PSALM 120 COMME TARY

Written and edited by Glenn Pease

PREFACE

The object of this commentary is to bring together the comments of a number of

authors in one place to make the study of this Psalm easier for the Bible student.

Sometimes I do not have the author's name, and if it is known and told to me, I will

give credit where it is due. If there is any author who does not wish his wisdom to be

included in this study, I will remove it when that author expresses his wish to have it

removed. My e-mail is glenn_p86@yahoo.com

I TRODUCTIO

1. This is the beginning of the Psalms of Degrees, also called the Psalms of Assent, or

the Song of Steps. There are 15 of them from here to Psalm 134. The meaning of the

terms refers to the singing of them on the journey up to Jerusalem during one of the

Holy Day festivals. They are also known as Pilgrim Songs/Psalms, Songs of Going

up, Gradual Songs, Pilgrim Songs, and Hymn of Degrees. Jerusalem is up from any

direction that you approach it, and so it was a climb. Pilgrims would come from all

directions to the three major feasts of the year, the feast of Pentecost in the summer,

the feast of Tabernacles in the fall, and the feast of Passover in the Spring. . As they

moved their way up the hill they would sing these songs. Isaiah 30:29 gives us a

picture of this. "And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your

hearts will rejoice as when people go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord, to

the Rock of Israel." These songs are brief, which is needed for people climbing and

needing breath, and they are mostly happy, and all are hopeful.

2. Matthew Henry wrote, “That they are all short psalms, all but one very short

(three of them have but three verses apiece), and that they are placed next to Psalms

119:1-176, which is by much the longest of all. ow as that was one psalm divided

into many parts, so these were many psalms, which, being short, were sometimes

sung all together, and made, as it were, one psalm, observing only a pause between

each; as many steps make one pair of stairs.” Henry shares some of the different

ideas behind these songs of ascent. "Some conjecture that they are so called from

their singular excellency (as the song of songs, so the song of degrees, is a most

excellent song, in the highest degree), others from the tune they were set to, or the

musical instruments they were sung to, or the raising of the voice in singing them.

Some think they were sung on the fifteen steps or stairs, by which they went up from

the outward court of the temple to the inner, others at so many stages of the people's

journey, when they returned out of captivity."

3. Some reject the common understanding of these songs being sung as pilgrims

marched up the hill, or of those going up the steps to the temple. They argue that the

idea of going up refers to the voices of the singers. Calvin had this conviction and he

wrote, "... the probable conjecture is, that this title was given to these Psalms,

because they were sung on a higher key than others. The Hebrew word for degrees

being derived from the verb tsalah, to ascend or go up, I agree with those who are of

opinion that it denotes the different musical notes rising in succession." Others are

fully convinced that these songs were sung by the people coming out of captivity

from Babylon as they marched back to their homeland to rebuild the temple. In all

honesty, nobody knows for sure the exact reason they are listed as songs of ascent,

but the most popular theory that says they were sung by those going up to

Jerusalem to worship God in the temple is the one that I choose to follow in my

comments. It is not crucial to take this view, but it is greatly supported by the

evidence, and it is the most useful in preaching and teaching, for it gives a theme to

the whole series about climbing, which is a theme common in both Testaments.

4. In his classic work William Thomson wrote out of personal experience, "If the

traditional interpretation of the title, Song of Degrees, be accepted, that they were

sung by devout pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem to keep the great feasts of the

Lord, we may suppose that companies toiling up this long ascent would relieve the

tedium of the way by chanting some of them. From the customs of Orientals still

prevalent, I think it highly probable that such an explanation of the title may be

substantially correct. othing is more common than to hear individuals and parties

of natives, traveling together through the open country and along mountain paths,

especially during the night, break out into singing some of their favorite songs.

Once, descending from the top of Sunnin, above Beirut, with a large company of

natives, they spontaneously began to sing in concert. The moon was shining brightly

in the clear sky, and they kept up their chanting for a long time. I shall not soon

forget the impression made by that moonlight concert, as we wound our way down

the eastern side of Lebanon to the Buka'a, on the way to Ba'albek. Through the still

midnight air of that lofty region the rough edge of their stentorian voices, softened

into melody, rang out full and strong, waking the sleeping echoes far and wide down

the rocky defiles of the mountain. Something like this may have often rendered

vocal this dreary ascent to Jerusalem. It is common in this country to travel in the

night during the summer, and we know that the Hebrew pilgrims journeyed in large

companies. On his ascent along this road from Jericho to the Holy City, Jesus was

attended not only by the twelve apostles, but by others, both men and women; and it

would be strange indeed if sometimes they did not seek relief from this oppressive

solitude by singing the beautiful songs of Zion. -- William M. Thomson, in "The

Land and the Book," 1881.

5. Christopher Wordsworth shows this view to be that of the ancients as well as

modern scholars. He wrote, "When we consider the place in the psalter which these

"Songs of Degrees, or of the goings up" occupy, we see good reason to accept the

statement (of the Syriac version, and of S. Chrysostom, Theodoret, Euthymius, and

other Fathers, and also of Symmachus, Aquila, and of Hammond, Ewald, and many

moderns), that these psalms describe the feelings of those Israelites who went up

with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and afterwards with Ezra, and still later with

ehemiah, from the land of their captivity and dispersion at Babylon, Susa, and

other regions of the East, to the home of their fathers, Jerusalem."

6. Dr. Joe Temple, “I am going to consider a series of fifteen Psalms which begins

with Psalm 120 and concludes with Psalm 134. Beneath the number of the Psalm we

find a title. That title reads, "A Song of Degrees." otice under each one of these

Psalms, beginning with Psalm 120 and concluding wiht Psalm 134, that title, "A

Song of Degrees." When we examine these Psalms more closely, we find that four of

them were written by David. Psalm 127 was written by Solomon. Ten of them are

anonymous. A great many Bible scholars feel that, because of the subject matter

contained in the Psalms, they were written by Hezekiah shortly after the illness from

which he recovered when God extended his life for a period of fifteen years. I do not

know that it matters a great deal to you who the human author was, because we

recognize, of course, the author of the Scriptures to be the Holy Spirit.

6B. Temple goes on, “ otice the word "degrees" which is in the superscription as I

suggest to you that it is a translation of a Hebrew word which means "a journey to a

higher place." These Psalms were written, then, relative to a journey to a higher

place. The word is translated a number of different ways in the Scriptures to bear

this out. For example, turn to Psalm 24, and notice a statement that gives us an

illustration of what we are speaking about:

PSALMS 24

1. The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell

therein.

2. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

otice the word "ascend" in verse 3. It is the translation of the Hebrew word in

question. So the word "degree" can be translated "ascend." We might say, as we

look at Psalm 120 again, that this series of Psalms represents songs of ascension.

The same word is translated by the word "stairs" in the book of ehemiah, chapter

12, verse 37. A wall was built and ehemiah asked all of the people to come out for

the dedication of the wall. We are told that they ascended the stairs. In ascending

the stairs, they stood upon the top of the wall and sang their hymns of praise. The

word "stairs" in this portion of Scriptures is a translation of the word about which

we are thinking.

All of you are familiar with the story of Jacob's ladder. You remember how Jacob

fell asleep as he was leaving home and he dreamed. He dreamed that there was a

ladder extending from earth to Heaven. He saw angels ascending and descending on

that ladder. ow the word "ascend" which describes the activity of these angels is

the very same word.

An interesting thing, in the light of the message, is that the word that is translated

"ladder" in our English text, should really be translated "staircase"--flight of steps.

What Jacob actually saw wasn't a ladder but a staircase, and he saw angels walking

up and down the stairs.”

7. Constable, “Psalms 120—134 are all "songs of ascent." This group, in turn,

constitutes the major part of the Great Hallel psalms (Pss. 120—136). The psalms of

ascent received this title because the pilgrim Israelites sang them as they traveled

from their homes all over the land and ascended Mt. Zion for the annual feasts.

David composed at least four of these 15 psalms (Pss. 122, 124, 131, and 133).

