Christianity

Psalms 120The First Song of Ascents

Summary

Psalm 120 is the first of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120 to 134), traditionally linked with pilgrims going up to Jerusalem. In distress the speaker cries to the LORD to deliver him from lying lips and a deceitful tongue, which he says will meet sharp arrows and coals of juniper. He laments dwelling in Mesech and the tents of Kedar, far-off peoples, among those who hate peace: he is for peace, but when he speaks, they are for war.

Key verse

“In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.”

Psalms 120:1

Themes

Distress and Prayer
Lying Tongues
Living Among the Hostile
Longing for Peace

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.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
James 3: Taming the Tongue
James 3:5 to 8 describes the tongue as a small fire and an unruly evil full of deadly poison, sharing Psalm 120's sense of the harm deceitful speech can do.
Buddhism
Dhammapada 129 to 145: Violence
The Dhammapada's chapter on violence warns against harsh speech, which invites retort and brings pain. It shares Psalm 120's concern with hostile words, though it counsels restraint of one's own speech rather than appeal to God against others.
Judaism
Psalm 120 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
In the Hebrew text each of Psalms 120 to 134 is headed Shir Hamaalot, a Song of Ascents. Rabbinic tradition linked the fifteen songs with fifteen steps in the temple on which the Levites sang.

Questions about Psalms 120

What are the Songs of Ascents?

Psalms 120 to 134 each carry the heading A Song of degrees in the KJV, more often translated a Song of Ascents. Many scholars think pilgrims sang them going up to Jerusalem for the festivals, while rabbinic tradition linked them with fifteen temple steps.

Where are Mesech and Kedar?

Mesech (Meshech) was a people of Asia Minor, and Kedar an Arabian tribe that Genesis 25:13 traces to Ishmael. Since they lie far apart, the psalm likely uses them as symbols of living among hostile strangers rather than as literal addresses.