(A Song of degrees.) In my trouble I called unto Jehovah, and he answered me.
Psalm 120 opens a set of fifteen short psalms. They carry the singer from trouble at the bottom to blessing at the top, and he starts by calling out to God. Notice the order. We hear the answer first, and only then the problem — so why does a psalm that opens with answered prayer go on to describe a man still surrounded by liars?
These fifteen psalms form one movement, and the words of verse 1 are the doorway into it. One writer traces the whole arc from the opening cry to the closing scene of worship:
Now we come to the Songs of Degrees. They describe what the nation of Israel goes through on the way back to the land, until they reach the full blessing of unity. They begin like this: "In my distress I called to the LORD." They end with, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!" Having reached this point, we then have, "you… who by night stand in the house of the LORD."
The title over the psalm comes from a Hebrew word for climbing, and it has been tied to more than one journey upward:
This is the title given to fifteen Psalms, Ps. 120 – 134. The word is maalah. It means 'going up, ascent,' and elsewhere it is translated 'stairs, steps, going up.'… The main thought in the title is 'a going up.' Every male had to go up to Jerusalem three times a year, so these may be the songs they sang on the way. The return from captivity under Ezra and Nehemiah is also called 'a going up,' and these Psalms may have been used then… They show Israel in the land, with all opposition not yet removed.
Commentators differ over which journey is in view. Some hear a captive in Babylon waiting to go home. Others hear God's people back in their land, with opposition not yet removed.
This Psalm suits an Israelite who is still an unwilling captive in Babylon, or in the homes of wickedness — though he is about to leave. The tongue, as here, is often pointed out as the special offender against God and His people.
The psalm gives the answer in line one and the trouble in the lines that follow. Other psalms do the same:
Many of the Psalms do this. They state the result first — what came out of all the soul has been through: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me." Only afterwards do they describe what the distress was.
Being heard is not the same as being rescued. Here the rescue has not come yet, and the psalmist has only the answer to hold on to:
The 120th psalm is almost all distress. Its main point of cheer comes first of all: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me." The psalmist knows this, even though the great deliverance he is looking for has not come. God does not always pay a promise on the spot. But when He delays, He pays large interest on it.
The verb is in the past. What God did once becomes the reason to call again now:
In its distress the soul had cried to the Lord, and God made him sure that He had heard. From this past experience he draws encouragement in his present distress.
This trouble is not Israel's alone. One writer traces the same evil, the same grief, and the same answer in the Christian's life:
The first psalm declares their state and their resource. "In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me." He speaks of the character of the evil: deceit and hostile power. It was grief of heart to have to deal with this all the time… This is the spirit and character of the Christian living in the middle of the power of evil. Evil shows itself in this way when the presence of good draws it out… It is the grief of a soul that loves peace and is peaceable, having to deal with the wicked deceit of men. The resource is calling on the Lord, who hears.
- Cry — The climb starts at the bottom. The first word of the first Song of Ascents is distress, not triumph.
- Heard — The answer comes before the complaint. Line one settles everything that follows.
- Interest — Being heard is not the same as being rescued. God may not pay at once, but He pays large interest.
- Memory — A past answer becomes present courage. He calls again because God heard him before.
- Ascent — Fifteen psalms later the same voice stands in the house of the LORD, among brothers living in unity. Distress is where the stairway begins, not where it ends.
Jehovah, deliver my soul from the lying lip, from the deceitful tongue.
Psalm 120 opens a set of songs about people back in their land but not yet delivered. It starts at the lowest point: a man surrounded by others whose weapon is speech, and his first move is to ask God to rescue him from it.
The heading over this psalm belongs to a set of fifteen, and the word behind "ascents" points to movement upward.
This is the title given to fifteen Psalms, Psalms 120–134. The word is maalah, and means "going up, ascent," and is translated "stairs, steps, going up." … The main thought in the title being "a going up," it has been suggested that since all males had to go up to Jerusalem three times a year, these may be the songs they sang on their way. The return from captivity under Ezra and Nehemiah is also called "a going up," and these Psalms may have been used on that occasion.
Verse 2 asks for rescue, yet it comes straight after a line saying the cry was already answered. So the man praying knows God hears him, even though nothing has changed yet.
The 120th psalm is almost all distress. The main point of cheer comes first of all: in his distress he calls to the LORD, and He answers him. The psalmist knows this, even though the great deliverance he is looking for has not come. God does not always pay His notes the moment they are presented; but if He does not, He pays large interest on them. "The lying lip" and the "deceitful tongue" are the subject of his first complaint. This may be one particular deceiver, or something more general.
