(The previous post covered the longest chapter in the Bible.)
Psalm 120
A Song of Ascents.
1 In my distress I cried unto Jehovah, And he answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips, And from a deceitful tongue.
(The distress this psalmist experienced was from people lying to him and deceiving him. His response was to cry out to God. A lie was a wrong what. Deception was a right what with a wrong or no how/why.)
3 What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, Thou deceitful tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, With coals of juniper.
(God would judge those who were deceitful.)
5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
(Meshech referred to a people living in the north of Palestine and Syria. Kedar referred to a people of Ishmael beyond Moab and Ammon (both from Lot). Both of these people groups hated peace and loved war.)
6 My soul hath long had her dwelling With him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace: But when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 121
A Song of Ascents.
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?
2 My help cometh from Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth.
(The psalmist answered his own question. His help came from God, the Creator.)
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.
(The psalmist began to write directly to the reader. God is your keeper.)
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; He will keep thy soul.
(God is your protector.)
8 Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in From this time forth and for evermore.
Psalm 122
A Song of Ascents; of David.
1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of Jehovah.
(Remember, David was a tenth generation bastard (Perez) and was barred from the temple according to Deuteronomy 23:2. This was why David could not build the temple. So it made sense that it would make him glad when he was even near the temple.)
2 Our feet are standing Within thy gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that art builded As a city that is compact together;
(Jerusalem was a city that was "compact" together. Compact meant "to unite, join, bind together, be in league/covenant.")
4 Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of Jehovah, For an ordinance for Israel, To give thanks unto the name of Jehovah.
5 For there are set thrones for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: They shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, And prosperity within thy palaces.
(Peace and prosperity (profitability) were within God’s House.)
8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God I will seek thy good.
(For the sake of God’s House, David sought other’s good.)
Psalm 123
A Song of Ascents.
1 Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that sittest in the heavens.
(The psalmist lifted his eyes to God who sat in the heavens. God was spiritual and lived in spiritual places. God can be everywhere; God was omnipresent.)
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyes look unto Jehovah our God, Until he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us; For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scoffing of those that are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.
(The psalmist asked for mercy (postponed judgment) because they were filled with contempt, from the evil actions of others.)
Psalm 124
A Song of Ascents; of David.
1 If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, Let Israel now say,
2 If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, When men rose up against us;
3 Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;
4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, The stream had gone over our soul;
5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
(David recognized, and wanted Israel to recognize, that if it was not for God being on their side, they would have been destroyed.)
6 Blessed be Jehovah, Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth.
(This caused David to bless God, the Creator.)
Psalm 125
A Song of Ascents.
1 They that trust in Jehovah Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.
(Those who trust/have faith in God, would not be moved and would live for eternity.)
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, So Jehovah is round about his people From this time forth and for evermore.
(God was in the presence of His people for eternity.)
3 For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; That the righteous put not forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 Do good, O Jehovah, unto those that are good, And to them that are upright in their hearts.
(A request of Jehovah to do Good (Right and Just) to those who were Good: Right and Just.)
5 But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel.
(These were the first six songs of Ascents. There were fifteen in all. No one knows for what purpose this group of psalms were used. The theories tend to concern singing these songs as people ascended to a gathering place, whether it was fifteen steps to the temple or some other gathering place, these psalms were relatively short and could all be sung in a relatively short period of time during an event.)
(This post covered the first six of the fifteen songs of Ascents.)
Day 180
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, With coals of juniper.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the significance of coals of juniper?
"Coals of juniper" retain heat long. This verse may be read as a description of the wicked, but better as their punishment, in reply to the question of Ps. 120:3 ("What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?")
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