Message Notes

SSS 4 5 July 2026
Text: Psalm 120

INTRODUCTION

1. The Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-134)

2. This is a collection of Pilgrim songs

3. They were used by those who make pilgrimage to Jerusalem for special Feasts

4. Three sets of authors

a) David (Pss. 122, 124, 131, 133)

b) Solomon (Ps. 127)

c) Anonymous authors

5. Themes in the Songs of Ascents

a) Presence of God

b) Praise to God

c) Prayers to God especially for Jerusalem

d) Patience and Perseverance amidst trial and tribulation

e) Protection from God

6. Application

a) Development of Community

b) Praising and Praying people

c) Strong focus on Worship as a community of God

A Song of Ascents.

1In my distress I cried to the LORD,
And He heard me.

2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.

3 What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?

4 Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!

5 Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

6 My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.

7 I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 120

1. The Context of Distress

a) Oppression experienced

b) Enemies described

i) Lying lips

ii) Deceitful tongue

iii) False tongue

c) The Psalmist had experienced this personally

d) He is still determined to make his pilgrimage to Jerusalem

2. Meshech and Kedar

a) Meshech

i) A barbarous group of nomadic people

ii) Infamous as marauders

iii) They lived far away from Israel

b) Kedar

i) Bedouin tribes

ii) Similar infamy for attacking travellers

iii) They were outside the land of Israel

c) They came to represent

i) The ungodly

ii) The wicked

iii) The enemies of righteousness

3. A Prayer for Deliverance

1In my distress I cried to the LORD,
And He heard me.

2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.

Psalm 120:1-2

a) A lament prayer of distress

b) Crying out to God for help

c) It is a prayer for deliverance

i) From lying lips

ii) From a deceitful tongue

d) God will hear and answer such prayers

4. Contemplation concerning the fate of the wicked

3 What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?

4 Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!

Psalm 120:3-4

a) What would be the fate of the wicked who speak falsely?

b) He will face opposition from his enemies

c) He will have to battle for his life

d) One reaps what one sows

5. A symbolic reference

5 Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

6 My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.

7 I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 120:5-7

a) It is physically impossible to live in both Meshech and Kedar

b) They are thousands of miles apart from each other

c) This is reference to the wicked world we live in

i) So much wickedness

ii) Lies

iii) Violence

6. Humble confession of how the Psalmist had been affected

a) His heart is for peace

b) But his words are warlike

c) He is inconsistent with himself

d) He contradicts himself (word and action)