Psalm 120
Psalm 120 brings deceit and hostility before YHWH, holding answered prayer alongside the strain of living among enemies of peace.
An unnamed psalmist cries to YHWH for rescue from people whose speech is false and whose response to peace is war. The song opens with an answered prayer, then asks for deliverance and describes judgment through arrows and burning coals. Meshech and Kedar name the speaker’s alien surroundings, though the exact setting is uncertain. The closing lines leave the conflict unresolved: the psalmist has lived too long among those who hate peace.
Proverbs shares this psalm’s concern with deceitful speech and its image of sharp arrows, while Jonah shares the pattern of crying to YHWH in distress and receiving an answer. Hebrews shares its concern for peace amid relationships marked by opposition.
After reading the whole chapter
What do you notice about answered prayer standing at the beginning of a song that ends in conflict?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, have you found your words for peace met with hostility?
Write on thisQuestions people ask about Psalm 120
What does “A Song of Ascents” mean in Psalm 120?
Psalm 120 begins the collection known as the Songs of Ascents. The title suggests going up and is often understood as referring to pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem for worship. The heading itself does not explain the practice, so the collection’s precise original use remains uncertain.
What are Meshech and Kedar in Psalm 120?
Meshech was associated with peoples far north of Israel, while Kedar was associated with Arabian tribes. Their distance from each other makes a single literal residence in both places unlikely. The names may portray life among hostile outsiders. The psalm does not identify the speaker’s exact location.
What do the arrows and coals mean in Psalm 120?
Verse 3 asks what will be done to a deceitful tongue; verse 4 answers with sharp arrows and burning coals. These images portray severe punishment for deceit. The surrounding prayer points toward YHWH’s judgment, though verse 4 does not name who wields the arrows or applies the coals.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).