Solomon wrote one (Ps. 127), and the remaining 10 are anonymous. They may not

have been composed for use by pilgrims originally; they were probably written for

other purposes. However the pilgrims used them as songs of ascent and, according

to the Mishnah, during the second temple period they were incorporated into the

temple liturgy. One scholar saw these psalms as falling into three groups of five

psalms each (120—24; 125—29; 130—34). He noted that the central psalm in each

group reflects royal or Zion theology: 122 (Jerusalem), 127 (the temple), and 132

(David). The effect of the total collection, therefore, is to focus on the temple and the

Davidic monarchy.504 In Psalm 120 an unknown composer asked God for

protection from people who wanted to stir up war (cf. Ps. 42). This psalm has been

called an individual lament that anticipates thanksgiving.”

8. Eugene Peterson wrote, “A blues song about one being sick and tired of lies and

deceit. He wrote to find peace in a world of warfare, but nobody will listen, and

they are for war. Here is a man out of step with his time because he marches to the

beat of a different drummer. He begins his ascent to Zion with assurance that God

will save him in spite of this world he lives in. It is a song not of beauty and praise,

but of discouragement and disappointment. It starts with distress, and ends with

war, and between these two moldy pieces of bread the meat of the Psalm is also

rotting. Lying lips and deceitful tongues. He is like a fish out of water-a man of

peace among a bunch of warmongers.” Here is his version in The Message, “I'm in

trouble. I cry to God, desperate for an answer: 2 "Deliver me from the liars, God!

They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth." 3 Do you know what's next, can

you see what's coming, all you barefaced liars? 4 Pointed arrows and burning coals

will be your reward. 5 I'm doomed to live in Meshech, cursed with a home in Kedar,

6 My whole life lived camping among quarreling neighbors. 7 I'm all for peace, but

the minute I tell them so, they go to war!”

A song of ascents.

1. I call on the LORD in my distress,

and he answers me.

1. The first step is climbing to the top is to call on the Lord at the bottom. We need

to start with a humble attitude that acknowledges that we cannot make it on our

own. We start by acknowledging the Lord as our source of help and salvation.

David has distress in his life and is seeking for some relief, and the first place he

turns is to the Lord in prayer. The good news is that the Lord then responds to him

and answers his prayer by being his deliverer from lying lips. We have here the

paradox of the normal life of a child of God. The good and the bad are

contemporaries, and they live side by side. He is in distress, and he is also in

deliverance. He is in a negative state of discomfort, and yet he is also comforted at

the same time, for he has a resource in the Lord that relieves him of the discomfort

of his distress.

2. The good news is that the Lord knows what is true and what is a lie, and so he will

listen to us when we come before him in distress because our name is being abused,

and our reputation slandered. Others may not want to listen to us and our defense,

for often people are happy to hear dirt about us, for if we are being put down, it

gives them a sense of superiority. People may not listen to us, but David knew of one

who would always listen to him, and that is why he is calling on the Lord. When no

one else seems to have a care, you can call on the Lord, for he will always be there.

As the old hymn chorus said,

Where could I go, where could I go

Seeking a refuge for my soul;

eeding a friend to help me in the end

Where could I go but to the Lord

3. David was not dealing with a one time event, for he had problems with liars on a

regular basis, and we see that in his other Psalms. In Psalm 5:9 we read, " ot a

word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their

throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. In Psalm 10:7 in the

Good ews Translation we read, "Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and

threats; they are quick to speak hateful, evil words." David was under this pressure

a good part of his life, for many seeking favor with Saul would be lying about David

continually to keep Saul on the war path and out to kill him. For years David had to

flee and hide to escape the wrath of Saul. What a horrible archive of lies we would

have if all that was told to Saul was recorded. Henry reports one such example,

"This psalm is supposed to have been penned by David upon occasion of Doeg's

accusing him and the priests to Saul, because it is like 52, which was penned upon

that occasion, and because the psalmist complains of his being driven out of the

congregation of the Lord and his being forced among barbarous people."The

bottom line, however, is that David has a positive spirit of hope even in his distress,

and even in his woeful lament over his environment among the wicked. He was a

poet, and he could appreciate the unknown poet who wrote the following.

I refuse to be discouraged,

To be sad, or to cry;

I refuse to be downhearted,

and here’s the reason why . . .

I have a God who’s mighty,

Who’s sovereign and supreme;

I have a God who loves me,

and I am on His team.

He is all wise and powerful,

Jesus is His name;

Though everything is changeable,

My God remains the same.

My God knows all that’s happening;

Beginning to the end,

His presence is my comfort,

He is my dearest friend.

When sickness comes to weaken me,

To bring my head down low,

I call upon my mighty God;

Into His arms I go.

When circumstances threaten

to rob me from my peace;

He draws me close unto His breast,

Where all my strivings cease.

And when my heart melts within me,

and weakness takes control;

He gathers me into His arms,

He soothes my heart and soul.

The great "I AM" is with me,

My life is in His hand,

The "Son of the Lord" is my hope,

It’s in His strength I stand.

I refuse to be defeated,

My eyes are on my God;

He has promised to be with me,

as through this life I trod.

I’m looking past all my circumstances,

To Heaven’s throne above;

My prayers have reached the heart of God,

I’m resting in His love.

I give God thanks in everything,

My eyes are on His face;

The battle’s His, the victory’s mine;

He’ll help me win the race.

4. -- "In my distress. God's help is seasonable; it comes when we need it. Christ is a

seasonable good... For the soul to be dark, and for Christ to enlighten it; for the soul

to be dead, and Christ to enliven it; for the soul to be doubting, and for Christ to

resolve it; and for the soul to be distressed, and for Christ to relieve it; is not this in

season? For a soul to be hard, and for Christ to soften it; for a soul to be haughty,

and for Christ to humble it; for a soul to be tempted, and for Christ to succor it; and

for a soul to be wounded, and for Christ to heal it? Is not this in season?" --R.

Mayhew, 1679.

2. Save me, O LORD, from lying lips

and from deceitful tongues.

1. There are no end to the things that we need to be saved from, but lying lips and

deceitful tongues may not be as common for us as it was for David. He had a lot of

enemies, and he was continually on the defense. Many of us may not have anyone

that we suspect is lying about us, or deceiving others about us. If we did, we would

be praying for deliverance as well, for it is terrible to have people spreading

falsehoods about you behind your back. It is so hard to defend yourself because you

really do not know what is going on. We don't know the specifics here, but David

seems to be asking God to spare him from the humiliation of being rejected based

on false reports about him. It is a terrible thing to lose respect in the eyes of others

based on lies. He wants to be spared from such a loss of face. We all want to be

accepted by others, and so this is a form of salvation that we all desire.

2. It is possible to tell the truth and not lie at all, and yet still deceive people into

believing bad things about another person. I read this story on the internet about

how George Smathers was able to ruin the chances of Claude Pepper regaining his

vote to stay in the Senate. He started by calling him a name that made him seem like

a negative person. He called him Red Pepper, and then he launched a campaign to

expose his secret vices. What he did was downright funny, but he used words that

made him look suspicious to many people. The author wrote, "Smathers disclosed

that Pepper was “a known extrovert,” his sister was a “thespian,” and his brother a

“practicing homo sapiens.” Also, when Pepper went to college, he actually

“matriculated.” Worst of all, he practiced “celibacy” before marriage. All of it

totally innocent – but many rural voters who did not understand the fancy words

were horrified, and Pepper lost big." The most clever liars are those who can do it

with the truth. David felt the pressure of lies and deceit because the enemy can be so

clever, and it is almost impossible to know how people are being influenced by their

subtle suggestions of wrong doing. So David is not depending on his own defense,

but is seeking help from heaven to be victorious. David fought lions and won, but

liars are even more lethal, and they are harder to defeat, and so he cries to the Lord

for backup to survive the slander.

