Learn Psalms 120: What It Means and Why It Matters

Chapter Summary: The Point

The worshiper begins in distress and testifies that God answered his cry. Psalms 120 opens the Songs of Ascents with a prayer for deliverance from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. The psalmist then announces fitting judgment against the deceitful tongue through the images of sharp arrows and burning coals. Meshech and Kedar are named as distant or hostile places that represent life among people opposed to peace. The worshiper has lived too long among those who hate peace, and his own desire for peace is met with readiness for war. God is the only named deliverer in the chapter, and the afflicted speaker depends on him for rescue. The chapter teaches that pilgrimage toward worship often begins with distress, truth, prayer, and separation from the ways of deceit.

Outline: The Structure of Psalms 120

• Verses 1-2: The distressed worshiper cries to God for deliverance from deceit
• Verses 3-4: The deceitful tongue is warned of severe judgment
• Verses 5-6: The worshiper laments life among hostile peoples
• Verse 7: The worshiper seeks peace while others are ready for war

Context: The Setting

Literary Flow and Genre: Psalm 120 belongs to Book Five of the Psalms and begins The Songs of Ascents in Psalms 120–134. The heading calls it “A Song of Ascents,” linking it to a collection associated with going up, likely toward Jerusalem and worship. The original worshiping audience received it as a short lament and pilgrimage prayer, giving words to believers who live among deceitful and hostile people. As poetry, it should be read by tracing the movement from answered prayer to renewed petition, then from deceitful speech to alien dwelling and peace rejected.

History and Culture: Meshech and Kedar were known as distant peoples, and the psalm uses them to express alienation from the worshiper’s true home among God’s people. Meshech is associated with the far north, while Kedar is linked with desert peoples descended from Ishmael. Therefore, the two names likely function together as a poetic way to say, “I live among people far from covenant peace.” Psalm 119 ends with a servant seeking God’s commandments and asking to be found, and Psalm 120 begins the ascent journey from distress among the deceitful. Then Psalm 121 answers with confidence that help comes from God, who keeps his people. Within Pilgrimage, Worship, and Covenant Hope in Psalms 120–134, this first ascent psalm teaches that the road to worship begins by crying to God from a place of falsehood and conflict.

Psalms 120 Commentary: The Walkthrough

Verse 1: The Cry Answered

The psalm begins, “In my distress, I cried to the LORD. He answered me.” The worshiper starts with testimony before he gives the present request. God has already answered, and that past mercy gives shape to the next prayer.

Distress is the setting of the whole psalm. The trouble is not described first as sickness, poverty, or military defeat. Instead, the following verse names deceitful speech as the burden. Therefore, Psalm 120 treats false words as real affliction.

The phrase “I cried” is direct prayer language. The worshiper does not answer deceit with deceit. He brings distress to God. The first step of ascent is prayer from trouble.

This matters for the Songs of Ascents. The journey begins away from falsehood and toward the God who hears. Pilgrimage is not sentimental. It starts with rescue.

Verse 2: Deliverance from Lying Lips

Verse 2 gives the request: “Deliver my soul, LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” The word “soul” means the worshiper’s life and whole self. Lies threaten the person, not merely the reputation.

The parallel phrases “lying lips” and “deceitful tongue” focus the danger on speech. In Scripture, words can bless, confess truth, pray, and teach. Yet words can also destroy through slander, manipulation, false witness, and treachery.

The worshiper asks God for deliverance because deceit is hard to defeat by human strength. Lies spread, distort, and trap. So the faithful response begins with appeal to God’s justice and protection.

This prayer also prepares the pilgrim for worship. Truth is necessary for ascent. A person cannot love God’s house while making peace with lying speech.

Verses 3–4: The Judgment of the Tongue

Verse 3 turns toward the deceitful tongue with a question: “What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue?” The question expects judgment. Deceit will receive an answer from God.

Verse 4 gives the answer through two images: sharp arrows of the mighty and coals of juniper. Arrows suggest precise and forceful judgment. Coals of juniper suggest intense and lasting heat, since juniper or broom wood was valued for burning strongly.

The punishment fits the sin. A tongue that wounds others will face a sharper weapon. Speech that burns communities will meet burning coals. Therefore, the psalm does not treat deceit as small or harmless.

