← The Psalm world
Illustration for Psalm 120: Deliver Me From Lies

Psalm 120

Deliver Me From Lies

When AfraidComfortProtection

This is the first of 15 'Songs of Ascent' that pilgrims sang walking up to Jerusalem. The writer is far from home, surrounded by people who lie and want war. He longs for peace but finds himself among people who love conflict.

  1. 1In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.
  2. 2Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
  3. 3What will He do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
  4. 4He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree.
  5. 5Woe to me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
  6. 6Too long have I lived among those who hate peace.
  7. 7I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

What it means

This is the first song people sang on the long walk up to Jerusalem, and it starts in a hard place: surrounded by lies, longing for peace among people who love arguing. Journeys with God often begin exactly where you already are, not somewhere nicer.

A little prayer

God, sometimes I am around people who argue and say untrue things, and I just want peace. Thank You that I can call to You from right here and You answer. Amen.

Memory verse

“In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.”

Psalm 120:1 (BSB)

The first step of a long walk, and it starts by admitting the distress out loud.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. This is the first song sung by people walking up to Jerusalem. What do you sing or think about on a long journey?
  2. The writer is tired of living among people who want to argue. Where does that happen?
  3. He says he is for peace but they are for war. How do you stay peaceful around someone who is not?
  4. Where do you go to get away from noise?

Try this

Step one

Plan a walk you will actually take this week — even twenty minutes. Read verse 1 before you set off and again when you arrive.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)