3. Gill gives us a list of the enemies that slander the righteous. He wrote, "Such were

the lips and tongues of Doeg the Edomite, (Psalms 52:2-4) , and of Saul's courtiers,

who insinuated to him that David sought his hurt, (1 Samuel 24:9 ) ; and of the

Scribes and Pharisees, that flattered Christ to his face, and reproached him to the

people; and of Judas, that betrayed him with "Hail, master", (Matthew 26:49) ; and

of the false witnesses suborned against him; and of false teachers, deceitful workers,

that lie in wait to deceive, and, by their good words and fair speeches, do deceive the

hearts of the simple; and of antichrist and his followers, who, as they are given up to

believe a lie, speak lies in hypocrisy; and of Satan the father of lies, and who is the

old serpent, the devil, that deceives the whole world: and to be delivered from the

bad effects of such lips and tongues is very desirable."

4. Spurgeon wrote, "Some seem to lie for lying sake, it is their sport and spirit: their

lips deserve to be kissed with a hot iron; but it is not for the friends of Jesus to

render to men according to their deserts. Oh for a dumb generation rather than a

lying one! The faculty of speech becomes a curse when it is degraded into a mean

weapon for smiting men behind their backs. We need to be delivered from slander

by the Lord's restraint upon wicked tongues, or else to be delivered out of it by

having our good name cleared from the liar's calumny.......... It should be a warning

to liars and deceivers when they see that all good men pray against them, and that

even bad men are afraid of them. Here is to the believer good cause for prayer.

"Deliver us from evil", may be used with emphasis concerning this business. From

gossips, talebearers, writers of anonymous letters, forgers of newspaper paragraphs,

and all sorts of liars, good Lord deliver us!"

5. Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12, “Blessed are you when people insult you,

persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice

and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they

persecuted the prophets who were before you.” To be abused by slander and lies

and all manner of defaming speech is hard to take, but Jesus says it is a blessing if

the cause of it is not your evil behavior, but your faith. To suffer this abuse for being

faithful to the Lord will give Him great pleasure, and give you great reward. It has

been the role of believers all through history to suffer the mockery and slander of

the pagan world. It does not sound like a blessing, but it is because Jesus will finally

settled the issue of good and evil with judgment and reward, and when he balances

the books it will be worth whatever the cost to be on the reward side. When seen

from the Lord's perspective it is a joy to suffer for Him.

6. On the other hand, it is a blessing we are to avoid giving to others by gossip and

slander. Paradoxical as it may seem, there are blessing that we are not to make

possible by our behavior toward fellow believers or anyone else. Paul states it in

Titus 3:2: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient,

to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and

considerate, and to show true humility toward all people.” They will still be blest

and rewarded by enduring your slander, but you will be judged for being the cause

of the pain in their endurance. A believer is never to use his tongue to abuse the life

of any other person. Unfortunately, this word has not had adequate communication

to the Christian world, and the result is lies, slander and all manner of verbal abuse

is common among the Christian population. The internet is filled with all kinds of

slander toward just about every well known Christian leader in our nation. We tend

to think that the judgment mentioned here by David is meant only for pagan

abusers, but you can count on it, the God of justice will not overlook the abuse of his

own children. Many a reward will be lost by those who think of slander as a civil

right rather than as a terrible sin. In case you think Paul was not clear enough, read

him again in Ephesians 4:29ff.: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your

mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs,

that it may benefit those who listen . . .Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger,

brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Paul would agree that the

person who throws dirt is losing ground, and they are not climbing to the light, but

falling down the hill into the ditch of darkness.

7. Spurgeon give his testimony: "I have often admired Martin Luther, and

wondered at his composure. When all men spoke so ill of him, what did he say?

Turn to that Psalm—"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of

trouble; therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the

mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." In a far inferior manner, I have

been called to stand up in the position of Martin Luther, and have been made the

butt of slander, a mark for laughter and scorn; but it has not broken my spirit yet;

not will it, while I am enabled to enjoy that quiescent state of—"So he giveth his

beloved sleep." But thus far I beg to inform all those who choose to slander or speak

ill of me, that they are very welcome to do so till they are tired of it. my motto is

cedo nulli—I yield to none. I have not courted any man's love; I asked no man to

attend my ministry; I preach what I like, and when I like, and as I like. Oh! happy

state—to be bold, though downcast, and distressed—to go and bend my knee and

tell my Father all, and then to come down from my chamber, and say—

If on my face, for thy dear name,

Shame and reproach shall be;

I'll hail reproach, and welcome shame,

For thou'lt remember me.

8. Dr. Joe Temple, “I want to say to you that as a Christian if you are happy to be

around ungodly people all the time and happy to be in the midst of lying tongues

and deceitful lips, if you are happy to be with people whose conversations are of

things of this world instead of the things of God, then if I were you, I would check

into my relationship with the Lord. I would find out why I was what I was and why

I enjoyed what I enjoyed.

Don't misunderstand me. I know you can't always surround yourself only with

Christian people and have nothing to do with the unsaved. I know that. but let me

tell you that if you choose to be among the unsaved and unspiritual and are not

burdened about it and distressed with it, then you need to check your spiritual

relationship to the Lord.

The psalmist reached a place where he said, "Lord, you've got to help me." And the

Lord said, "Why do you need help?" The psalmist said, "In the first place, I feel a

long way from You." And he said, "In the second place, the only associations I have

are deceitful associations, and I am tired of them."

3. What will he do to you,

and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?

1. David is prompting the liar to consider what his judgment will be in hopes that he

will reconsider his wicked ways. A malignant slanderer like you will not go

unnoticed by the Lord who sees and knows all. You can count on a severe penalty

for such an abusive tongue.

2. God is severe in his judgment of a wicked tongue because of the seriousness of the

pain it causes. Spurgeon in his notes gives us a picture of just how horrible slander

is to the victim of it. "Slander occasions distress of the most grievous kind. Those

who have felt the edge of a cruel tongue know assuredly that it is sharper than the

sword. Calumny rouses our indignation by a sense of injustice, and yet we find

ourselves helpless to fight with the evil, or to act in our own defense. We could ward

off the strokes of a cutlass, but we have no shield against a liar's tongue. We do not

know who was the father of the falsehood, nor where it was born, nor where it has

gone, nor how to follow it, nor how to stay its withering influence. We are perplexed,

and know not which way to turn. Like the plague of flies in Egypt, it baffles

opposition, and few can stand before it. Detraction touches us in the most tender

point, cuts to the quick, and leaves a venom behind which it is difficult to extract. In

all ways it is a sore distress to come under the power of "slander, the foulest whelp

of sin." Even in such distress we need not hesitate to cry unto the Lord. Silence to

man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander."

3. Spurgeon adds this note, "If these psalms were sung at the ascent of the ark to

Mount Zion, and then afterward by the pilgrims to Jerusalem at the annual festivals

and at the return from Babylon, we shall find in the life of David a reason for this

being made the first of them. Did not this servant of God meet with Doeg the

Edomite when he inquired of the oracle by Abiathar, and did not that wretched

creature believe him and betray him to Saul? This made a very painful and

permanent impression upon David's memory, and therefore in commencing the ark

journey he poured out his lament before the Lord, concerning the great and

monstrous wrong of "that dog of a Doeg", as Trapp wittily calls him. The poet, like

the preacher, may find it to his advantage to "begin low," for then he has the more

room to rise: the next Psalm is a full octave above the present mournful hymn.

Whenever we are abused it may console us to see that we are not alone in our misery

we are traversing a road upon which David left his footprints."

4. Spurgeon goes on, "What shall be given unto thee? What is the expected guerdon

of slander? It ought to be something great to make it worth while to work in so foul

an atmosphere and to ruin one's soul. Could a thousand worlds be bribe enough for

such villainous deeds? The liar shall have no welcome recompense: he shall meet

with his deserts; but what shall they be? What punishment can equal his crime? The

Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offenses -- this

detraction, calumny, and slander. Judgment sharp and crushing would be measured

out to it if men were visited for their transgressions. But what punishment could be

heavy enough? What form shall the chastisement take? O liar, "what shall be given

unto thee?"

Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? How shalt thou be visited? The

law of retaliation can hardly meet the case, since none can slander the slanderer, he

is too black to be blackened; neither would any of us blacken him if we could.

