Psalm 120

New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

1. Psalm 120:1 Human beings are born to be pilgrims in search of the absolute, on a journey to God. We advance by way of stages, from the difficulties of life to the certitudes of hope, from the dispersion of cares to the joyous encounter with God, from daily diversions to inner recollection. The “Songs of Ascents” (Pss 120–134) are prayers for the path we travel as human beings.
   This group of psalms, which forms a major part of the Great Hallel (Pss 120–136: see notes on Pss 113–118), served as a kind of handbook for pilgrims as they went up to the holy city for the great annual feasts (see Ex 23:17; Deut 16:16; 1 Ki 12:28; Mt 20:17; Lk 2:41f). Two other explanations are offered but are regarded as less likely: namely, that they were sung by the returning exiles when they “went up” to Jerusalem from Babylon (see Ezr 7:9), or that they were sung by the Levites on the fifteen steps by which they ascended from the Court of the Women to the Court of the Israelites in the temple. The latter would account for the name “Gradual Psalms” or “Psalms of the Steps” by which they also are known. The name “gradual” may also be assigned to them because of their rhythm, in which every other verse continues the thought of the preceding verse.
2. Psalm 120:1 Ill at ease in a hostile environment, often detested and calumniated because his faith and his law place him apart—such is the pious Jew situated far from Palestine. Sometimes he gets the feeling of living among the savage peoples of the Caucuses and the Syrian Desert (v. 5: “Meshech” and “Kedar”). We can appreciate his desire to return to Jerusalem, the city of his God.
   We Christians have the same kind of feeling of nostalgia to be with God (see 2 Cor 5). Without belonging to the world from which Christ’s call has taken us (see Jn 15:19), we are sent by him into the world. It is in this hostile environment that we must live while continually journeying toward the Father (see Jn 17:15, 18, 24). Thus, we can in all truth make this psalm our prayer when suffering distress caused by the continuous hostile pressure of this world.
3. Psalm 120:2 Lying lips . . . deceitful tongues: see note on Ps 5:10.
4. Psalm 120:3 He: i.e., the Lord. What more will he add to it: the full curse formula was: “May the Lord do such and such to you and add still more to it” (see Ru 1:17; 1 Sam 3:17; 14:44; 25:22; 2 Sam 3:35; 1 Ki 2:23).
5. Psalm 120:4 Sharp arrows . . . red-hot coals: the evil tongue is like a sharp arrow (see Pss 57:4; 64:3; Prov 25:18; Jer 9:8) and a scorching fire (see Prov 16:27; Jas 3:6); but the enemies of the psalmist will be destroyed by the far more potent shafts of God’s arrows of truth (see Ps 64:8) and coals of judgment (see Ps 140:11). Broom tree: apparently its roots burn well and yield coal that produces intense heat.
6. Psalm 120:5 Meshech . . . Kedar: Meshech is located to the far north in Asia Minor by the Black Sea (see Gen 10:2; Ezek 38:2). Kedar stands for the Arab tribesmen of the south in the Arabian Desert (see Isa 21:16f; Jer 2:10; 49:28; Ezek 27:21). The psalmist feels that he is dwelling among a barbarian and ungodly people.
7. Psalm 120:6 The psalmist reminds the Lord that he has been mired for too long among people who despise peace and make war on him (see v. 4: “arrows” and “red-hot coals”). These adversaries have no use for godly persons like himself, so they harass and slander them and make their life unbearable. The psalmist can no longer put up with this unrelenting oppression.
8. Psalm 120:7 The godly have nothing in common with the wicked. The godly speak of peace, but the wicked sow discord and adversity (see Gal 5:19-21; Jas 3:14f). God alone can be of help in this situation.