Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

things.’” (Rev. 4:1) The call of God is always upward and as a worshiper we must climb past the limita- tions of our humanness, the wandering thoughts, the cares of this world, the temptations of sin, the spir- itual ‘dullness’ until we break through into the clear vistas of the heavenly Jerusalem where Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand!

1 Keil & Delitzsch 2 Keil & Delitzsch 3 Spence 4 Keil & Delitzsch

PSALM 120: I AM FOR PEACE

The first psalm of ascent begins in the most hostile environment for the Jew; among the people of Meshech in modern Turkey, and Kedar on the Arabian peninsula. The psalmist is being lied about and war plans are being arranged against him. None of the recognized authors of the psalms fits this de- scription (David, Asaph, Solomon…) and because the two geographical regions are so far apart it is thought that the writer is using figurative language to describe the nation of Israel who sits in the mid- dle of these two opponents. It is also a prophetic psalm of Jesus, the Prince of Peace as verse 7 literally says: “I am peace.” It is also interesting that the only person mentioned in the Bible who ever lived in ‘Meshech’ and ‘Kedar’ was the apostle Paul making this a fascinating parallel between his life and this little psalm written cen- turies before him. It is outlined in three sections:

I HE ANSWERED MY PRAYER - 1 II DECEITFUL PEOPLE - 2-4 III I AM FOR PEACE - 5-7

I

HE ANSWERED MY PRAYER

“I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.”

It is most appropriate that the ‘Songs of Ascent…’ begin with crying out to the Lord; prayer is the beginning of all things in the spiritual realm. One of the meanings of the Greek word used for prayer is to ‘give birth on the knees’. This crying out by the psalmist who was living with people who were ag- gressive liars, gave birth to his ascent to a higher plane of life with the Lord.

II

DECEITFUL PEOPLE – 2-4

“Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. O deceptive tongue, what will God do to you? How will he increase your punishment? You will be pierced with sharp arrows and burned with glowing coals.” (2-4) The psalmist was among those who sought to use lies to destroy his life. This was not a slander- ous falsehood that tarnishes the reputation but a complete misrepresentation of the truth that was lethal to him. It came from the devil who himself is the father of lies: “When he lies, it is consistent with his char- acter; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn. 8:44) The psalmist uses the literary technique of ‘apostrophe’ that addresses the tongue as though it were a person. Flaming arrows represents the lies of the enemy that are aimed at the believer: “In every bat- tle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.” (Eph. 6:16) God himself shoots the flaming arrows of truth back into the heart of the enemy. The “glowing coals” are the very hot, long lasting embers of the “broom tree” (juniper) that is used as winter fuel for fires during the cold, middle-eastern nights. The lying tongue must experience the ‘fire of God’s purification’ or the ‘fire of his judgment. “Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, ‘See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.’”(Isaiah 6:6,7) 328