Psalms of Ascent – Psalm 120
Psalm 120
A Song of Ascents.
1 In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you,
and what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior's sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!
NOTE: I’m looking forward to getting back to writing for you soon! This is the last week of commentary by Dr. Kevin Watson, who has moved to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence. I wrote a post announcing and explaining this move. I’m going to resume writing commentary starting with Psalm 125, this coming Saturday!
—Andrew
Psalms 120 – 134 are a group of Psalms known as the psalms of ascent, in part because each of them contains the introduction “A song of ascents.”
We are not exactly sure what this phrase means. There are several possibilities that lead many scholars to an educated guess:
Tremper Longman III offers a helpful summary:
The history of interpretation has produced quite a variety of explanations. Some have taken it to mean a spiritual ascent (Augustine), while others believe it refers to a rising musical pitch (Calvin), and still others suggest that the ascent is a physical one that involves some kind of upward movement….
In our opinion, the most persuasive view is that the songs were sung while pilgrims made the journey to Jerusalem from outlying areas in order to worship at the temple there, particularly during one of the great annual festivals. Of course, the trip to the temple on Zion in Jerusalem, would involve not only a physical journey, but also a spiritual one, since Jerusalem was the place where heaven met earth.
Why do you think Psalm 120 would have been the first of the “songs of ascent”?