Written By: God through Inspiration
Penned By: David, Asaph, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, Moses, and the
Sons of Korah
Date Penned: (1440-586 BC)
Overview: Poetry for the Expression of Praise and Worship to
God (c 1-150)
Theme: The
Fifth Book of Psalms (c 107-150)
Message:
A Prayer for Deliverance Against False Accusers (v 1-7)
Psalms 120 Commentary
(120:1) Pilgrims Psalms - Psalms 120 through 134 are called pilgrim psalms
or songs of degrees. They were sung by those who journeyed (and thus ascended by "degrees") to the temple for the
annual feasts. Each psalm represents a "step" along the journey. Psalm 120 begins the journey in a distant land
in hostile surroundings, Psalm 122 pictures the pilgrims arriving in Jerusalem, and the rest of the psalms move toward the
temple, mentioning various characteristics of God.
(120:5-6) Surrounded
by Conflict - Mesech was a nation far to the north of Israel; Kedar was a nation in Arabia to the southeast. Both were known
for being warlike, violent, and pagan nations. Because the psalm writer couldn't have been in these two places at one time,
he was using these distant nations to convey his feelings of being alienated, surrounded by conflict, and far from home among
pagan people.
(120:7) peacemakers - Peacemakers don't usually win popularity
contests. Some people prefer to always fight for what they want or believe in, even if it isn't the best for everyone. They
seek glory by winning battles--but then someone must always lose. The glory of peacemaking is that it can actually produce
two winners. Peacemaking is God's way, so we should carefully and prayerfully attempt to be peacemakers.
Dave Burnette's Life Application
IN
the World-Not OF the World
Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making
an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today, we continue
in the Book of Psalms with Chapter 120. In our text today, we see the theme of a prayer for deliverance from false accusers.
In applying, we see that all believers must live with the tension of being in the world but not belonging to it. Today, we
seek that balance to not compromise on our convictions and standards while reaching the lost with the Gospel and love of Jesus
Christ. How about you? Do you see this challenge of our calling? Let us learn from our Psalm and text today to remember to
be IN THE WORLD sharing the Gospel without compromising on our standards and convictions to be OF THE WORLD.
