Last week, we looked at Psalm 52, a psalm in which David is reacting to the news of Doeg’s slaughter of the city of Nob at the command of Saul. As we looked at the psalm, we saw that it gives us a wonderful example of the way we should react in the midst of a sinful world that rejects God. We saw that David’s first response is to remind himself of the things he knows to be true – specifically, that God’s love endures forever. This was crucial for David, and it is crucial for us. We then saw that David was encouraged by his assurance that the wickedness of Saul and Doeg would be judged by God. David used very explicit imagery to picture God’s destruction of the wicked. Then, David closed the psalm by highlighting his own security in the Lord. He made clear that because of what he knew to be true about God, he would trust in the Lord and thank the Lord and wait for the Lord to reveal Himself.
I bring up the psalm from last week because this week’s psalm is quite similar – so much so that one prominent commentator has suggested that the two be paired together. As we will see, Psalm 120 does highlight some of the same themes that we looked at last week – such as the need to turn to God for help and the sure judgment of God that awaits the wicked. But we will also see some different points – such as the recognition that those who trust in the Lord are merely sojourners in this world. These things acknowledged, the central question addressed by Psalm 120 is the same as that addressed by Psalm 52: how should God’s people react to the rampant sin and wickedness of this fallen world, particularly as the sin is actively perpetrated against them? This is the psalmist’s central concern in this psalm.
With this understanding of the psalm’s central purpose, it is not difficult to discern the psalm’s structure. Just like with last week’s psalm, the writer begins with a basic statement of reality that is then expanded in the following verses. Unlike last week, however, the author of Psalm 120 attaches a postscript of sorts in which he laments his current place in life. We will look at each section of the psalm in turn.
Just as last week it was instructive to us to see that David’s first reaction was to bring to mind what he knew to be true about God, so this week it is instructive to us to see that the first thing the author makes clear is that he called to the Lord in the midst of his distress: “In my distress I called to the Lord…” (v. 1a). In the midst of great struggle, the psalmist turns to God. Verse 2 provides us with the content of this cry for help: “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue” (v. 2).
There are a few important truths demonstrated by the psalmist here. First, we should notice that the psalmist turned to God. In a time of distress, a person does not turn the nearest thing but to the thing that they think will be able to help them and bring relief. The psalmist turned his attention to God because he was convinced of God’s ability and willingness to help. Second, the content of the cry is instructive because the psalmist turns to God for deliverance. Implicit in such a cry is the acknowledgement that we cannot help ourselves and that we need to be helped. Also implicit in such a cry is the acknowledgement that God is able to help. Implicit in this cry is a clear understanding of the ability of the psalmist as well as the ability of God.
Before moving on to God’s answer, we should stop and contemplate this reality. It is one thing to understand that we should turn to God when we encounter sin and wickedness in the world, but it is another thing entirely to place the example of the psalmist next to our own lives and compare the two. Do we turn to God for deliverance when we find ourselves surrounded or affected or persecuted by sin? Is our first response to seek God’s deliverance or is it to seek to deliver ourselves? There are any number of ways to temporarily escape, or fight off, sin and its effects: retaliation, eating, buying things, retreating into other sins, etc. The easy way to discover what you turn to in the midst of sin is to answer this question: If someone sinned against you personally right now, how would you respond? What would be your first act of response? The answer to this question reveals much about us and the way we view God. It seems that the correct answer, the answer of the psalmist, is to cry out to the Lord.
Having looked at the psalmist’s cry to the Lord for deliverance, it is crucial to then hear the psalmist declare that the Lord answered him: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me” (v. 1). Here is a glorious reality: the Lord hears the one who calls on Him! Just as with the psalmist’s cry, the content of God’s answer seems to be provided within the psalm: “What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree” (v. 3-4).” So in response to the psalmist’s cry, God provides an answer that we saw last week as well: the sin of the wicked will certainly be judged.
Just as with the cry of the psalmist itself, this reality is crucial for us in a number of ways. Most importantly, it reminds us that the God who created the world is a God who hears and answers. We do not deal with a block of wood or a figment of our own imagination but a real and living Being who hears, understands and communicates. All too often, I fear that God becomes all too theoretical to us. We forget that He is real and that everything in life is related to Him, concerns Him and is under His control – especially sin and its wretched effects. The psalmist’s example reminds us that God is and that God answers. And unlike food, and shopping, and pet sins – which are only temporary escapes from a reality that will still confront us when those things are done – God actually addresses the issue in a way that provides hope and comfort and grounds for faith.
