Psalm 120 — When You Long for Peace in a…

How can we seek peace without accepting lies in a world of hostile words?

Overview

The first Song of Ascents: an honest prayer at the beginning of the journey toward God's presence

Key text — Psalm 120:7 (study rendering): “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”

Some journeys begin with excitement. Others begin because staying where we are has become painful. Psalm 120 opens the Songs of Ascents not with a view of Jerusalem's gates but with a person exhausted by deceit, estrangement, and hostility. Someone has used words as weapons. The worshiper wants peace, but even an attempt to speak seems to invite another quarrel.

This is a surprisingly honest beginning for a collection often associated with pilgrimage and worship. Before the traveler can celebrate arrival, the traveler must admit the truth about the place from which the journey begins. The psalmist has not found peace in the surrounding society. Yet the first movement is not revenge or flight. It is prayer: “To the LORD, in my distress, I called.”

Psalm 119 has just celebrated the truth and freedom found in God's instruction. Psalm 120 turns immediately to the wounds inflicted by untruthful human speech. The sequence is meaningful for readers of the completed Psalter: knowing God's word does not remove us from a world of malicious words. It teaches us where to turn when those words threaten to overwhelm us.

The poem contains only seven verses, but it asks searching questions. What should a believer do when speech becomes an instrument of harm? How can we be committed to peace without surrendering truth or justice? How do we begin a journey toward God's presence when we are still surrounded by conflict?

1.0 Introduction

Psalm 120 is both an individual lament and the opening song of a larger pilgrimage collection. The speaker remembers a previous occasion when God answered a cry of distress (v. 1), asks to be rescued from lying speech (v. 2), confronts the false tongue with the prospect of severe consequences (vv. 3–4), and laments prolonged residence among those who hate peace (vv. 5–7). The poem ends without describing a fresh rescue. The speaker's desire and the surrounding community's hostility remain painfully opposed.

That unfinished ending matters. Biblical faith is not always narrated as a rapid movement from suffering to visible success. Sometimes faith takes the form of refusing to let the immediate situation have the final word. The psalmist knows that deceit is destructive and that peace is worth seeking; neither conviction makes the present environment easy to endure.

The opening phrase, “A Song of Ascents,” associates the psalm with Psalms 120–134, a distinctive collection of fifteen brief songs. Read in that company, Psalm 120 becomes a fitting beginning: the journey toward worship starts among people who cannot find peace where they live. Psalm 121 will speak of the God who keeps the traveler; Psalm 122 will celebrate going to Jerusalem and praying for its peace. Psalm 120 first tells us why that peace is desired so urgently.

Its governing contrast is expressed through two kinds of speech. The deceiver's words harm, distort, and provoke. The worshiper's words are intended for peace, but the surrounding response is war. Over both stands the possibility of a third voice: the LORD, whose answer is more trustworthy than the words of either party.

2.0 Historical and Literary Context

The first of fifteen Songs of Ascents

The Hebrew heading is šîr hammaʿălôt, commonly rendered “A Song of Ascents” or “A Song of Going Up.” All fifteen psalms from 120 through 134 carry this heading or a close form of it. The term may evoke the ascent to Jerusalem, situated in the hill country, especially when worshipers traveled for Israel's festivals (cf. Deut. 16:16; Ps. 122:1–4). The songs have also been read in connection with the experience of return from exile and renewed life around God's dwelling place.

We should distinguish plausible later use from certain original composition. The heading does not tell us who first wrote Psalm 120, when it was written, or precisely how pilgrims performed it. Kidner understands it as an especially fitting opening for travelers approaching Jerusalem from a distant, alienating environment. Goldingay notes that the language may reflect the experience of dispersed Judeans, but could equally function as a metaphor for someone feeling alienated even in his or her own city. Both help us read the text without pretending to know more history than it supplies.

In the Psalter's wider arrangement, the journey has a theological direction. Psalm 119 concludes with a servant asking God to seek him like a wandering sheep (119:176). Psalm 120 begins among deception and hostility; Psalm 121 will insist that help comes from the Creator; Psalm 122 will direct attention toward Jerusalem and the pursuit of peace. Later Songs of Ascents will celebrate forgiveness, dependence, family, communal unity, and worship (Pss. 130–134). The opening is deliberately unromantic: the pilgrim is first a troubled human being.