The verse names two things, not one, and the second is the more dangerous. Open falsehood is easy to spot; the counterfeit of truth is not.
The godly man finds himself in a world of corruption. "Lying lips" announce what is false; "a deceitful tongue" pretends to speak the truth. The lies of the world are often hidden under a pretence of truth. Plausible words may be a cover for deadly error.
Commentators differ on the identity of the enemy behind these lips. One reading sees a power that first posed as a friend to God's people and then dropped the mask.
The special charge here is deceit and falsehood. Judgment should come on it. … I do not think this is the oppression of Antichrist, or of the beast at Jerusalem. It applies to those in the land who faced the last hostile power. That power had pretended to favour them, and had led many to abandon their faith for the sake of quiet and prosperity. Now he showed himself to be only a deceitful oppressor.
Others are less certain, and look instead to a figure from the book of Daniel.
Who the particular enemy referred to here is may not be easy to decide. One of his marks is a deceitful tongue, combined with lying lips. Some have thought it is a prophetic reference to the little horn of Daniel 8, that is, to the king of the north in the last days.
He asks God to deliver him because he has no way to deliver himself.
"Lying lips and a deceitful tongue" are the troubles afflicting the righteous in the land. To rid himself of these is beyond his power. … Such is his condition, in which he is helpless to deliver or defend himself. Silence before men, and waiting on God, is the position he must take. He hands his cause over to Him, and as always, when the righteous does that, good results follow.
The psalm describes a future day, but it also speaks to believers now. Anyone who wants peace while living among people bent on conflict stands in the same place.
These psalms all deal with the situation of a people restored to their land but not yet delivered. Our part now is to look into what they mean for the way we live. The first psalm states their condition and their resource. … He was living in the middle of evil. It was his sorrow and his distress. He sought peace: they were for war. This is the spirit and character of the Christian while surrounded by the power of evil. Evil shows itself in this way when the presence of good draws it out. Judgment, however, would come on the false tongue. … The resource is calling on the Lord, who hears.
- Cry. The psalm's one bright point comes first: he called, and God answered. He asks for rescue in verse 2 as a man who already knows he is heard.
- Named. He does not pray in general terms. He names the trouble — lying lips and a deceitful tongue — and asks the LORD to deliver him from it.
- Disguised. Lying lips say what is false outright; a deceitful tongue imitates the truth. The second is why plausible words can carry deadly error.
- Helpless. He cannot rid himself of slander. Silence before people and waiting on God is the position left to him. He hands the case over, and good follows.
- Delayed. God may not settle the account at once, but when He delays He pays large interest. Judgment on the false tongue will come. Until then, the sufferer keeps calling on the Lord who hears.
What shall be given unto thee, what shall be added unto thee, thou deceitful tongue?
Psalm 120 opens the "songs of degrees." It starts at the lowest point: a man surrounded by liars, crying to the Lord. In verse 3 his prayer breaks off and he speaks to the lying tongue itself. Commentators read his question in two very different ways.
The psalmist stops praying and speaks straight to the deceiver. One writer finds the answer to his question in the last book of the Bible.
"What shall be given to you, or what shall be done to you, you false tongue?" (v. 3). What a question with which to search the conscience of a deliberate deceiver! Of course, Revelation 19:20 gives the answer — "cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone." Dreadful end indeed!
Verse 2 names two evils, not one. One writer separates them, and then hears verse 3 asking what more could be piled on such a speaker.
First, the godly man finds himself in a world of corruption. "Lying lips" proclaim what is false; "a deceitful tongue" pretends to speak the truth. Plausible words may be a cover for deadly error. The psalmist realises that judgment upon judgment is coming on the wicked man. So he asks, "What shall be given to you? Or what shall be added to you?" It is not, however, for the godly man to vindicate himself. Christ, the Mighty One, will use sharp arrows and fire against those who have spoken evil of His people.
(Older versions read "you false tongue" and "added to you"; the ESV has "you deceitful tongue" and "what more shall be done to you.")
Not everyone takes the verse as a threat against the tongue. One writer sets out both options and prefers the second.
