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.