A short lament, not a complete rescue story

Verse 1 resembles the beginning of a thanksgiving testimony: there was distress, the speaker called, and God answered. But the psalm immediately continues with a request for rescue. Goldingay weighs several ways of reading this shift and favors hearing verse 1 as the memory of an earlier answer that gives courage for a new prayer. Kidner understands the opening as referring to an answered cry and reads what follows in light of that assurance. Neither reading should be flattened into the claim that the whole conflict has already disappeared.

The composition has a clear movement: remembered help (v. 1); present petition (v. 2); warning to deceivers (vv. 3–4); and lament over a hostile environment (vv. 5–7). Repeated expressions connect its parts: “deceitful tongue” bridges verses 2 and 3, “dwelling” connects verses 5 and 6, and “peace” is repeated across verses 6 and 7. The poem is brief, but its art is careful.

Meshech and Kedar: distant places or a map of alienation?

Meshech is associated with regions to Israel's north, often located in or near Anatolia (Ezek. 27:13; 38:2). Kedar designates an Arabian pastoral people associated with the desert east and southeast of Israel (Isa. 21:13–17; 42:11). Their separation makes it unlikely that the writer is reporting simultaneous residence in both locations. The names are best understood as a poetic way of saying, “I feel far from home, surrounded by people who do not share the peace I seek.”

Goldingay emphasizes their geographic distance and their usefulness as images of estrangement. Kidner also notes the possibility of Israel speaking corporately as a people scattered among other nations. The historical background remains open: diaspora, social marginalization, or a worshiper's experience of hostility closer to home could all inform the poem. Crucially, the psalm does not authorize us to label the ethnic descendants of Meshech or Kedar as inherently violent or deceitful. Its target is a pattern of hostile conduct, not an immutable character assigned to foreign peoples.

What sort of peace does the singer want?

The Hebrew word šālôm means more than an absence of fighting. Depending on context, it includes well-being, wholeness, security, good relations, and the possibility of life together without fear. The speaker is not describing mere politeness. He longs for conditions in which speech need not become a weapon and relationships need not be governed by intimidation.

3.0 Walking Through the Text

3.1 Psalm 120:1 — Prayer begins with remembered help

“To the LORD, in the trouble that came upon me, I called, and he answered me.” (Study rendering)

The first verse establishes a history between the worshiper and God. This is not necessarily a person whose troubles have ended. The remembered answer gives the person grounds to call again. The Hebrew verbs naturally suggest a past event, though interpreters differ about exactly how verses 2–7 relate to it.

There is no attempt to portray the speaker as strong enough to conquer the situation independently. The opening confession is simply this: when I was cornered, I called on the LORD. To call is to acknowledge both need and relationship. The person knows whom to address.

Psalm 118:5 similarly remembered calling on the LORD from a confined place and receiving an answer. Psalm 120 begins where the preceding Hallel's thanksgiving can be carried into a fresh crisis. Past mercy becomes courage for present prayer, not a guarantee that every future answer will arrive in the same form or time.

One of the quiet disciplines of faith is remembering without romanticizing. We can name a time when God sustained us without claiming that today's distress has already been resolved. A congregation may recall an earlier deliverance while still facing new conflict. A family may remember surviving one season of hardship while honestly admitting another is beginning. Prayer draws strength from God's character, not from a fabricated appearance of invulnerability.

3.2 Psalm 120:2 — The violence of dishonest words

“LORD, rescue my life from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” (Study rendering)

The danger here is primarily verbal, but it is not therefore trivial. False testimony can take away work, fracture a household, damage a reputation, isolate a person from friends, or expose someone to physical danger. In settings where public trust is essential, speech can determine whether a vulnerable person receives protection or becomes the victim of accusation.

The plea concerns the speaker's life—Hebrew nepeš, which can describe the living self or person, not merely an immaterial “soul.” The prayer asks for the protection of a whole human life affected by lies. The psalmist does not pray, “Make people like me.” He prays for deliverance from calculated distortion.

The wider Psalter repeatedly notices this connection between words and violence: tongues can become sharpened weapons (Ps. 52:2–4; 64:2–4), while the just person is called to restrain deceit and pursue peace (Ps. 34:13–14). In Psalm 119, the worshiper rejoiced in God's truthful instruction; here truth becomes a matter of survival.

Prayer for deliverance should not replace appropriate action. A person facing slander can document evidence, seek fair mediation, correct false claims, and appeal to responsible authorities. Where deception accompanies threats or abuse, safety and accountability matter. Trusting God is not the same as allowing untruth to spread unchecked.