The third verse may be understood in two very different ways. Most would read it with the common version, as an address to the "tongue" — the deceiver. In this case the question is about God's judgment, and the fourth verse announces it. The numerical structure seems to decide for another interpretation. On that reading the question is, "what does this deceitful tongue give to you?" — and experience answers it… And "coals of broom" do not fit divine judgment so well as human fury breaking out.
What steadies him? One writer points to the assurance that God had already heard his cry.
He had the sense that God had heard his cry, and this quieted his alarms… So the psalmist looks forward with certainty. Deliverance will come through God's judgment on the enemy. "What," he cries, "shall be given to you? Or what shall be done to you, you false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty" — the arrows of the King, which will soon pierce the hearts of His enemies (Psalm 45:5). With them come "coals of juniper," coals kindled with the fires of holiness. With these the Lord will search and judge all the workers of iniquity.
A note on the same psalm questions the word "juniper".
"Juniper" would seem to be a mistaken translation. It is said to be a shrub called "Genista," the roots of which were famous for making the best charcoal. The figure, therefore, will mean the intensity of the fire of judgment.
One writer traces the false tongue across Scripture, from named men to the last enemy of God's people.
The tongue, as here, is often noticed as the special offender against God and His people. Doeg, Shimei, the false witnesses (Ps. 12, Ps. 52) offended in this way. And so will the last enemy (Jude 15, 16), according to his type, the little horn (Dan. 7:25). But coals of juniper and the arrows of the mighty one (Christ — Rev. 19) await him. The captive, though still in captivity, strengthens himself with the thought of this judgment on his enemies.
One writer asks what the psalm means for believers now.
These psalms of degrees all treat the circumstances of the restored but undelivered remnant. Our part now is to look into their moral bearing… He sought peace; they were for war. This is the spirit and character of the Christian in the middle of the power of evil. The presence of good calls that evil out, and it shows itself like this. Judgment, however, would come on the false tongue… The resource is calling on the Lord, who hears.
- Cry — The psalm's one bright note comes first: he called, and God heard him. That assurance steadies him before he says a word about his enemies.
- Question — Verse 3 turns from God to the tongue. It asks what can be given or added to it, searching the conscience of a deliberate deceiver.
- Disagreement — Commentators differ. Most read the question as a warning of God's judgment. One reads it as asking what a lying tongue ever gains its owner.
- Answer — On the common reading, verse 4 answers with sharp arrows and burning coals. The coals come from a shrub known for the hottest charcoal, a picture of how fierce the judgment is.
- Posture — The godly man does not vindicate himself. He leaves the false tongue to Christ. He keeps calling on the Lord who hears, and holds to peace when others want war.
Sharp arrows of a mighty one, with burning coals of broom-wood.
Verse 3 asks what will be given to the "deceitful tongue." This verse answers: arrows and burning coals. Commentators read the picture in more than one way. Some hear God's sentence on the deceiver. Others hear human fury breaking out.
The psalm opens with a cry that God heard. One writer traces the confidence of verse 4 back to that answer, and reads the arrows as the King's own:
He had the sense that God had heard his cry, and this quieted his fears. For, as the apostle John wrote, "if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him." (1 John 5:15.) So the psalmist looks forward with certainty to deliverance through God's judgment on the enemy… "Sharp arrows of the mighty" are the arrows of the King, which will soon pierce the hearts of His enemies (Psalm 45:5). They are joined "with coals of juniper," coals kindled with the fires of holiness. With that fire the Lord will search and judge all the workers of iniquity.
"Juniper" is a rendering of the Hebrew rothem, and writers point to a desert shrub instead — the same one Elijah sat under:
rothem. This is thought to refer, not to the juniper, but to the Arabic ratam, a 'broom' that grows twelve feet high, under which a person could sit for shelter. 1 Kings 19:4-5. Its roots were burnt for charcoal, and Ps. 120:4 says that sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of juniper were to be applied to a false tongue.
The charcoal is the point of the image:
He knows what such a person deserves and will get: "sharp arrows of a mighty one with coals of broom" (Psalm 120:4). That means a lasting fiery judgment. This is because the ashes of the juniper or broom (as rethem should be translated) are said to keep their heat for a very long time.
Where the ESV has "a warrior," other translations read "a mighty one." Read as judgment, that settles who strikes — and it is not the slandered man:
First, the godly man finds himself in a world of corruption. "Lying lips" proclaim what is false; "a deceitful tongue" pretends to speak the truth. The lies of the world are often hidden under a pretence of truth. Plausible words may be a cover for deadly error… It is not, however, for the godly man to vindicate himself. Christ, the Mighty One, will use sharp arrows and fire against those who have spoken evil of His people (Ps. 14:5).