Wretched being! He fights with weapons which true men cannot touch. Like the

cuttlefish, he surrounds himself with an inky blackness into which honest men

cannot penetrate. Like the foul skunk, he emits an odour of falsehood which cannot

be endured by the true; and therefore he often escapes, not chastised by those whom

he has most injured. His crime, in a certain sense, becomes his shield; men do not

care to encounter so base a foe. But what will God do with lying tongues? He has

uttered his most terrible threats against them, and he will terribly execute them in

due time." “Admonition is made with the slandering accuser. He is warned that he

cannot expect immunity. God will vindicate His children. He will bring fierce

destruction on malignant slanderers. Images vividly express the terrible aspect of

this punishment. Miseries shall pierce false hearts, as arrows flying from a mighty

bow. Fire shall consume them, as the fierce coals of juniper.”

4 He will punish you with a warrior's sharp

arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree.

1. David has no compassion on those who would destroy his reputation, but longs to

see them pay the price for their wickedness. Few things are more painful than a

sharp arrow, or a burning coal from a tree that retains its heat to a very high

degree. What David is saying here is equivalent to a desire that they burn in hell.

This is radical language because it is dealing with radical evil. These liars are using

the most vicious weapon known to man, for as Jeremiah 9:8 says, "Their tongue is a

deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to

their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them." Psalm 64:2-3 says,

"Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers.

They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows."

David is saying that it would be poetic justice for these who use the deadly arrow of

the tongue to inflict harm on innocent people, to be themselves pierced with the

sharp arrows of judgment. As they have sown Lord, so let them reap. Let their evil

arrows be repaid with righteous arrows so they can feel the pain of what they inflict

on other. Psalm 64:7 says, "But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly

shall they be wounded." If you are going to shoot arrows of slander at others, be

aware that God is a good with arrows, and he gets the last shot.

2. James 3:6 says the tongue is as dangerous as a book of matches in the hands of a

three year old. It sets our lives on fire, and it is a fire from hell. Those who use their

tongue to burn up the reputations of innocent people are so despicable that they

deserve to experience the flames of judgment. David is saying that God will fight fire

with fire, and those who burn others with the fire of gossip and slander will suffer

the pain of judgment fires.

3. Jesus may have sung this Psalm with deep feelings, and an earnest desire just like

David to be delivered from the lies that slandered him. His reputation was dragged

through the mud by the Pharisees who called him a wine bibber and a glutton, and

worse yet, a blasphemer, and demon possessed man, and a maniac. Jesus knew the

distress that David felt, for he felt it personally. There is a radical difference in the

way Jesus coped with it, however, for he prayed for his slanderers, and he said,

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Jesus had more to offer his

enemies than David had, and so he related to those who abused him with grace, and

the hope that they would see their errors and repent. A good many did, and there

will be many former Pharisees in heaven rather than experiencing the flames of

judgment like the enemies of David. We need to remember that it is normal to feel

like David toward those who are so evil toward us, but we need to rise above this

attitude and look to Jesus for our example. Our goal should not be to see our

enemies experience judgment, but to see them escape it by faith in Jesus Christ. We

should want to see them become brothers in the family of God rather than outcasts.

Isaac Watts had the right spirit when he paraphrased this Psalm with these words-

"Thou God of love, thou ever blest, pity my suffering state;

When will thou set my soul at rest from lips that love deceit?

Peace is the blessing that I seek, how lovely are its charms!

I am for peace, but when I speak, they all declare for arms.

ew passions still their souls engage and keep their malice strong;

What shall be done to curb thy rage, o thou devouring tongue!

Should burning arrows smite thee through, strict justice would approve;

But I had rather spare my foe, and melt his heart with love."

4. When someone sins against us we have a tendency to retaliate, and this leads to

even more problems. David, however is a man of peace, and he is not attacking his

enemies directly, but is going before the Lord to take care of his revenge. This is

wise, for it is man taking revenge on evil that leads to so much more evil. This is a

job for the Lord who knows all of the hearts involved, and all of the circumstances

that men can never know. Ignorance is never a good basis for solving problems,and

so let one who knows all be the judge, jury and executioner. David had his moments

when he rode forth in a rage to kill one who had offended him. He knew the power

of anger that sought to get immediate revenge on an enemy. Here, however, he has

learned to leave vengeance to the Lord, for he knows God is good at doing what only

he can do in a just way. He has the mind of a ew Testament believer by leaving

God in charge of revenge. "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for

God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord." --

Romans 12:19.

5. God has heard him and answered his prayer, and the answer is just what he is

writing here of the punishment that God will inflict on his enemies. He is

encouraged by this spirit of justice in God. This is the highest level David could live

on, for he had no Gospel of forgiveness to offer. So even though his spirit is sub-

Christian, it is still a noble and godly spirit pleasing to God. Even as Christians, we

know that many will not respond to the Gospel and be forgiven, and so it is good for

us, as it was for David, to know that a just judgment will fall on those who have

caused so much suffering to innocent people. Old Testament and ew Testament

saints are not that far apart. It is just that Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross adds a

whole new dimension to life that the Old Testament saints did not possess. The

result is that now there is far greater room for grace.

6. I like the way Wayne Shih wrote, “What will he do to you, and what more

besides,” is kind of an oath formula. It means something like, “May God bring back

on you the fulfillment of your own words.” The Jerusalem Bible translates it like

this: “How will he pay back the false oath of a faithless tongue? With war arrows

hardened over red-hot charcoal!” (3-4). It sounds harsh. At first reading it seems

vindictive. But really it’s the opposite. The writer acknowledges that he has

experienced a real injustice, but he commits the situation to God. He gives up the

right to get back at the person who told lies about him. Instead he trusts God to

make things right. He doesn’t know when it will happen, but he is willing to wait for

God to do what is just."

7. Spurgeon wrote, "Sharp arrows of the mighty. Swift, sure, and sharp shall be the

judgment. Their words were as arrows, and so shall their punishment be. God will

see to it that their punishment shall be comparable to an arrow keen in itself, and

driven home with all the force with which a mighty man shoots it from his bow of

steel, -- "sharp arrows of the mighty". or shall one form of judgment suffice to

avenge this complicated sin. The slanderer shall feel woes comparable to coals of

juniper, which are quick in flaming, fierce in blazing, and long in burning. He shall

feel sharp arrows and sharper fires. Awful doom! All liars shall have their portion

in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Their worm dieth not, and their

fire is not quenched. Juniper coals long retain their heat, but hell burneth ever, and

the deceitful tongue may not deceive itself with the hope of escape from the fire

which it has kindled. What a crime is this to which the All merciful allots a doom so

dreadful! Let us hate it with perfect hatred. It is better to be the victim of slander

than, to be the author of it. The shafts of calumny will miss the mark, but not so the

arrows of God: the coals of malice will cool, but not the fire of justice. Shun slander

as you would avoid hell."

5. Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,

that I live among the tents of Kedar!

1. Woe is me, for I live in a hell hole of iniquity! David is trapped in a fallen world

where folly is so abundant that it is everywhere. These two places are far away from

each other, and so the essence of what he is saying is that he can travel from the

north to the south in his country and it is the same story: people are wicked and

brutal. Love and peace are not a part of their thinking. They are cruel and think

only of war and of killing their enemies one way or the other. If they cannot do it by

the warfare of weapons, they will do it by the arrows of the tongue. Some have

suggested that it was written by David during the time of his exile, when king Saul

was trying to track him down and kill him, and he had to live among pagan peoples

in a foreign land. We can sense the ache in his voice as he laments his situation and

longs to return to his native country.

1B. "There is no geographical connection between those two nations: the former

being upon the north of Palestine, and the latter upon the south. The connection is a

moral one. They are mentioned together, because they were fierce and warlike

barbarians. David had never lived on the shores of the Caspian Sea, or in the

Arabian wilderness; and he means no more than this, that the persons with whom

he now dwelt were as savage and quarrelsome as Mesech and Kedar. After a similar

fashion, we call rude and troublesome persons Turks, Tartars, and Hottentots.