3.3 Psalm 120:3 — A question addressed to the deceitful tongue

“What will be given to you—and what more will come to you—you deceitful tongue?” (Study rendering)

The speaker suddenly turns from God to the offender. The tongue stands for the person using it: this is a familiar poetic way of naming human conduct through the body part involved. The rhetorical question confronts the deceiver with the consequences of deceit.

The Hebrew wording is unusual. Goldingay notes its resemblance to an ancient oath or self-curse formula and considers whether the liar's own solemn words are being turned back upon the liar. Another possible reading asks what deceit will gain its user. These readings differ in detail but meet at a common point: lying is not a harmless path to advantage. It threatens the very person who employs it.

This is a challenge to the seductive economics of falsehood. A lie may seem profitable when it wins an argument, attracts an audience, protects a position, or injures an opponent. The psalm asks us to consider its real end. What is gained when conscience, trust, and community are destroyed?

The psalm's confrontation is spoken in the hearing of God. That matters. A victim is permitted to name injustice clearly. Yet the next line is imagery of judgment, not an instruction to make one's own verbal or physical attack more destructive than the original injury.

3.4 Psalm 120:4 — Sharp arrows and burning broom coals

“The sharpened arrows of a warrior, with glowing coals from broom wood.” (Study rendering)

This answer is deliberately alarming. Arrows wound at a distance; burning coals evoke a judgment that continues to burn. The reference to broom wood or the desert broom shrub probably draws on its use for making charcoal that burns fiercely and retains heat. The text gives no method of punishment for believers to imitate. It is vivid poetry announcing that falsehood has consequences before God.

Kidner interprets the image in terms of God's decisive answer to the liar, bringing the judicial imagery into conversation with Psalm 64, where the schemer's attack turns back upon the schemer. Goldingay stresses the image of the divine warrior and the force of the threat, while also recognizing a sharp tension with the speaker's later claim to be committed to peace.

We should not hide that tension. The worshiper feels injured and wants the deceitful person stopped. The language reveals a heart strained by injustice. Rather than edit out the discomfort, the psalm gives us a way to bring disturbing emotions into God's presence for examination.

Christians need not convert this imagery into a prayer that particular neighbors be physically burned. The canonical witness calls us to entrust judgment to God, resist vengeance, and leave room for the possibility of repentance (Prov. 20:22; Rom. 12:17–21). If anger is part of our prayer, we should name it truthfully while asking God to prevent anger from becoming cruelty.

3.5 Psalm 120:5 — A stranger among Meshech and Kedar

“Woe to me, for I live as a stranger in Meshech; I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” (Study rendering)

“Woe to me” is a cry of personal distress, not a carefully argued complaint. The speaker feels displaced. Even if the person's home has not physically changed, its social atmosphere has become unrecognizable. He or she is living among people who do not want the same kind of peace.

Meshech and Kedar function like a poetic compass pointing in widely separated directions. By naming both, the singer evokes the loneliness of being far from the place where one belongs. This does not require hatred of foreigners. Scripture repeatedly commands care for the resident foreigner and recalls Israel's own experience as strangers (Exod. 22:21; Lev. 19:33–34). Here the painful characteristic of the environment is not its ethnicity but its hostility.

The verse can speak to a person working within a culture of corruption; a student pressured to join cruel mockery; a family living amid cycles of accusation; or a migrant whose genuine contributions are treated with suspicion. It can also challenge those who feel alienated to examine their own prejudices. Feeling like an outsider does not automatically make every judgment about others correct.

The pilgrimage setting changes how we hear the lament. A traveler longing for Jerusalem may begin by telling the truth about dislocation. The journey toward God's peace is not founded on pretending that separation and intimidation do not hurt.

3.6 Psalm 120:6 — The exhaustion of prolonged hostility

“For far too long I have lived among those who hate peace.” (Study rendering)

The pain deepens because of duration. Hostility is not a single difficult conversation. It has become the climate of daily life. A person can endure an isolated insult; persistent deception and threatened conflict gradually wear down confidence, sleep, relationships, and the ability to expect goodness.

The poet's phrase conveys emotional exhaustion without assigning a date or diagnosing a medical condition. The text does not say exactly how long the conflict has lasted. What matters is the weariness of remaining in an environment where peace has repeatedly been refused.

A community that hears this verse should become more attentive to long-term wounds. It is easy to advise someone to “ignore the comments” when we have not had to live under them. It is easier still to preach peace without asking whether local systems reward bullying or protect people who repeatedly tell lies. Biblical compassion listens long enough to learn why the sufferer says, “It has been too long.”