The psalm does not name the liar, and commentators differ over his identity. Some connect him with the last great deceiver:
The tongue, as here, is often noticed as the special offender against God and His people. Doeg, Shimei, the false witnesses (Ps. 12, Ps. 52) offended in this way. And so will the last enemy (Jude 15, 16) according to his type, the little horn. (Dan. 7:25). But coals of juniper and the arrows of the mighty one (Christ — Rev. 19) await him. The captive, though still in captivity, strengthens himself with the thought of this judgment on his enemies.
Another writer sets the deceiver against the One he opposes:
This Psalm tells the cry under Antichrist — the judgment on the false tongue; for deceit was his and marked him, as Christ was the Truth.
Not everyone takes the arrows and coals as God's sentence. One writer hears human fury breaking out instead, which leads into the war of verse 7:
The third verse may be understood in two very different ways… "Sharp arrows of the mighty" remind us of the similar "sharp razor" of the "mighty one" in the fifty-second psalm, who is also addressed as a "deceitful tongue." And "coals of broom" do not seem so fitting an image for divine judgment as for human fury breaking out. This leads on to the psalmist's lament over his stay in Meshech and in the tents of Kedar. These were nomads, very likely to suggest the "sharp arrows" he has spoken of.
The combination of arrow and fire reappears in the New Testament as a weapon aimed at the believer:
FIERY DARTS means darts tipped with material that catches fire when thrown or on impact. They burn as well as pierce. Eph. 6:16: compare Ps. 120:4. The Christian needs the shield of faith to quench such darts of the wicked one.
- Cry. The psalm begins with a cry God heard. That answer makes the sufferer sure of the outcome in verse 4.
- Coals. Rothem is taken to be the desert broom. Its roots were burnt for charcoal — embers that hold their heat, a picture of judgment that does not burn out.
- Hand. The arrows belong to a mighty One. It is not for the slandered man to vindicate himself. Christ uses arrows and fire against those who speak evil of His people.
- Target. The false tongue has worn many faces — Doeg, Shimei, false witnesses. It reaches its full form in the last deceiver, the liar set against Christ the Truth.
- Dispute. Commentators differ. Some hear God's sentence in verse 4. Others hear human fury breaking out, which leads into the war of verse 7.
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Psalm 120 opens the "songs of degrees," and a godly man starts it in grief, surrounded by hostile people. Meshech and Kedar lie at opposite ends of the map, so is he naming an address or describing a condition?
Kedar was a real tribe with a real ancestor. It also names the people whose hatred of peace the psalmist felt.
Kedar was a son of Ishmael and the founder of an important tribe living in the north-west of Arabia. The name is probably also used for Arabs in general (Genesis 25:13; 1 Chronicles 1:29). The Psalmist longed for peace, for he had been living in the tents of Kedar, with those who "hated peace" (Psalm 120:5-6).
Their way of life also explains the picture in the verse just before this one.
This leads on to the psalmist's lament over his stay in Meshech and in the tents of Kedar. They were nomads, very likely named to bring to mind the "sharp arrows" he has spoken of. As Ishmaelites, their trade was robbery and war.
Meshech (also spelled Mesech) and Kedar lie far apart. That has led many to read the pair as a picture of character, not geography.
Readers have felt a difficulty about naming Mesech and Kedar together as the place of sojourn (v. 5), since the two seem to have been far apart. Meshech is mentioned along with Gog (Ezekiel 39), while Kedar was a descendant of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13). They are probably moral expressions, showing the hostility of the enemies of God's people.
Commentators differ here. Another writer reads the grammar a different way. On his reading, the gap between the two peoples is the point of the complaint: they press in on Israel from north and south at once.
We may fairly ask whether the construction of "sojourn" points to "with" Meshech rather than "in." The preposition really means "with," not "in," the tents of Kedar. So the psalmist does not mean that he lives among these enemies. He means that they are close by, and hostile to the sons of Israel in their land. One people belongs to the far north, the other to the north-west of Arabia in the south. That supposed difficulty is exactly what gives the complaint its point. The Psalm refers to the last part of the latter-day crisis. Gog (as in Ezekiel 38, 39) then comes up to crush the restored people, who are living in their unwalled villages.
The song belongs to a set that covers one period. This first one catches the moment before the last enemy falls.
