolerance of "deceitful" persons (Ps. 52:2; 101:7; 120:3) must
be compared with the fact that he himself was only counted as not
deceitful by grace; for he was very deceitful regarding Uriah.
Psa 120:3
What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you,
you deceitful tongue?-
David was to later plot the destruction of Uriah by
his words; and when he repented of this in Ps. 32:2, he says that lack of
deceit / guile (s.w.) is only possible through imputed righteousness.
David's intolerance of "deceitful" persons (Ps. 52:2; 101:7; 120:3) must be
compared with the fact that he himself was only counted as not deceitful
by grace; for he was very deceitful regarding Uriah. But the Psalm has
application to Hezekiah's desire for the tongue of Rabshakeh to be
destroyed, and the exiles likewise had a whole array of possible people to
sing this about, the likes of Sanballat and Haman. We note that the tongue
is personified as a person; for we are our words, and by them we reflect
who we really are and shall therefore be judged by them, as the Lord Jesus
taught.
Psa 120:4
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper- This is God's response to the description of the lying tongue of :3. Their slanderius words were like arrows, and God responds with arrows. Arrows kill from a distance, and so does gossip and slander. The connection betweeen arrows and words is clear so often: Jer. 9:3; Prov. 26:18; Jer. 9:8, “Their tongue is a murderous arrow”; the wicked "shoot their arrows, even bitter words" (Ps. 64:3). And in response God shoots arrows of judgment in response to those words (Dt. 32:23,42). By words will men be justified or condemned. How we speak is that important. Likewise the tongue is a fire (Prov. 16:27; James 3:5), and God's judgment is as coals of fire too. Glowing coals speak of God's judgment in Ps. 140:1. In the Hezekiah context, this was fulfilled by the destruction of the Assyrians outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was done by a single Angel, perhaps "the mighty [one]" in view. "Coals of juniper" were used to make charcoal; the idea is 'the hottest fire'. However the grammar and flow of the argument may mean that this verse describes the "deceitful tongue" of :3; and indeed James says that the tongue is as a fire (James 3:6). It was God's tongue which was as a devouring fire upon the Assyrians of Hezekiah's time (Is. 30:27); so we have the picture of the fiery tongue being its own condemnation, in fire from Yahweh. In the context of David, he had lamented that the outlaws with whom he lived and the house of Saul had tongues as sharp arrows (Ps. 57:4; 64:3).
Psa 120:5
Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents
of Kedar-
Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13), one of the wild
roaming tribes whose hand was against every man (Gen. 16:13). Perhaps
there was a time when fleeing from Saul when David had to live amongst
them, and he longs to be back in Zion. Or perhaps he simply means that he
has to live among hostile and barbarous people, who are characterized as
the wild Kedar and Meshech. The tribe of Meshech was known to David, as a
neighbouring people who hated peace (:6). It can therefore scarcely refer
to Moscow, as some insist.
Meshech and Kedar clearly refer to a place of exile, where the psalmist would rather not be. They are far from each other, so the psalmist wasn't living in both at the same time; they are figures for Gentile areas far from Israel. Meshech refers to remote mountain dwellers in what is now Armenia. The psalmist feels he lives amongst barbarians and wild people- although he lived in Babylon. But the majority of the exiled Jews did well for themselves in their distant exile. He was one of the few who hated it, who saw Babylon as the prophets did- a place of darkness, a prison house, a land of slavery.
Psa 120:6
My soul has had her dwelling too long with him
who hates peace-
The individual who hated peace was likened to the war like (:7) and
aggressive wild tribes of Kedar and Meshech. The "him" becomes "they" in
:7, so perhaps the peace hater is a personification of the various groups
opposed to those using the Psalm in whatever context.
Psa 120:7
I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war-
This could apply to how Hezekiah sought to make peace with the Assyrians.
But he gave them the gold of the temple for that peace treaty which they
broke; but here he appears to whitewash that lack of faith as his love for
peace. We can understand the initial reference to David, who truly sought
to live at peace with Saul. And perhaps it has application to the returned
exiles and their conflicts with the local Samaritans.
The words "peace" and 'to speak' or "say"
recur in Ps. 122:8: "
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