David exclaims, I am just as miserable among these haters of peace, as if I had taken

up my abode with those savage and treacherous tribes." -- . McMichael.

1C. Spurgeon introduced his sermon on this text with these words: "Mesech was the

son of Japheth, from whom, according to history, were descended the men who

inhabited that most barbarous of all regions, according to the opinion of the

ancients, the northern parts of Muscovy or Moscow, and Russia. The inhabitants of

the tents of Kedar were the descendants of one of the sons of Abraham, who had

taken to nomadic habits, and were continually wandering about over the deserts;

and were, besides, thought, and doubtless were, guilty of plundering travelers, and

were by no means the most respectable of mankind. We are to understand, then, by

this verse, that the people among whom the psalmist dwelt were, in his esteem,

among the most barbarous, the most fierce, the most graceless of men; and

therefore it is that he cries, “Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the

tents of Kedar! “He felt a woe in his heart because of that evil companionship in

which he was compelled to abide.

This has been the cry of the children of God in all ages. Lot had his ears vexed with

the filthy conversation of the men of Sodom. Many of the woes of Micah sprang

from those men who were sharper than a thorn-hedge, every one of them ready to

tear and scratch his neighbor. David’s deepest grief’s came from the men who

surrounded him;-on the one hand, the unfriendly sons of Zeruiah, who were too

strong for him; and, on the other hand, Shimei and the sons of Belial, who made a

reproach of every word he uttered, and every deed he did. Even Isaiah himself, that

happy spirited prophet, one day cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone; because I am a

man of unclean lips!” and then he added another cause of his woe, “and I dwell in

the midst of a people of unclean lips;” and I expect I may truly say that, to this day,

you, my brothers and sisters, who are followers of Jesus, have often had to cry out,

“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!” and you

have longed to be far away from this dusky world, so full of sin, and traps, and pit-

falls, and everything that makes us stumble in our path, and of nothing that can

help us onward towards heaven."

1D. Joe Temple, “The psalmist was speaking figuratively, because there is no

evidence that any of the writers of the Psalms were ever in Russia, and that is where

Mesech is located. There is no evidence that any of them were ever to the far eastern

part of Arabiaa, which is where Kedar is. As far as their thinking was concerned,

those were the farthest, most distant points. He says, "I am so far away from God

and the people of God that I feel like I am in Russia or Kedar." That is the point of

the Psalm. Let us forget Mesech and Kedar for a moment and suggest to you that

the psalmist was in distress because he was conscious of a great distance between

him and the Lord. The psalmist was aware of a lack of the sense of the presence of

the Lord.

Do you realize that there are many of God's dear children who are out of fellowship

with Him and who are not conscious of His presence and haven't been for a long

time? They don't even realize it. The reason they have never done anything about

their condition is that they don't sense it. They have never taken this step of distress

where they realize a great gulf separates them and the Lord, figuratively speaking.

There is no real desire in their hearts to do anything about it.”

2. Chad Davis has another perspective that also makes a lot of sense. He wrote,

"First of all, I think it is instructive that even though God answered the psalmist

and declared his coming judgment on the wicked, the psalmist still finds himself

struggling in the midst of sin! The psalmist’s language is a bit obscure but we do

know that Meshech was a son of Japheth and Kedar was a son of Ishmael. That is,

both of these were groups of people that were not part of the people of God, so the

psalmist is complaining about the fact that he has had to dwell among those who are

not part of the people of God. Even stranger is the fact that the psalmist, if he is an

Israelite, most likely never has dwelt among those people. Rather, he is using these

people as an analogy for his situation. That is, even in the midst of those who claim

to be God’s people, he is not among the people of God. The people around him are

wicked. They hate peace, and they pursue war. Even though the psalmist has cried

out to God and been assured that God will judge, he is not removed from the

situation. It is instructive to us to notice that he laments this fact but remains

obedient by continuing to seek peace."

3. All believers experience what David is experiencing here, for we have to live in a

fallen world where evil is the main topic of the news. We have assurance that justice

will be done, and evil will not triumph in the end, but meanwhile this is the

atmosphere we must live in and do out best to modify the evil by lives of

righteousness. God does not remove us, but he sustains us in the midst of this

corrupted environment. It is the great challenge of the believer's life to be able to

live as a member of a minority group and remain faithful to the Lord, and the

principles of life that he has given us in his Word. It is no easy challenge, and many

fail to achieve it. As David says in the next verse, it is a long hard battle, and you

often get sick of it, but those who endure to the end will be greatly rewarded, for the

Lord knows how hard it is to stay loyal to him.

4. It has been pointed out that The English word “woe” is onomatopoeic ; that is it

sounds like what it describes. In Hebrew it would sound like “Oh ah!” The very

sound we would make when we are in pain, when we are hurting."

5. The paradox here is that this woeful feeling of being trapped in a negative

environment is really just how we are supposed to feel as believer. We are to

recognize the truth of what Peter wrote in I Pet. 2:11, "Dear friends, I urge you, as

aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against

your soul." We don't belong here, for we are made for a life of love, peace and joy.

We are supposed to feel like aliens, and not members of the culture and society that

is out of God's will. We are to feel alienated so that we do not feel welcome to enter

into the life style of the world. If we are fully happy and content with this world, we

are more likely to become an active member of it's life style, which means we will

join them in their sinful ways. We are to be in the world, but not of the world, and

that means to be lights in the world for the truth of God, but not of the world's ways

of darkness. So if you feel bad about the world, and can say woe is me, for having to

put up with all of the garbage of my culture, you are on the right path, and have the

right spirit that will motivate you to climb to better things.

6. Spurgeon wrote, "Woe is me, that sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of

Kedar! Gracious men are vexed with the conversation of the wicked. Our poet felt

himself to be as ill at ease among lying neighbors as if he had lived among savages

and cannibals. The traitors around him were as bad as the unspeakable Turk. He

cries "Woe is me!" Their sin appalled him, their enmity galled him. He had some

hope from the fact that he was only a sojourner in Mesech; but as years rolled on

the time dragged heavily, and he feared that he might call himself a dweller in

Kedar. The wandering tribes to whom he refers were constantly at war with one

another; it was their habit to travel armed to the teeth; they were a kind of

plundering gypsies, with their hand against every man and every man's hand

against them; and to these he compared the false hearted ones who had assailed his

character. Those who defame the righteous are worse than cannibals; for savages

only eat men after they are dead, but these wretches cat them up alive.

"Woe's me that I in Mesech am

A sojourner so long;

That I in tabernacles dwell

To Kedar that belong.

My soul with him that hateth peace

Hath long a dweller been;

I am for peace; but when I speak,

For battle they are keen.

My soul distracted mourns and pines

To reach that peaceful shore,

Where all the weary are at rest,

And troublers vex no more".

7. In Hebrews 11 we see that the great list of people of faith lived as aliens in this

world. Verses 13 to 16 says, "All these people were still living by faith when they

died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed

them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on

earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of

their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have

had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a

heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has

prepared a city for them." These people of faith were ever climbing higher toward

that promised city. They did not look back like the wife of Lot, regretting what they

were giving up, but pressed on gladly giving up the fleeting pleasure of the world for

the pleasures at God's right hand that last forever. "He is no fool who give up what

he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Our big danger as Christians is to

adapt to the culture and become content to be accepted by the world. This leads to

our feeling no need to keep climbing toward the higher life of the kingdom of God.

Why bother when we are already satisfied where we are? That is the thinking of the

secularized Christian; a growing breed in our culture. When you stop feeling out of

place, it is a sign you have stopped climbing.

This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

8. “As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little

use for you to cry “Woe is me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of

the world, and what he did not pray for, you need not desire. Better far in the

Lord’s strength to meet the difficulty, and glorify him in it. The enemy is ever on the

watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct; be therefore very holy. Remember

that the eyes of all are upon you, and that more is expected from you than from

other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be the only fault

they can discover in you. Like Daniel, compel them to say of you, “We shall not find

any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of

his God.” Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, “If I were in a

more favourable position I might serve the Lord’s cause, but I cannot do any good

where I am”; but the worse the people are among whom you live, the more need

have they of your exertions; if they be crooked, the more necessity that you should

set them straight; and if they be perverse, the more need have you to turn their

proud hearts to the truth. Where should the physician be but where there are many

sick? Where is honour to be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire of the battle?