We now come, Psalms 120-134, to the songs of degrees. They show, I have no doubt, the outward circumstances of the same period, when Israel is in the land but the power of Gog is not yet destroyed. The first of this series begins with the cry the godly man sends up in his distress to Jehovah, who heard. … His woe is to dwell in Mesech, and among the tents of Kedar. Wrong is in their hearts, and when the godly man spoke of peace, they prepared for battle.
Both names carry a meaning of their own, and one leads to the other.
The psalmist is in deep distress because he lives in Mesech, which means "a drawing," and among the tents of Kedar, which means "darkness" (v. 5). This seems to point to circumstances that tend to draw the heart away, and so end in the darkness of uncertainty.
The same writer brings this sorrow into the present. A Christian meets the same two enemies, and also a comfort.
The Christian can in some measure enter into this sorrow, for the world hates him, and Satan is his enemy too. But he has the comfort of knowing that Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33). And since Satan is a defeated enemy, he will always flee when a believer resists him in the power of the Holy Spirit (James 4:7).
- Cry. God heard the godly man's cry in his distress. The psalm starts there, then names the trouble.
- Place. Kedar descended from Ishmael and lived in north-west Arabia. Meshech belongs with Gog in the far north. One man could not live in both.
- Reading. Some take the pair as moral pictures of hostility. Another reads the word as "with," so the grief is enemies pressing in from both sides.
- Names. "A drawing" and "darkness" — surroundings that pull the heart away and leave it in the dark.
- Comfort. The world's hatred is real, but Christ has overcome the world, and a defeated enemy flees when resisted.
My soul hath long dwelt with them that hate peace.
The speaker has lived a long time among people who hate peace. His pain is not one quarrel but the wear of years. Two questions follow: who is this hater of peace, and what can a peaceable person do while still stuck in his company?
The complaint is about duration as much as danger. One writer names the evil in question, and ends with the one resource left:
The character of evil is spoken of: deceit and hostile power. It was grief of heart to have constantly to deal with this. But such was his condition. He was dwelling in the middle of evil. It was his sorrow, and distress to him. He sought peace: they were for war. It is the spirit and character of the Christian in the middle of the power of evil, which, when the presence of good draws it out, shows itself like this... The resource is calling on the Lord, who hears.
Verse 6 explains verse 5, which names Mesech and Kedar as the place of the long stay:
Some have found a difficulty in the mention of Mesech and Kedar as the place of stay (v. 5), since the two seem to have been far apart... They are probably moral expressions, showing the hostility of the enemies of God's people. The Christian can in some measure enter into this sorrow, for the world hates him, and Satan hates him too. But he has the comfort of knowing that Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33). And since Satan is a defeated enemy, he will always flee when the Christian resists him in the power of the Holy Spirit. (James 4:7.)
Commentators differ on who the hater of peace is. One reads the two names for their meaning, and points to a deceiver who talks peace:
The psalmist is deeply distressed that he dwells in Mesech, meaning "a drawing," and among the tents of Kedar, meaning "darkness" (v. 5). This seems to show him in circumstances that tend to draw the heart away, and so end in the darkness of uncertainty. When this is so among the tested remnant of Israel, they will certainly feel they have dwelt too long close to the Antichrist, who actually hates peace, though he may deceitfully claim to want it (v. 6).
Hating peace is not a mood that better manners could fix. It is what the enemy is:
What a description of the adversary of God and of His people — hating peace! It could not be otherwise, because the mind of the flesh — and here we see it in its full expression — is enmity against God. So the presence of God's people, when they walk before Him, must provoke the enemy's violent opposition... So it is completely useless to try to win the enemy over. As for Israel in the future, so now: we must enter the kingdom through much tribulation.
The psalm reaches past its writer. A man of peace whose speech starts a war — that is how the world met Christ:
"My soul has long dwelt with him that hates peace"; that is the moral of it. "I am peace" — a man marked by that. But to speak it only rouses the opposition: "when I speak, they are for war." This is what the world is. This is what it showed itself to be when the Prince of peace came into it. The angels proclaimed peace over Him when He was born into the world. He knew clearly what would follow at once, and He proclaimed "not peace, but a sword."
This writer uses an older translation; the ESV reads "I am for peace" in verse 7.
Having named the trouble, the psalm offers no self-defence:
Long has he dwelt with those who hate peace. To him, a man of peace, that must have been a trial; but he adds what made it worse, "when I speak, they are for war."... Such is his condition, in which he is helpless to deliver or defend himself. Silence before men, and waiting upon God, is the position he must take. He hands his cause over to Him, and as always, when the righteous does that, good comes of it.
