Psalms

Psalms 120: God hears amid deceit and hostility

Begin in prayer

Before the first Song of Ascents brings lying words before God, let us consider the speech we have heard and the words we have spoken. Ask the Lord to lead us to Jesus and teach us to seek peace in truth.

These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,

Zechariah 8:16

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word, and help us to see Christ. Show us that the Lord hears His distressed servant and judges deceit while His servant seeks peace. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

The first Song of Ascents begins with a remembered cry in distress and the Lord's answer. The singer now asks deliverance from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. A question challenges the false tongue about what it will receive, and the answer names sharp arrows and burning coals. The singer laments dwelling in Meshech and among Kedar's tents, far from the peace he seeks. He has lived too long with someone who hates peace, and when he speaks for peace the others are for war.

As you read Psalms 120, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD hears His distressed servant and judges deceit while His servant longs for peace.

The singer remembers a cry God heard while he brings continuing hostility before Him. His present plea names deceitful speech as a danger from which he needs deliverance. Lies can bring real harm, so the question addressed to the tongue asks what judgment will answer it. Sharp arrows and juniper coals give that answer the force of piercing and burning punishment. Meshech and Kedar name the alienation he feels among people whose settled desire opposes peace. Long dwelling among people who hate peace has made the pressure wearying and persistent. His own commitment to peace does not settle the conflict, because even his speech meets a desire for war. The song closes with that unresolved trouble before the Lord who has already heard his cry.

How does Psalm 120 show us that the LORD hears His distressed servant and judges deceit while His servant longs for peace?

God hears His distressed servant and receives his plea for rescue from lies.

The opening remembers a cry the Lord answered. That heard prayer gives the singer reason to ask deliverance from deceitful speech. He brings the danger to the God who hears him.

God's judgment gives deceitful speech a serious answer.

The question turns upon the deceitful tongue and asks what it will receive. Arrows and juniper coals picture judgment that pierces and burns. The liar's words stand before a reckoning that cannot be dismissed as harmless speech.

God's servant can seek peace while living through continuing hostility.

Meshech and Kedar's tents give words to the singer's painful distance from peace. His dwelling among those who hate it has lasted too long. He speaks for peace, yet the song ends with others still seeking war.

Memorise

In my distress, I cried to Yahweh. He answered me.

Psalm 120:1

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what false or hostile words do I need to confess to the Lord Jesus?

The singer cries, “Deliver my soul, Yahweh, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” He longs for peace while others seek war. The song leaves that hostility before the God who hears and judges.

Our own lies and love of conflict also leave us guilty before Him. First Peter 2 verse 23 tells how Jesus entrusted Himself to the righteous Judge when He suffered. He suffered condemnation in His people's place and died to reconcile them to the righteous God, whose judgment their own sins deserved. He rose from the dead. His complete sacrifice has paid their whole debt and secured the forgiveness no truthful reputation could earn.

Turn from deceit and trust Jesus for mercy. All who seek pardon through Him are forgiven. Confess the words that have fed conflict, and ask Him to make your speech truthful and peace seeking. The righteous Lord hears His believing people's pleas through prolonged hostility and receives their cause even while the conflict remains.

Parent's note

Tell your children that verses 3 and 4 answer deceit with judgment pictured as sharp arrows and juniper coals. Explain God's just answer to harmful lies while keeping the singer's desire for peace before them. Call each child to repent and trust Jesus, and pray for a new heart. Being raised in a Christian home cannot save a child.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Ask God to deliver His people from deceit, judge false words and teach us truthful speech that seeks peace. Bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

John 15:18

Righteous Lord, please forgive our lies and the hostile words we have excused. Bring us to Jesus for the pardon His finished sacrifice secures. Defend those harmed by deceit and judge the falsehood that threatens them. Give our children truthful hearts, teach Your church to seek peace and sustain those whose faithful words still meet hostility. Amen.