But the verse also invites discernment. If conflict has lasted for years, some practical boundaries or outside assistance may be necessary. Peace cannot depend entirely upon the victim's willingness to absorb additional injury.

3.7 Psalm 120:7 — “I am for peace; they are for war”

“I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” (Study rendering)

The Hebrew is strikingly compressed: “I [am] peace” (ʾănî-šālôm). The singer identifies not merely a passing wish but a chosen direction. Speech should create the possibility of honest relationship, reconciliation, and life together. Instead, each attempt to speak appears to bring conflict into the open.

There is ambiguity about exactly how to render the final clause: “when I speak, they are for war” or, by implication, “when I speak for peace, they are for war.” The surrounding lines make the central contrast clear. The worshiper wants peace; the others prefer hostilities.

Yet one unsettling question remains. If the speaker is peace, how do we account for the burning arrows of verse 4? Goldingay names the difficulty: the psalm itself exposes how hard it can be to desire peace while still carrying a powerful wish for judgment. The solution is not to silence the sufferer but to recognize prayer as a place where the heart can be honest and transformed. Kidner similarly warns against both capitulation to wrongdoing and an attitude of animosity.

The final word is effectively war. The song does not end with an instant change of heart among the aggressors. Its unresolved conclusion is precisely why it works as the first Song of Ascents. The traveler begins with the pain of a world where peace is contested. The rest of the collection will teach that God's presence, protection, forgiveness, and communal worship make a different future imaginable.

4.0 Theological Reflection

4.1 Truthful speech is a matter of justice

Psalm 120 refuses the claim that words are merely words. The commandment against false witness (Exod. 20:16) protects persons and communities from the misuse of speech. The prophets connect truthful judgment, economic fairness, and social safety (Zech. 8:16–17). When language becomes a means of manipulation, the vulnerable are often injured first.

In contemporary life, deceit travels through private conversations, public accusations, religious platforms, workplace hierarchies, and digital messages. A false report need not be loud to be ruinous. The psalm therefore calls God's people to more than avoiding obvious lies: we must ask whether our retellings are fair, whether we repeat unverified allegations, and whether we use spiritual vocabulary to disguise personal revenge.

4.2 Peace is not the absence of accountability

Shalom cannot be produced by pressuring the harmed person into silence. A superficial peace that protects the liar and isolates the injured is not the well-being envisioned by biblical justice. Psalm 120 links peace to truthful speech because lasting reconciliation requires the courage to face what is wrong.

This does not mean every disagreement is a war or every opponent is a deceiver. We should welcome correction, acknowledge our own mistakes, and make room for disagreements in good faith. But where deliberate falsehood or intimidation is established, asking for boundaries, correction, and accountability can itself be an act of peacemaking.

4.3 Prayer can hold anger without blessing retaliation

The arrows and coals make this an uncomfortable psalm. They should. They challenge a shallow spirituality that imagines faithful people never feel outrage. The Psalms let the wounded bring dangerous emotions to God, who alone knows the full truth and can judge rightly.

At the same time, taking a feeling to God is not identical to receiving God's permission to act it out. The worshiper seeks deliverance, not a commission to attack. The prayer can become the place where resentment is confessed, judged, and slowly surrendered. Sometimes the most faithful sentence after “I am angry” is “LORD, keep me from becoming what has wounded me.”

4.4 Pilgrimage begins with discontent about a disordered world

The Songs of Ascents begin not in spiritual triumph but in a longing that present circumstances cannot satisfy. This is a profound image of discipleship. We learn to journey toward God's purposes when we stop treating injustice, deception, and hostility as normal.

The destination is more than a building or a geographical location. For ancient worshipers, going up to Zion meant drawing near to the LORD and joining the worshiping people. For readers of the completed canon, the movement also awakens hope for a world where God's justice and peace are no longer resisted (Isa. 2:2–4; Rev. 21:1–5).

4.5 The person seeking peace must remain open to correction

The psalm speaks from the perspective of the injured person, and it is right to honor that perspective. But it does not teach us to identify ourselves automatically as innocent in every quarrel. Honest peacemaking asks whether our own words have wounded anyone. The one praying against deceit must also be willing to abandon deceit.

James 3:1–12 warns that the tongue's power can corrupt a community from within. The danger is not always “those people out there.” A congregation can become the very environment described in Psalm 120 if gossip, public shaming, or factional speech are tolerated. The first pilgrimage is sometimes the journey from defending our reputation at all costs to speaking the truth in love.