The worshiper does not take private revenge here. Instead, he names the seriousness of deceit before God. Judgment belongs to the Lord who defends truth.

Verses 5–6: Living Among the Hostile

Verse 5 laments, “Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” Meshech and Kedar are geographically far apart, so the psalm is likely using them poetically rather than placing the worshiper in two literal locations at once. The point is alien dwelling among hostile people.

The line expresses life away from the peace of Zion. The first Song of Ascents begins far from the destination of worship. As a result, the worshiper’s longing grows from conflict and displacement.

Verse 6 says, “My soul has had her dwelling too long with him who hates peace.” The problem has lasted. This is not a passing inconvenience. The worshiper has endured a settled environment where peace is despised.

The phrase “hates peace” gives moral clarity. Some people resist reconciliation, truth, and covenant wholeness. Peace is loved by the worshiper and hated by his neighbors.

Verse 7: Peace Met by War

Verse 7 gives the final contrast from the worshiper’s own life: “I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.” Here the text itself creates the contrast. The worshiper seeks peace, while his neighbors answer peaceable speech with hostility.

Peace in the Old Testament means more than quiet conditions. It includes wholeness, truthful relationship, covenant well-being, and ordered life before God. Therefore, the psalmist is not merely conflict-avoidant. He stands for the kind of peace God approves.

The phrase “when I speak” matters. Even his words of peace are met with warlike response. The conflict is therefore tied again to speech. The chapter begins with lying lips and ends with rejected peace speech.

Psalm 120 closes without a visible resolution. Yet the opening testimony remains: God answered him. So the pilgrim begins the ascent with a known truth. God hears the distressed person who seeks peace among people who prefer war.

Application: The Practice

Personal Faith and Discipleship

1. Cry to God | The worshiper begins in distress and testifies that God answered. Discipleship grows when trouble is carried first into prayer rather than into retaliation or despair. References: Psalms 120:1.
2. Reject deceit | The psalm asks for deliverance from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. The chapter exposes the temptation to survive hostile settings by using the same false speech and commends truthful dependence on God. References: Psalms 120:2.
3. Seek peace | The worshiper says he is for peace even when others are for war. Faithfulness means pursuing truthful peace while refusing to imitate the hostility around you. References: Psalms 120:7.
4. Endure alienation | Meshech and Kedar express life among people far from covenant peace. Christian hope remembers that believers may feel displaced now, yet they journey toward God’s presence in Christ. References: Psalms 120:5-6.

Church and Community

1. Guard truthful speech | Psalm 120 treats lying lips and a deceitful tongue as serious affliction. Churches should resist slander, manipulation, gossip, and false witness because speech can deeply harm God’s people. References: Psalms 120:2-4.
2. Pray for the distressed | The first ascent psalm begins with a person crying from trouble. Congregations should give troubled believers words for prayer rather than requiring them to hide grief. References: Psalms 120:1-2.
3. Practice peace honestly | The worshiper seeks peace among people who hate it. In that setting, faithfulness meant refusing warlike speech; now Christian community pursues peace through truth, repentance, patience, and forgiveness in Christ. References: Psalms 120:6-7.

Leadership and Teaching

1. Start pilgrimage realistically | The Songs of Ascents begin with distress, deceit, hostile dwelling, and rejected peace. Leaders should teach that worshiping journeys often begin in hard places where prayer is necessary. References: Psalms 120:1-7.
2. Name destructive speech | The psalm gives clear moral weight to lying lips and the deceitful tongue. Teachers should help people see speech as discipleship, not as a secondary issue. References: Psalms 120:2-4.
3. Explain holy judgment | The arrows and coals show that God takes deceit seriously. Leaders should teach judgment without vindictiveness, emphasizing God’s defense of truth and his call to repentance. References: Psalms 120:3-4.
4. Form peacemakers | The worshiper is for peace when others are for war. Christian leadership should train people to speak peace truthfully, without cowardice, flattery, or compromise with falsehood. References: Psalms 120:7.

Interpretive Options: The Differences

How should “A Song of Ascents” be understood?

• Broad Christian consensus: The title connects Psalm 120 to the collection in Psalms 120–134, which is associated with going up toward worship. Many Christians understand these psalms as pilgrimage songs for those traveling to Jerusalem. Psalm 120 fittingly begins the journey in distress and alienation.