And when weary of the strife and sin that meets you on every hand, consider that all

the saints have endured the same trial. They were not carried on beds of down to

heaven, and you must not expect to travel more easily than they. They had to hazard

their lives unto the death in the high places of the field, and you will not be crowned

till you also have endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore,

“stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” author unknown

9. F. B. Meyer, “It is a bitter experience to have to live where there is no sympathy,

but carping criticism and incessant innuendo. A pure-minded friend was recounting

to me the other day the anguish he suffered perpetually, because his associates,

knowing how acutely he suffered from the least suggestions of impurity, chose to

assault his ears continually with abominable expressions. There are souls which

have long had their dwelling with those that hate peace. To their least sigh war is the

immediate response.

O lily among thorns, this is no new experience! Thy Lord hath been through these

paths before thee; see the bent twigs which prove that He has passed this way. But

thy loneliness can never be quite as sorrowful as his, for thou hast always Him. And

remember, there is a compensation, in that the strict scrutiny of thy foes makes thee

ever so much more watchful and prayerful, and drives thee oftener to the bosom of

God. One declared to me lately that he had found it easier to live a holy life in a City

warehouse than in a Divinity college. Perhaps we gain much more than we know

from jealous opposition and criticism.

Oft in Life’s stillest shade reclining,

In desolation unrepining,

Without a hope on earth to find

A mirror in an answering mind,

Meek souls there are who little deem

Their daily strife an Angel’s theme.

But as the saintly Samuel Rutherford wrote: “The Cross of Christ is the sweetest

burden that I ever bore: it is such a burden as are wings to a bird, and sails to a

ship, to carry me forward to my desired haven.”

6. Too long have I lived

among those who hate peace.

1. It is getting old, this living in an environment that hates everything I love and

long for. I love peace, and they hate it. I speak out for peace, and they call me the

enemy. They drag my name through the mud because I do not love war. I suffer for

trying to be a blessing in the world, and I am hated for seeking the way of peace. I

like the way one pastor described the feeling of David. He wrote, "Do you see that

the psalmist was tired? Do you see that he despaired of his condition? And do you

see that he longed to be in a place where there was peace and love. Thus, this psalm

appropriately begins the fifteen psalms of ascent about worship. It says in effect;

I’m tired of living among ungodly people. I want to go where God is, to His house, to

the place where He is worshiped for there I will find peace, love, and acceptance

instead of war, hatred, and hostility."

2. David represents every minority in history who have longed for, and prayed for,

and have worked for what is wise and just in human relationships. They are hated

for doing what is right and good. Every reformer has to pay a high price to change

customs and traditions based on prejudice and bigotry. Just read of what men went

through to end slavery, and you will see that they had hell to pay before they won

the battle. They were hated and despised, and their names were vilified by those

who profited by keeping things the way they were. It is an awful life to live, and few

are able to survive to the end without the grace of God.

3. An unknown pastor posted this account of a movie on the internet, and it

illustrates the reality that David was complaining about here. We have all lived too

long in a world where people are always looking for trouble rather than peace. He

wrote, "In 1991, a movie came out called "Grand Canyon." In that film, a well-to-

do lawyer tries to avoid a traffic jam by detouring off the expressway, and soon gets

lost in a very dangerous and unfamiliar part of the city. His car breaks down. It’s

night, and although he manages to call a tow truck, by the time it arrives, his

expensive car is surrounded by gang members. Clearly, they are planning to take

his car by force, and possibly harm him in the process. Then the tow-truck driver,

"Simon," arrives, played by Danny Glover. Over the protests of the gang members,

Simon proceeds to hook the car up to his truck. And then Simon does something

unexpected. He asks the leader of the gang to just let him go. "I’ve gotta ask you for

a favor," he says. "Let me go my way here. This truck’s my responsibility, and now

that the car’s hooked up to it it’s my responsibility too." And then he goes on,

"Man, the world ain’t supposed to work like this. I mean, maybe you don’t know

that yet. I’m supposed to be able to do my job without having to ask you if I can.

That dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you ripping him off.

Everything is supposed to be different than it is." He concludes, "Everything is

supposed to be different than it is. That’s true, isn’t it?"

4. Eugene Peterson authored a book on the Songs of Ascents called A Long

Obedience in the Same Direction. It is a wonderful title, for it captures the truth

that there is no quick fix to the mess we are in. The obedient life is never over, and

the climb to the peak of perfection is a long hard climb that will not end until we

leave this flesh and are helped to the ultimate level by the hands of God. Until that

day we need to keep on climbing in the direction that is ever upward, and always

above the corruption of the world. Peterson wrote, "Religion in our time has been

captured by the tourist mindset. Religion is understood as a visit to an attractive site

to be made when we have adequate leisure…. I don’t know what it has been like for

pastors in other cultures and previous centuries, but I am quite sure that for a

pastor in Western culture in the latter part of the twentieth century the aspect of

world that makes the work of leading Christians in the way of faith most difficult is

what Gore Vidal has analyzed as “today’s passion for the immediate and the

casual.” Everyone is in a hurry. The persons whom I lead in worship, among whom

I counsel, visit, pray, preach, and teach, want short cuts. They want me to help them

fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eterntiy). They are impatient for

results. They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points.

But a pastor is not a tour guide. I have no interest in telling apocryphal religious

stories at and around dubiously identified sacred sites. The Christian life cannot

mature under such conditions and in such ways." These songs of ascent make it

clear that it is a long hard climb, and not a walk in the park.

5. Wayne Shih wrote, "The life worth living is a long obedience in the same

direction, it must also be a long obedience in the right direction. There are few

things more frustrating than driving down the road for thirty minutes and realizing

you’ve been going west when you should have been headed east. Far worse than that

is the tragedy of coming to the end of your life and finding out you’ve been on the

wrong road. Or as I’ve said before: You don’t want to climb the ladder of life and

reach the top, only to learn your ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Friends,

we can only live life forward. There is no rewind button. But there is a direction

button. There is no sense in a long obedience in the same direction if it’s the wrong

direction.

I am convinced that the only right direction is a Godward direction. We were made

by God. We were made for God. Life disconnected from God will prove to be

ultimately wasted. Sadly, any of us at any time can lose sight of why we were

created. Life beats up on us. We make bad decisions. People mistreat us. We get

angry at them and at God. And so we drift away from following Christ. Joseph

Stowell says it like this: Our instincts … are often well intended but disconnected

from an orientation to the ways of Christ. Our Christianity is dismembered, not

always by radical rebellion, but more often by careless disregard. And

unfortunately, we sometimes remain completely unaware that life is going the wrong

way until we are buried under a pile of disappointing results."

6. Calvin wrote, "He calls them haters of peace, because they willfully, and with

deliberate malice, set themselves to make war upon the good and unoffending. To

the same purpose he adds immediately after, that his heart was strongly inclined to

seek after peace, or rather, that he was wholly devoted to it, and had tried every

means in order to win their favor, but that the implacable cruelty of their

disposition invariably impelled them to do him mischief. When he says, I peace, it is

an abrupt, yet not an obscure expression, implying that he had not done them any

injury or wrong which could give occasion for their hatred there having been always

peace on his part. He even proceeds farther, asserting, that when he saw them

inflamed with resentment against him, he endeavored to pacify them, and to bring

them to a good understanding; for to speak, is here equivalent to offering conditions

of peace in an amicable spirit, or to treating of reconciliation. From this it is still

more apparent, how savage and brutal was the pride of David's enemies, since they

disdained even to speak with him -- to speak with a man who had deserved well at

their hands, and who had never in any respect injured them. We are taught by his

example, that it is not enough for the faithful to abstain from hurting others: they

must, moreover, study to allure them by gentleness, and to bend them to good will.