4.6 The God who answered before remains worthy of trust now

The psalmist does not possess a map of the solution. Verse 1 holds remembered mercy; verse 7 holds unresolved conflict. Faith lives between them. Past answers do not make God predictable or oblige him to act on our timetable. They give us a reason to keep speaking to him.

That is why the psalm can be used by those still awaiting vindication. Its hope is not that every opponent will yield immediately. Its hope is that no lie has ultimate authority over a person whose life is heard by the LORD.

5.0 Canonical and Christological Horizon

Psalm 120 belonged first to Israel's prayer and pilgrimage tradition. Its speaker was not necessarily predicting Jesus or supplying a coded biography of his life. Yet the larger biblical story allows Christians to listen to it alongside the Messiah who confronted false testimony and brought peace through faithfulness rather than retaliation.

The Scriptures give a larger vocabulary for truthful peace. Psalm 34:13–14 joins restrained speech with an active pursuit of peace. Zechariah 8:16–17 calls communities to truthful judgments and the rejection of deceit. Jeremiah 29:7 tells exiles to seek the shalom of the city where they live, showing that longing for God's home does not justify hostility toward outsiders. Isaiah 2:2–4 pictures nations learning God's ways and turning instruments of war into tools of cultivation. Psalm 120's alienation is not the end of the biblical vision.

Jesus experienced the misuse of human speech. The Gospels describe opponents seeking testimony against him and presenting accusations at his trial (Mark 14:55–59). Yet Jesus teaches, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matt. 5:9), and commands love of enemies (Matt. 5:43–48). He neither treats lies as harmless nor urges his disciples to answer violence with vengeance. At the cross he suffers an injustice Christians understand as part of God's saving work; his resurrection announces that violent human verdicts do not speak the final word (Acts 2:23–24).

The apostles call for truthful, bounded peace. Paul urges believers, as far as it depends on them, to live peaceably with all and to leave vengeance to God (Rom. 12:18–21). The qualification matters: one person's commitment cannot force an aggressor to accept peace. Ephesians 2:14–18 identifies Christ as our peace, drawing formerly divided peoples toward God and one another. Such reconciliation does not require victims to conceal abuse or communities to ignore justice. It demands a new pattern of truth and responsibility.

The pilgrimage reaches beyond an earthly city. Hebrews 11:13–16 speaks of faithful people as strangers looking toward a better homeland; Hebrews 12:22–24 uses Zion imagery to portray access to God through Jesus. Revelation 21–22 envisions God's dwelling with humanity, the healing of the nations, and the passing of tears and death. We should not erase the original significance of Jerusalem or Israel's worship when making these connections. Rather, we hear Psalm 120's ancient cry for peace within a developing scriptural promise that God will finally renew the conditions of human life.

For Christian readers, therefore, the deepest response to Psalm 120 is not to become more skilled at defeating opponents with words. It is to become disciples of the one who speaks truth, makes peace, bears injustice without surrendering to evil, and promises the renewal of creation.

6.0 Life Application

Identify the harm honestly. If someone is lying about you, name the actual falsehood and its consequences. Avoid turning vague suspicion into an accusation. Keep a clear distinction between deliberate deception, misunderstanding, and an opinion you dislike. Truthful diagnosis is the first service to justice.
Take the pain to God before it directs your actions. Pray the anguish of verses 1–2 without censoring the fear or anger. Then ask whether the next response you are considering will honor the truth. Prayer should strengthen courage and restraint, not provide a religious cover for retaliation.
Refuse to answer lies with another lie. In a family dispute, workplace investigation, church conflict, or online discussion, verify the facts. Do not add dramatic details because you fear your case will otherwise be ignored. A truthful account is stronger than a victorious but fabricated story.
Build practical protections where necessary. Save written evidence, ask for competent advice, seek impartial mediation, and involve appropriate safeguarding or legal authorities when threats or abuse are present. The call to peace never obliges a person to remain without protection.
Examine the culture of speech in your community. Does your household, congregation, school, or workplace reward gossip? Can people admit mistakes without humiliation? Do leaders accept scrutiny? A community's spirituality is revealed partly by how it handles allegations and disagreement (Jas. 3:9–18).
Practice the difference between peace and avoidance. There are times to begin a difficult conversation, set a boundary, correct misinformation, or acknowledge wrongdoing. Silence may prevent a temporary quarrel while leaving lasting injury untouched. Seek a peace strong enough to tell the truth.
Remember a previous answer without demanding a repeated formula. Write down one occasion when God sustained you through a crisis. Give thanks for it, then pray about the need you face today. Let memory nurture hope without pretending you know exactly how or when God will act.
Show hospitality to outsiders instead of making them the enemy. Meshech and Kedar evoke distance and alienation; they do not license prejudice. Ask whether refugees, migrants, minority-language speakers, newcomers, or lonely students feel welcome among your people. Those who know the pain of not belonging should become practiced hosts.
Take the next step of pilgrimage. Psalm 120 does not describe arrival at Jerusalem. It begins with a cry. Choose one faithful next step: a prayer, a truthful conversation, an act of restitution, a request for help, or an intentional refusal to spread a rumor. A long journey toward peace begins with a small obedient movement.

7.0 Reflection Questions

What changes when we read Psalm 120 as the beginning of the Songs of Ascents rather than as an isolated complaint?
Why does the psalm focus on lying lips and a deceitful tongue instead of describing a physical battlefield? What kinds of harm can words inflict in your community?
How does remembering a past answer to prayer (v. 1) differ from claiming that God has already solved the present problem?
What does the combination of Meshech and Kedar communicate about estrangement, and why must it not become a reason for prejudice toward particular peoples?
How can we understand the arrows and coals (v. 4) in a way that recognizes a sufferer's anger but does not authorize personal revenge?
When is speaking the truth a necessary step toward shalom, even if it temporarily intensifies conflict?
Which is harder for you: refusing to retaliate when misrepresented, or acknowledging when your own words have caused harm?
How do Jesus' teaching about peacemaking and Paul's instruction in Romans 12:18–21 help us live faithfully when others remain committed to hostility?
What practical next step would make your household, ministry, or workplace a safer place for truthful speech?

8.0 Response Prayer

LORD, God who hears the troubled, you know the stories we have been unable to tell clearly, the words that have injured us, and the long days when peace seemed far away.

Rescue us from deceit, and rescue us also from the temptation to become deceitful. Give courage to those who are falsely accused, protection to those who are threatened, and wisdom to those entrusted with judgment.

When anger burns within us, let us bring it into your light rather than spread it to others. Teach our lips to speak honestly, our ears to listen patiently, and our hands to work for justice.

Make us people who seek peace without hiding wrongdoing, who protect the vulnerable without hating the stranger, and who remember your past goodness while waiting for help today.

Lead us on the road toward your presence. Through Jesus Christ, our peace, and through the Spirit who renews your people. Amen.

9.0 Window into What Comes Next

Psalm 120 ends with an unresolved cry: “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” The pilgrim knows the kind of world desired, yet does not possess the power to make everyone share that desire. The first Song of Ascents begins in alienation rather than arrival.

Psalm 121 answers with a question appropriate for the next stage of the journey: “From where will my help come?” The traveler's eyes turn toward the hills, but the answer reaches beyond the landscape to the LORD, maker of heaven and earth, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. Psalm 120 identifies the hostility that makes the journey necessary; Psalm 121 declares the faithful protection that makes the journey possible.

We therefore move from “Save me from lying lips” to “My help comes from the LORD.” The circumstances are not magically erased. But the journey toward God's peace is sustained by a God who watches over those who call on him.

10.0 Bibliography

Scripture: Psalms 34:13–14; 52:2–4; 64:2–8; 118:5; 119:45, 96, 176; 120–122; 130–134; Exodus 20:16; 22:21; Leviticus 19:33–34; Deuteronomy 16:16; Proverbs 20:22; Isaiah 2:2–4; 21:13–17; 42:11; Ezekiel 27:13; 38:2; Jeremiah 29:7; Zechariah 8:16–17; Matthew 5:9, 43–48; Mark 14:55–59; Acts 2:23–24; Romans 12:17–21; Ephesians 2:14–18; James 3:1–18; Hebrews 11:13–16; 12:22–24; Revelation 21–22. Verse quotations marked study rendering are explanatory translations, not claims to quote a named Bible edition verbatim.
BibleProject. n.d. The Book of Psalms: Study Notes. Discussion of Book Five, the Psalms of Ascents, and the literary movement from the meditation on Torah in Psalm 119 toward pilgrimage, worship, and the hope of return.
Goldingay, John. 2008. Psalms, Volume 3: Psalms 90–150. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. Commentary on Psalm 120, “War and Peace.”
Kidner, Derek. 2014. Psalms 73–150. Kidner Classic Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Originally published 1975. Commentary on Psalm 120, “The outsider” (pp. 465–67).

Psalm 120 — When You Long for Peace in a World of Hostile Words