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Psalm 120 (LXX 119) - In My Distress I Cried to the Lord

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This narration is from a previous version of the study. The text on this page is current.

Psalm 120 begins the Songs of Ascents in a surprising place, not with arrival, but with distress. The speaker has been wounded by unjust speech and cries to the Lord who hears. The long sojourn is not yet over, and peaceful words meet hostility. Still, the Psalm gives a weary person a way to pray and to long for the peace of God.

Psalm 120 (LXX 119) - In My Distress I Cried to the Lord

Psalm Metadata

FieldNotes
NKJV / Masoretic numberingPsalm 120
Septuagint / Coptic numberingPsalm 119
Accepted authorNo individual author is named; A Song of Degrees is the superscription.
Period in author’s lifeNo personal life-setting is given. The Psalm belongs to the Songs of Ascents and was likely used in pilgrim worship and in the Church’s prayer of exile.
Christ prophecy statusChristological by theme rather than by a single predictive verse. The Psalm moves from falsehood to truth and from war to peace, fulfilled in Christ the Truth and Prince of Peace.
Coptic lectionary/service useThe St Bishoy trilingual Agpeya prints this Psalm in the Eleventh Hour (Vespers) and Midnight Second Watch.
Numbering issueThis note embeds Brenton LXX Psalm 119. The Psalm continues the standard LXX/NKJV offset after the 114-116 split/combined section.

Historical and Scriptural Context

Psalm 120 is the first of the fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120-134. These songs are associated with going up to Jerusalem, both in pilgrimage and in the spiritual life. The opening song begins among people who oppose peace. It does not identify a particular episode in David’s life; its cry can be prayed by many who know the damage of deceit.

The Psalm belongs to a larger biblical movement from exile toward communion with God. The New Testament also calls believers sojourners and teaches them to live honorably when they are spoken against (1 Peter 2:11-12). In Christ, the Church can pray this lament without pretending that falsehood is harmless or that hostility has already ended.

Geographical Significance ⛰️

Kedar is a desert people associated with tents. The NKJV/Masoretic text also names Meshech, while the Brenton text printed below names Kedar. The places evoke the speaker’s sense of being far from peace; neither name makes a people inherently evil.

🕯️ Light from the Word

Psalm 119:1-2, distress teaches the soul to cry out

119:1 A Song of Degrees. In mine affliction I cried to the Lord, and he hearkened to me.
119:2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from unjust lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

The Psalm opens with affliction, but not with despair. The speaker has been heard, yet the prayer for deliverance continues, and the closing verses still speak of hostility. God’s hearing is real even before circumstances visibly change. The first ascent is prayer.

Augustine describes a deceitful tongue as “one that hath the semblance of counsel, and the bane of real mischief”.1 His example is praise of Christ used to discourage someone from actually following Him. Advice can sound helpful while leading us away from truth. The Psalm teaches discernment, not suspicion of everyone who offers help.

In their wider teaching about the Psalter, St Athanasius describes the Psalms as words we may make our own before God, while St Gregory of Nyssa sees psalmody as shaping a life directed toward blessedness. Here the words give the wounded a prayer, not a demand to pretend they are unhurt.

Christ, the Truth, Himself stood before false witnesses (Matthew 26:59-63). In His suffering He entrusted Himself to the righteous Judge rather than answering reviling with reviling (1 Peter 2:21-23). We can bring the injury of twisted words to Him without pretending that those words did no harm.

Psalm 119:3-4, deceitful speech meets righteous judgment

119:3 What should be given to thee, and what should be added to thee, for thy crafty tongue?
119:4 Sharpened weapons of the mighty, with coals of the desert.

The language turns from asking the Lord for deliverance to a question about the crafty tongue. The answer is startling: sharpened weapons and coals. Deceit can wound reputation, fracture trust, and conceal harm. The severe imagery refuses to treat it as nothing. Brenton does not name the one who wields the weapons.

Theodoret understands the mighty warrior as God, the just Judge, and offers this reading to encourage those struck by unjust speech. The images are not permission for private revenge or for making false accusations. God’s judgment means we need not become liars to defeat a liar.