Should their moderation and kindness be rejected, let them wait in patience, until

God at length show himself from heaven as their protector. Let us, however,

remember, that if God does not immediately stretch forth his hand in our behalf, it

is our duty to bear the wearisomeness occasioned by delay, like David, whom we

find in this Psalm giving, thanks to God for his deliverance, while, at the same time,

as if worn out with the weariness of waiting for it, he bewails the long oppression to

which he had been subjected by his enemies."

7 I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are

for war.

1. David is a minority voice for peace in an environment that is loud with the voices

of those clammering for war. It is a place of such humbling weakness, for he has no

power to change things. His peace talk is drowned out by the majority who want

war, and more war. It is not a comfortable place to be in our own power, and that is

why we need, as David did, a dependance on the Lord. He was marching upward to

Zion to worship the Lord of Israel, for he needed the support that only God can

give. It is good for a man of David's stature to feel humble and weak, and

inadequate to change the world, for this will keep him climbing toward God. He will

be working on what he can change by the grace of God, and that is his own inner

world where he can become the kind of person God longs for him to be. We cannot

turn this fallen world into a paradise, but we can turn our inner lives into such a

place where we can walk again with God in the garden of his new creation. We can

develop an inner environment where we fellowship with our Lord. We can have an

honest relationship where we continually confess our sins and experience

forgiveness. We can be sanctified to a level where God dwells in us, and we

experience a world within this world where we can obey Paul in Phil. 4:8 where he

wrote, "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent

or praiseworthy-think about such things." Peace with God opens up a whole new

world of beauty for the believer to focus on in contrast to the focus of the world on

violence and war.

2. Unfortunately, a great many of God's people stop climbing toward the ideal.

Instead they settle down and accept the way of the world, and they bring the world

into their homes and churches. This leads the home and the church to be a part of

the world rather than a part of the kingdom of God. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “After

over 50 years of ministry, I am convinced that most of the problems in families and

churches are caused by professed Christians who do not have a real and vital

relationship to Jesus Christ. They are not humble peacemakers, but arrogant

troublemakers. Until God changes them or they decide to go elsewhere, the

dedicated believers must be patient and prayerful.”

2B. The problem is that they live like this Psalmist in the midst of people with values

so contrary to those of believers, and most will not listen to a different perspective.

The result is they lose the motivation to take a stand; to keep trying to make a

difference, and to influence one other person for the right way. They lose the dream.

In the composition called, “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” there a description of

the flight of the angel. The lyrics go-

As he flew o’er Sarajevo

There were scars upon the land

There were scars upon the people

It was hard to understand

And the deepest scars of all

Which to humans are unseen

But the angel could see clearly

Were the scars upon the dreams.

2C. That is what can happen when we live in a world where war rather than peace

is the strongest motive of people. People see all the violence and scars on the land

and buildings and even bodies, but they do not see the scarred dreams that paralyze

believers in their climb to the higher level. These scarred believers stop climbing

and settle for the reality of what the fallen world is all about. They no longer light a

candle in the darkness, but blow it out and accept the darkness as a way of life. Part

of the problem is that they cannot accept failure, and still keep on keeping on. They

speak of peace and all they hear is we prefer war. They get discouraged and give up,

but this is not what Jesus did as our example of living in a fallen world. He felt

terrible and he wept because he could not get people to accept the way of peace, and

he pictured horrible judgment because of it, but he never gave up on people, but

went on to give his life for these very people who wanted him killed. Look at this

amazing text in

Luke 19:41-44 "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it

42and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you

peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43The days will come upon you when

your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you

in on every side. 44They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within

your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize

the time of God's coming to you." He failed to win them to the way of peace, but he

still went on to become the Prince of Peace in reconciling God and man. He never

stopped climbing, and neither can we if we are really following him as Lord.

2D. Spurgeon wrote, "But when I speak, they are for war. My kindest words appear

to provoke them, and they are at daggers drawn at once. othing pleases them; if I

am silent they count me morose, and if I open my mouth they cavil and controvert.

Let those who dwell with such pugilistic company console themselves with the

remembrance that both David and David's Lord endured the same trial. It is the lot

of the saints to find foes even in their own households. Others besides David dwelt in

the place of dragons. Others besides Daniel have been cast into a den of lions.

Meanwhile, let those who are in quiet resting places and peaceful habitations be

greatly grateful for such ease. God has given us this tranquility. Be it ours never to

inflict upon others that from which we have been screened ourselves."

3. Samuel Cox wrote, "The psalm, moreover, breathes an intense longing for peace;

and in this world of strife and confusion, when is that longing inappropriate? Is it

any marvel that a Hebrew, with a deep spiritual longing for peace, should cry as he

started for the Temple, "Let me get out of all that, at least for a time. Let me be quit

of this fever and strain, free from the vain turbulence and conflicting noises of the

world. Let me rest and recreate myself a while in the sacred asylum and sanctuary

of the God of peace. God of peace, grant me thy peace as I worship in thy presence;

and let me find a bettered world when I come back to it, or at least bring a bettered

and more patient heart to its duties and strife's"

4. "The character of a very good man in David, who could truly say, though he was a

man of war, I am for peace; for living peaceably with all men and unpeaceably with

none. I peace (so it is in the original); "I love peace and pursue peace; my disposition

is to peace and my delight is in it. I pray for peace and strive for peace, will do any

thing, submit to any thing, part with any thing, in reason, for peace. I am for peace,

and have made it to appear that I am so." The wisdom that is from above is first pure,

then peaceable. (2.) The character of the worst of bad men in David's enemies, who

would pick quarrels with those that were most peaceably disposed: "When I speak

they are for war; and the more forward for war the more they find me inclined to

peace." He spoke with all the respect and kindness that could be, proposed methods

of accommodation, spoke reason, spoke love; but they would not so much as hear

him patiently, but cried out, "To arms! to arms!" so fierce and implacable were

they, and so bent to mischief. Such were Christ's enemies: for his love they were his

adversaries, and for his good words, and good works, they stoned him."

5. Spurgeon end his sermon on this text with these words of comfort: "Brethren, ye

may be comforted yet again with this sweet thought,-that not only is God with you,

but your Master was once in the tents of Kedar; not merely spiritually, but

personally, even as you are; and inasmuch as you are here too, this, instead of being

painful, should be comforting to you. Have you not received a promise that you shall

be like your Head? Thank God that promise has begun to be fulfilled. If you were

happy in the tents of Kedar, you might think, “I am not like my Master, for he was a

Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;” but inasmuch as you have evil things

thrown at you, and your way is hard and rough, you may say, “ ow I know what it

is to have fellowship with him in suffering, in some feeble measure. As I was buried

with him in baptism unto death, so with him I trust I have had conformity unto his

death.” When any pang rends your heart from slander or misrepresentation, then

can you say, “ ow I know what he meant when he said, ’Reproach has broken my

heart.’“ When you find yourself abused and misrepresented, you can say, “ ow I

understand what Christ endured when they said, He is a gluttonous man and a

winebibber; a friend of publicans and sinners.’“ It is worth while to be like Christ in

the worst times, because that is an assurance that we shall be like him in the best

times. If I carry a cross as he carried one, I shall wear a crown as he wears one. If I

have been with him in the degradation of the flesh, I shall be with him in the glory of

the Spirit. If I have been with him when men hooted and hissed, and dogs

compassed him, and the bulls of Bashan beset him round, I shall be with him, too,

when angelic hosts are round him, and he shall be admired of all that love him, and

adored of all creation. You shall be like your Head, poor sufferer,-like your Head;

then, what more can you want? Is not this a sufficient honor, that the servant is as

his Master, and the subject is as his Sovereign?

6. This Psalm ends with mixed emotions, for he is grateful that he is a man of peace,

but sad that he lives among those who are men of war. This world is just not what it

ought to be, and so this is the place from which the journey begins to find a higher

and more noble life. We need to get to that higher place where there are no lies

about us, but only truth about us, and that truth is that we are loved by Him who

created and redeemed us. Here is why we climb to worship the God who has an

ideal future of love and peace waiting for his people. Worship is the way to taste of

that ideal life, and so it is the goal of believers to get to a place where they can

worship and enjoy God. David knew long before it became a summing up of

theology that, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever." By

worship we get to enjoy God in time before we get the full package in eternity, and

when we enjoy God we get the renewed strength we need to go back into the fallen

world and keep standing for what is right. We may not change the world, but we

can change some small part of it by adding God's light to that darkness in which we

live. So that is why we climb the hill to Jerusalem, or whatever hill is necessary, to

worship our God and Savior.

