Just Passing Through.

JUST PASSING THROUGH.

Psalm 120:1-7.

The Psalmist’s testimony is, “In my distress, I cried unto the LORD" (PSALM 120:1a). Prayer is our only recourse in time of trouble (cf. John 16:23-24). It is sure to gain a response from the LORD: “and He heard me” (PSALM 120:1b; cf. Psalm 18:6; Psalm 50:15).

The nature of that distress, and that prayer, is spelled out: “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” (PSALM 120:2; cf. Psalm 52:4). The tongue can be, and often is ‘an unruly evil’ (cf. James 3:8). Lies told against the Lord’s people are often believed in a godless world.

Addressing “thou false tongue,” the Psalmist asks (in effect), “What shall (the LORD) give to thee? or” (literally) “what shall He add to thee?” (PSALM 120:3). What punishment awaits those who ‘make lies their refuge’ and ‘hide themselves’ under falsehood (cf. Isaiah 28:15; Job 27:8; Matthew 16:26; Romans 6:21)?

In Jeremiah 9:8, a deceitful lying tongue is compared to ‘an arrow shot out.’ In James 3:6, an unruly tongue is compared to ‘a fire, a world of iniquity.’ So, the punishment is seen to fit the crime: “Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper” PSALM 120:4; cf. Deuteronomy 32:23).

Speaking on behalf of the whole community, the Palmist’s complaint is that even he/they must ever dwell in the midst of enemies. “Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech” (PSALM 120:5a). Meshech was one of the sons of Japheth, son of Noah (cf. Genesis 10:2), often mentioned alongside his brother Tubal, and Gog and Magog (cf. Ezekiel 38:2).

Woe is me that “I dwell in the tents of Kedar” (PSALM 120:5b). Kedar was a son of Ishmael, the son of Abraham (cf. Genesis 25:13). Like Abraham before them, even when they dwell in the promised land, Israel finds themselves, as it were, but ‘strangers and sojourners’ (cf. Genesis 23:4).

The complaint of the Psalmist and the complaint of Israel; the complaint of Jesus and the complaint of His Church; the complaint of the believer is, “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace” (PSALM 120:6).

“I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war” (PSALM 120:7; cf. Psalm 57:4).

For the Christian, this Psalm addresses the perplexities of being (as the saying goes) ‘in the world but not of the world’ (cf. John 17:16; Hebrews 13:14); of maintaining our unique identity in the midst of a world that does not recognise the LORD.

We are like sheep in the midst of wolves (cf. Matthew 10:16); like righteous Lot at the gate of Sodom (cf. 2 Peter 2:7-8).

We are aliens, strangers and pilgrims in a foreign land (cf. Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11).

We are just passing through.