For those of us who are followers of God and disciples of Jesus, as we saw last week, the fact that God centers His answer to the psalmist’s cry on the reality of His future judgment is extremely important for us. First, it gives us true hope when we are suffering under the terrible effects of sin – whether those effects are the hurtful words of a liar (as in the case of the psalmist) or the horrible realities of sickness and suffering. It gives us hope because we know that all sin will ultimately be punished. Every wrong – whether it was committed against us or against someone else – will be addressed. Second, it reminds us of exactly what we deserve as those who have perpetrated sin. It reminds us of exactly what Jesus endured so that we might be numbered among the righteous. It reminds us that praise should always be on our lips for the deliverance that we know through the sacrifice of Christ, because we do not deserve that deliverance. We deserve God’s wrath.
For those who are not followers of God and disciples of Jesus, you must not be deceived about whether God is able or willing to judge your sin. Judgment is sure, and it will be terrible. The wages of sin is death – that is, the proper payment that sin earns is death, and God will not prove to be an unjust boss. He will certainly deliver the proper wages to every person. If you assume that judgment will never come because it has not come yet, you are misinterpreting God’s grace. God has not delayed judgment because He is unable to carry it out but because He is kind and is granting you opportunity to repent. Turn from your sins and believe in Jesus – trusting that He was raised from the dead and submitting to Him as Lord, and you will be saved. You will move from being an enemy of God to being a son of God.
Comparing this psalm to last week’s psalm again, we remember that at this point in Psalm 52 David compared himself to the wicked man who would be judged and rejoiced. In Psalm 120, however, the focus of the psalmist takes a different turn. The psalmist closes by declaring, “Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war” (v. 5-7). At first glance, these verses seem quite hopeless, and yet, as we examine them a bit, I think they provide us with further clues regarding the way we are to engage the sinful world in which we live.
First of all, I think it is instructive that even though God answered the psalmist and declared his coming judgment on the wicked, the psalmist still finds himself struggling in the midst of sin! The psalmist’s language is a bit obscure but we do know that Meshech was a son of Japheth and Kedar was a son of Ishmael. That is, both of these were groups of people that were not part of the people of God, so the psalmist is complaining about the fact that he has had to dwell among those who are not part of the people of God. Even stranger is the fact that the psalmist, if he is an Israelite, most likely never has dwelt among those people. Rather, he is using these people as an analogy for his situation. That is, even in the midst of those who claim to be God’s people, he is not among the people of God. The people around him are wicked. They hate peace, and they pursue war. Even though the psalmist has cried out to God and been assured that God will judge, he is not removed from the situation. It is instructive to us to notice that he laments this fact but remains obedient by continuing to seek peace.
Even more instructive is the deeper meaning of this part of the text – the psalmist is recognizing and readily acknowledging that he is a mere sojourner in his place. More explicitly, he is acknowledging the fact that there is another home to which he is going. He is a sojourner in this place of wickedness and sin. This is a crucial reality for us to recognize. It is crucial for us because we are in the same place. The psalmist recognized that this sinful, fallen world was not his final destination, and we must recognize the same thing. As we live and work and play in this sinful, fallen world, we must always recognize that this is not our final goal. The author of Hebrews makes this explicit in the text we read earlier: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb. 13:14-15). The author of Hebrews makes very clear that “here” – meaning this sinful, fallen world – is not our lasting city. Rather, we have a “city that is to come”. We also see this in Hebrews 11 as the author writes, “If they [the Patriarchs] had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Heb. 11:15-16). For those who are part of the people of God, there is another city awaiting us.
The reason this is important is because we are never meant to feel comfortable here. Among other things, the sin and wickedness of this world should cause us to feel exactly like the psalmist, at some level, and yearn for the day when we are no longer sojourners. So many times we desire for pain to go away so that we might rest, but our rest is not in this world because this world is not our home. In the midst of a sinful world, may we always use the sin around us to drive us of the glorious future that awaits us, because it is that very hope that will sustain us in this life. We are never meant to be comfortable here, because this world is passing away. We should always use sin and hurt and pain to direct us to the glorious hope that awaits us – a hope that has been purchased for us by Jesus Christ.
As we come to the table, we are coming to remember that the perfect, holy God has invaded this sinful and fallen world and provided hope. For those of us who follow Christ, this is our ultimate hope in the midst of sin and wickedness. At heart, we are not just “done to” by the sin and wickedness, but we are a central part of the problem. But Jesus Christ has redeemed us on the cross and given us hearts that long to serve Him and love Him. When Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended to heaven, and – one day – He will return. This world will become the Kingdom of our Lord, and we will be sojourners no more. As we take communion, we are exalting this Lord of Creation and submitting ourselves to Him once again. Amen.