He can speak with hope before rescue comes, because he belongs somewhere else:
The citizen of Jerusalem may well use the words of verses 6 and 7 while he is still in Babylon. The one is God's city, "the city of peace"; the other is man's city, "the city of confusion."
- Long peace — The pain is the length of the stay. Living among evil is itself a grief of heart.
- Named peace — Mesech and Kedar describe a hostile character, not a travel route. One writer points to the Antichrist, who hates peace while claiming to want it.
- Refused peace — The enemy hates peace because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God. Trying to win him over is useless.
- Incarnate peace — Christ could say "I am peace," and the world answered with a sword.
- Awaited peace — He cannot defend himself. His place is silence before men and waiting on God, because he belongs to the city of peace.
I [am for] peace; but when I speak, *they* [are] for war.
This verse closes a psalm that began in distress and ends without rescue. The speaker wants peace, but his words only set others fighting. Who is speaking? Why does peace stir up war? And what can such a man do?
The words are not a bargaining position but a description of the speaker himself. One writer takes the words as a statement of what the man is, and draws out what follows.
The names are, as already said, "emblematic": "My soul has long dwelt with him that hates peace"; that is the moral of it. "I am peace," — a man characterized by that; but to speak it only rouses the opposition: "when I speak, they are for war."
The psalm has been building toward this. The hostility is not new. It has run on a long time, and he cannot end it.
Long has he dwelt with those who hate peace. To him, a man of peace, that must have been a trial. But he adds what made it worse: "when I speak, they are for war." That is his condition, and in it he cannot rescue or defend himself. Silence before men, and waiting upon God, is the position he must take.
The order in the verse matters: peace first, then speech, then war. Commentators trace the reaction back to what the enemy is. Nothing in the words themselves provokes it.
What a description of the adversary of God and of His people — hating peace! It could not be otherwise. The mind of the flesh — seen here in its full expression — is hostile to God. So the presence of God's people, as they walk before Him, must stir up the enemy's violent opposition. So the Psalmist adds, "I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!" So it is no use at all trying to win the enemy over. As for Israel in the future, so now: it must be through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom.
The same pattern marks the Christian now. Evil stays quiet until good appears and speaks.
He sought peace: they were for war. This is the spirit and character of the Christian while surrounded by the power of evil. The presence of good calls that evil out, and then it shows itself like this.
If "I am peace" describes a character, one Person fits it perfectly. Here the verse reaches beyond the psalmist. Peace itself came into the world, and the world answered with a cross.
This is what the world is: and this is what it showed itself to be when the Prince of peace came into it. The angels proclaimed peace over Him as He was born into it. Yet He knew exactly what would follow at once, and He proclaimed "not peace, but a sword." He could indeed say "I am peace" — peace in person. What did His humanity mean but "peace: good pleasure in man"? Yet His rejection was written on the cross in every representative human language.
Commentators read this psalm as part of a series. They place it in a future time, when Israel is back in the land but the last hostile power is still there.
Wrong is in their hearts; and, when the godly spoke of peace, they prepared for battle. To me it does not look like the oppression of the Antichrist, or of the beast at Jerusalem. It fits those in the land who faced the last hostile power. That power had pretended to favour them, and had led many to abandon their faith for a quiet and prosperous life. Now it showed itself as nothing but a deceitful oppressor.
Verse 7 resolves nothing. The relief comes in the psalm that follows, and the gap between the two is deliberate.
The greater the sense of need, the greater the discovery of what God is for us. So, like these saints of a future day, we are often put to the test. Learning our own helplessness, we come to see that our help and rescue are found in God alone. This explains the connection between these two Psalms. In the last verse of the 120th, the Psalmist cries, "I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!" What, then, is his resource? The answer is found in the first two verses of the 121st Psalm.
- Character — "I am peace" describes a man marked by it, not a truce he is offering.
- Provocation — peace spoken out loud calls evil into the open. The good rouses the opposition, not any fault in the words.
- Futility — since the hatred comes from a mind at enmity with God, trying to win the enemy over is useless.
- Christ — the Prince of peace met the same answer, and His rejection was written on the cross.
- Resource — silence before men and waiting on God is all that is left; the psalm ends helpless on purpose, so the next one can lift the eyes to the only help there is.