• Worship-focused Christian reading: Some Christian interpreters emphasize ascent as a spiritual movement toward God in worship. This reading works well as application when the historical setting of pilgrimage remains clear. The psalm begins with a cry from trouble and moves toward the worship-centered hope of the collection.

Are Meshech and Kedar literal locations or poetic symbols?

• Broad consensus: Meshech and Kedar are real peoples or regions, but the psalm likely uses them poetically to describe alienation among hostile people. They are far apart geographically, which supports a symbolic use in the poem. The worshiper is saying that he lives among people far from peace.

• Additional Christian reading: Some interpreters allow for a more concrete setting of exile, travel, or displacement. That reading can fit the language of dwelling among foreign peoples. Even so, the main force remains the same: the worshiper feels away from the people and peace of God.

What judgment is pictured by arrows and coals?

• Broad Christian consensus: The arrows and coals picture fitting judgment against deceitful speech. A tongue that wounds and burns will face God’s severe answer. The images stress moral seriousness rather than private revenge.

• Pastoral Christian emphasis: Many teachers apply the images as a warning to repent of destructive speech. God’s judgment should make believers careful with words and quick to confess lying, slander, and manipulation. The psalm directs the wounded person to God rather than retaliation.

What kind of peace does verse 7 describe?

• Broad consensus: The peace in verse 7 is truthful covenant peace, not mere avoidance of conflict. The worshiper seeks wholeness and right relationship, while others choose warlike response. The verse honors peace without excusing falsehood.

• Christ-centered Christian reading: Christian interpreters connect this peacemaking impulse to Christ, who blesses peacemakers and reconciles sinners to God. The psalm’s peace remains grounded in truth. Therefore, Christian peace includes confession, justice, forgiveness, and faithfulness under Christ.

Common Misreadings: The Mistakes

“Psalm 120 treats lying as a minor personal annoyance.” The psalm calls lying lips and a deceitful tongue a distress from which the soul needs deliverance. It also pictures severe judgment through arrows and coals. Deceit is spiritually and communally destructive.

“Being for peace means avoiding all hard speech.” The worshiper speaks, and his speech is connected with peace. The chapter also names deceit clearly and warns of judgment. Biblical peace requires truth, not silence in the face of falsehood.

“Meshech and Kedar prove the psalm is only about one ancient location.” The two names are far apart and work together to express alienation among hostile people. The psalm’s point is life among those who hate peace. That burden can be prayed by God’s people in many settings.

Leading: The Teaching Guide

The Aim: Psalms 120 teaches that God hears the distressed worshiper who seeks deliverance from deceit and remains for peace among hostile people, especially in vv. 1-2 and v. 7. The main teaching aim is to help people begin the journey toward worship by praying truthfully from places of falsehood and conflict.

A Teaching Flow:

1. Begin with the answered cry in v. 1.
2. Explain the request for deliverance from lying lips and a deceitful tongue in v. 2.
3. Show the seriousness of deceit through the arrows and coals in vv. 3-4.
4. Describe the alienation represented by Meshech and Kedar in vv. 5-6.
5. End with the worshiper’s commitment to peace in v. 7.

The Approach: Teach Psalm 120 as the first step in the Songs of Ascents. Keep the pilgrim setting clear, then show why the journey begins with distress over deceit and hostility. Frame the chapter in the wider storyline of Scripture by pointing to Christ, who speaks truth, bears hostility, makes peace through his blood, and leads his people toward the presence of God.

Cross-References: The Connections

Exodus 20:16 – Commands God’s people not to bear false witness, clarifying the moral seriousness of lying lips.

Proverbs 6:16-19 – Names a lying tongue and a false witness among things God hates.

Isaiah 2:2-4 – Presents the nations coming to the mountain of God and learning peace instead of war.

Jeremiah 9:3-8 – Describes deceitful tongues and social corruption, matching Psalm 120’s burden over false speech.

Matthew 5:9 – Blesses peacemakers, giving New Testament shape to the psalmist’s commitment to peace.

Ephesians 4:25-32 – Calls believers to put away falsehood and speak truth while pursuing gracious community.

James 3:5-10 – Warns about the destructive power of the tongue and the need for disciplined speech.

1 Peter 3:10-12 – Connects love of life with guarding the tongue from evil and seeking peace.

Further Study: The Articles

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