Augustine offers a different reading. He hears the question as the Lord offering protection against deceit: the arrows are God’s words, and the coals are lives kindled by conversion. For Augustine, the example of a life changed by God can answer misleading counsel alongside truthful words. James 3 likewise reminds all of us how much harm a tongue can kindle.

Psalm 119:5-7, exile among Kedar and the peacemaker’s sorrow

119:5 Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged; I have tabernacled among the tents of Kedar.
119:6 My soul has long been a sojourner;
119:7 I was peaceable among them that hated peace; when I spoke to them, they warred against me without a cause.

The Psalm reaches a deeply human note. The speaker says twice that the sojourn has been long. The weariness is not brushed aside, and peaceful speech is answered by war. The words “without a cause” matter: the person harmed is not required to discover a hidden fault that justifies the harm. Nor does the Psalm promise that the hostile will accept an offer of peace.

Augustine reads Kedar as an image of darkness and hears the Church’s longing for the heavenly Jerusalem. This is a spiritual reading, not a judgment on the worth of Kedar’s people. He also speaks of the soul wandering in its loves and of Christ descending to raise the fallen. His invitation to examine our own loves need not make us responsible for someone else’s wrongdoing.

Using another rendering of the verse, Augustine urges his hearers to live what they sing: “With them that hated peace, I was peaceful” and “Begin to act, and see what we speak”.2 Peace is not proved by explanation alone; it takes shape in truthful action.

This reaches the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the peacemakers” is not a sentimental slogan. Christ calls peacemakers blessed, and He also speaks of those who face persecution for righteousness (Matthew 5:9-12). Christ the Prince of Peace came to His own, and many answered Him with violence. The Church continues that witness, refusing both naive appeasement and bitter imitation.

Peacemaking does not require renewed contact with an unsafe person or continued exposure to harm. It can include telling the truth to a trusted priest, another trusted person, or an appropriate safeguarding authority; setting firm boundaries; and leaving danger. We need not manufacture peaceful feelings before asking Christ for rescue and strength.

The pilgrim is not yet in Jerusalem, but he has already chosen its spirit. He speaks peace before he sees peace. The Psalm ends with the hostility still unresolved, but the pilgrim’s cry is already held by the God who hears.

The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖

The St Bishoy trilingual Agpeya prints Psalm 119 (120) in the Eleventh Hour (Vespers) and the Second Watch of Midnight Prayer.3 In both places, the prayer carries us from the cry to God through the long sojourn to peace answered by hostility. At evening we can bring the wounds of the day; in the night, when the struggle may remain unsettled, the same Psalm gives those wounds a voice before God. The Agpeya prints the Psalm in five numbered units, while the Brenton text above has seven verses.

Iconography Connection 🖼️

An icon of Christ before His accusers can help us contemplate the innocent Lord amid hostile speech. Images of the holy city and of saints as sojourners may also accompany this prayer. These are thematic connections, not scenes narrated in the Psalm.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

  1. Tell God what hurts. If it is safe to pause before sending a retaliatory message, bring one truthful sentence of distress to the Lord. You do not need polished words.
  2. Guard your own speech. Do not answer a lie with a lie. If you have passed on something untrue, seek God’s mercy and correct it where you can.
  3. Seek safety and support. Give a truthful account to a trusted person or an appropriate safeguarding authority. Set boundaries or leave danger as needed; prayer and protection belong together.
  4. Discern persuasive counsel. Ask whether advice that sounds helpful leads you toward truth and faithfulness to Christ or asks you to deny what is true.
  5. Bring weariness to Christ. If peace has not come, ask for grace to take the next truthful step, even in grief or fear.

Footnotes

  1. St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXX, §3, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, volume 8, text. ↩

  2. St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXX, §8, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, volume 8, text. ↩

  3. St Bishoy trilingual Agpeya, Eleventh Hour, Psalm 119 (120), pp. 134-135; Midnight Prayer Second Watch, Psalm 119 (120), pp. 265-266, text. ↩ ↩2

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