Context No. 3629 of 4322 · Psalms

Psalms 120:1-7: in context

1In my distress, I cried to the LORD. He answered me. 2Deliver my soul, LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. 3What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue? 4Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. 5Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! 6My soul has had her dwelling too long with him who hates peace. 7I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.

This short psalm is the cry of someone worn down by living among the hostile and the deceitful. In my distress I cried to the LORD, and he answered me; deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. The psalmist is surrounded by liars and by those who love conflict.

He laments, too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. And the final line captures a painful experience many know: I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. He longs for peace, but every effort toward it is met with hostility. There is comfort here for anyone who feels surrounded by conflict and deceit and longs for a peace they cannot make alone. The psalmist's first response is to cry out to the LORD, who answers. When we are for peace but meet only hostility, we can bring our distress to God, keep on being people of peace, and trust him to answer and deliver us, even when others will not have peace.

When I long for peace but meet hostility and deceit, do I cry out to the LORD who answers, continuing to be a person of peace, and entrusting the outcome to him?

Sources

Psalm 120:1: "In my distress, I cried to the LORD. He answered me."
Psalm 120:7: "I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war."
Psalm 120:2: "Deliver my soul, LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue."