120:1-2 Words of Trust and Petition

120:1 In my trouble I cried to the LORD- 102:2 The word order in Hebrew is “To the LORD in distress to me I cried/called and He answered me.” The point is the emphasis falls on the LORD to whom He called. Who are we calling on or looking to in times of distress? The author “expresses the sole dependence on God in the hour of distress” VanGemeren, 769. 

The Hebrew word for trouble or distress was used in Pss. 34:6, 7; 46:1; 50:15; 86:7; 91:15; 116:3.  

While he has suffered from “lying lips” (vs. 2), a “deceitful tongue” (vs. 2, 3), and people who “hate peace” (vs. 6), and “are for war” (vs. 7), “instead of answering back, this man has looked in a better direction” Kidner, 430. 

And He answered me- Pss. 3:4; 18:6; 22:21; 66:14; 118:21; Jonah 2:2 God answered. “The most natural translation of verse 1 points to a past event” Kidner, 430.  

120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips-“He was the victim of lying and misrepresentation” Allen, 149.  “He refers to these liars by a synecdoche, whereby body parts represent the person” Longman, 411. “He has proved by bitter experience the untruth of the adage, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me’” Laymen’s, 686. 

From a deceitful tongue- The word for deceitful is a relatively rare OT word used but is used both in 120:2, 3. It is used in Ps. 78:57 of a treacherous bow and in Prov. 10:4 of a negligent hand and in Prov. 19:15 of a lazy man. Contrast the tongue of 119:172 with this tongue. 

120:3-4 Words of vengeance 120:3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you- “These verses turn to address these liars” Broyles, 446. The question What is asked twice. “The form of the question involves a frequent Hebrew idiom, ‘God do so to you, and more also’ (cf. I Sam. 3:17; I Kings 2:23; Ruth 1:17). The thought is that God will do something worse to these insolent liars than they have done to the psalmist” Miller, 396.

You deceitful tongue?- “Ps. 64:3f, 7f, where God’s arrows turn the slanderers’ verbal arrows against them” Kidner, 430.

120:4 Sharp arrows of the warrior- “The reference to weapons presupposes their metaphorical usage for slander, as in 52:2; 57:4; Jer. 9:3, 8” Allen, 146. Sometimes the word arrow is used of the judgment God brings upon the wicked.

With the burning coals of the broom tree- Do the images of the sharp arrows and burning coals describe the words hurled against the psalmist (Alter, 436) or the weapons God turns against the deceitful tongue (Kidner, 430)?

“In short, the answer is that the liar, wounding though his weapons are, will be destroyed with far more potent shafts than lies. God’s arrows or truth and coals of judgment” Kidner, 430. “The broom tree has a low combustion point and thus blazes up immediately with intense heat” Miller, 396. “The roots of the broom tree apparently burn well and yield notable charcoal. On coals as a symbol of judgment cf.., Ps. 140:10” Kidner, 430. 

120:5-7 Words of Woe 120:5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech “This lament ends on a sad note, as the psalmist bemoans his present wretched condition. The section begins with a strong exclamation of sadness (woe), often heard in funeral processions (I Kings 13:30; Jer. 22:18; Amos 5:16)  

“Now the singer’s special situation as an alien comes to light, and with the motivation of these slander”" Kidner, 430. The word sojourn is the Hebrew גור which describes the wanderings of Abraham (Gen. 12:10; 20:1; 21:23, 34), Isaac (Gen. 26:3), Jacob (Gen. 32:4; 35:27), and hi