7. Warren Wiersbe, “Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matt. 5:9). But not

everybody in this world is a peacemaker. Some people are troublemakers. They

enjoy making trouble, and sometimes we have to live or work with them. That's the

kind of situation the psalmist found himself in....... Ever since Cain killed Abel,

we've had conflict in this world. ations war against one another; families fall

apart; and even Christians don't get along with each other. David went through

conflict. Jesus went through it. And we experience it also. Still, we are to be

peacemakers--not peace breakers. After all, we have the peace of God in our hearts,

and we have peace with Him--we are not at war with Him the way unsaved people

are. So wherever we are, we will experience conflict but also the opportunity to

bring peace.

"I am for peace," the psalmist says. Literally, the Hebrew text means, "I am peace.

They are war." Each of us is either a battlefield or a blessing. Each of us is either

declaring war or declaring peace. Some people enter a situation, and peace comes in

with them. Other people walk in, and war follows. Let's ask God to help us in this

wicked, conflicting world to be people who promote peace, not war. God's people

are to be peacemakers. This world of never-ending conflict affords many

opportunities for you to make peace. However, peacemaking often is not easy. Are

you quick to promote peace when you confront conflict? Strive to be a blessing to

others--be a peacemaker.”

8. Rev. John Schmidt, “Okay this Psalm starts with this picture: with the words "in

my distress." "I call on the Lord in my distress." It begins with that intense picture

and it ends with the word in English, "war." It's not a very pretty poem. It's filled

with this dissatisfaction with the way things are. The Psalmist feels surrounded.

There is no safe place. Lies are everywhere. He talks about dwelling in Meshech and

living among the tents of Kedar. These are two names for tribes. Meshech is as far

north as any Israelite would have any conception, on the edge of Russia and then the

other Kedar is a wandering tribe that would have been to the south and east of

Israel. And so here the picture is, I am in the middle of a situation that

geographically and culturally is totally alien to me and I don't belong here. There is

something wrong. Here is a person who is sick of the lies, sick of the violence and

sick of the hate. And so this writer rejects the environment around him.

But in doing that, he's also rejecting the influence of that environment on his own

life. ow most of us have been around a campfire, even if we are not really campers

and you know how it is when you sit around a campfire, one of the laws of physics

says that it always blows in your face. It is absolutely impossible to prevent that

from happening. ow if you leave the campfire and go home you will find that you

have become part of the problem. You still smell like smoke because all of the

campfire has permeated your clothing. It's on you. And that is how it is when we are

affected by the world around us. The lies might begin outside of us, but it becomes

part of us and we start to think that way and we start to act that way. So here where

the Psalmist says, "Enough of this. It's got to end," he is also rejecting the influence

that it has had in his own life. So the Psalmist gives a resounding " o!" to the world

around him and that o is a Yes to God.”

9. Alan Perkins, “On a personal level, you and I sometimes encounter angry, bitter,

malicious people who have no interest in peace. We meet them at work, on the

highway, in our neighborhoods; our children meet them at school; sometimes we

even encounter them in our own families. And anyone who has been party to a

family feud; a conflict with in-laws; or with a husband, or wife, or son, or daughter

who spurns all efforts to reconcile, can identify with this Psalm. "Woe is me. Too

long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man [or woman] of peace; but

when I speak, they are for war." What do we do when this happens? How do we

cope with this kind of ongoing, intractable hostility? The first step is to imitate the

Psalmist, to be brutally honest, with ourselves and with God. We cry out: "Lord, I

don’t know how long I can take this. I’m tired, I’m frustrated, I’m discouraged. It

doesn’t seem to make any difference what I say; they are determined to hate me.

They attack me over and over, no matter what I do. Help me, Lord. Give me the

strength to persevere; give me the will to continue in this journey of faith. Give me

the grace to remain committed to peace, and not let them change me into a person of

war."

10. The bottom line is this: He was ready for a higher life than where he was. He was

in distress because of the life he had, and his associations. He was ready to climb to a

higher atmosphere where he could breath a fresher air coming from the presence of

God. This is where the climb of any believer begins. If you are content with who you

are, and where you are, you will not have any motivation to climb to a higher level

of living. There is a need for dissatisfaction before there will be any ambition to put

forth the effort to climb.

If you like where you are,

Your not likely to climb far.

If your content to just be,

You will not desire to be free.

If your present is sublime,

And you don't see it as crime

You lack any motive to climb,

And will stay as you are for all time.

But when contentment is seen as a crime,

because what you have is not worth a dime,

And staying put is without reason or rhyme,

Then you will have the motivation to climb.

10. Following up this dissatisfaction with what is, is the reality of what God has done

in Christ to lead us in our climb to a higher place. Mike Hamby wrote, “But the idea

of “living among the tents of Kedar” reminds us of something else. The Apostle

John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his

glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

The greatest help and the greatest hope that God has given to us was sending His

son to “dwell among us” to “tabernacle us” for a few years on this earth.

Jesus came and lived as a sojourner. He lived among those who lied about Him. He

lived among those who opposed Him and hated Him. Jesus lived among us

temporarily so that by faith in Him we would live with Him permanently. When

Jesus died on the cross, He made peace between God and sinners. Jesus died

because of our sin. Jesus rose again to conquer the warring rebel heart within us.

Jesus lives in the heavenly realm this morning to give sufficient help for all who will

call upon Him by faith. Someday, Jesus will unite the heavenly and the earthly.

Someday, Jesus will return to the earth, and He will bring all who trust in Him into

that new and perfect world. This is God’s help for leaving this world. Friends, we

are living here only temporarily. We are sojourners here. But when we rise with

Christ, we will be citizens of that world forever.”

11. Meanwhile we are to be pressing on with Paul who wrote in Phil. 3:12-14, “ ot

that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press

on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not

consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is

behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the

prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” We are called to be

climbing heavenward daily as we strive to be all we can be in Christ. An unknown

poet wrote-

We have not wings and cannot soar,

But we have feet to scale and climb

By slow degrees, by more and more,

The cloudy summits of our time.

The heights, by great men reached and kept,

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they, while their companion slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.

12. Other poets have written about the aspiration of climbing to greater heights, and

they fit the attitude the believer is to have in climbing to the greater level of life that

awaits us even in time, let alone in eternity.

Climbing by Amy Lowell

High up in the apple tree climbing I go,

With the sky above me, the earth below.

Each branch is the step of a wonderful stair

Which leads to the town I see shining up there.

Climbing, climbing, higher and higher,

The branches blow and I see a spire,

The gleam of a turret, the glint of a dome,

All sparkling and bright, like white sea foam.

On and on, from bough to bough,

The leaves are thick, but I push my way through;

Before, I have always had to stop,

But to-day I am sure I shall reach the top.

Today to the end of the marvelous stair,

Where those glittering pinacles flash in the air!

Climbing, climbing, higher I go,

With the sky close above me, the earth far below.

The Fountain

By: James Russell Lowell

Into the sunshine,

Full of the light,

Leaping and flashing

From morn till night!

Into the moonlight,

Whiter than snow,

Waving so flower-like

When the winds blow!

Into the starlight,

Rushing in spray,

Happy at midnight,

Happy by day!

Ever in motion,

Blithesome and cheery,

Still climbing heavenward,

ever aweary;--

Glad of all weathers,

Still seeming best,

Upward or downward,

Motion thy rest;--

Full of a nature

othing can tame,

Changed every moment,

Ever the same;--

Ceaseless aspiring,

Ceaseless content,

Darkness or sunshine

Thy element;--

Glorious fountain!

Let my heart be

Fresh, changeful, constant,

Upward, like thee!