A Pilgrim’s Protest, Prayer, and Praise

“A Pilgrim’s Protest, Prayer, and Praise” – August 11th, 2024 (Psalm 120)

The opening line of a piece of writing can grab our attention, establish the tone, gives us clues about what we can expect, and make us want to keep reading. See if you can guess the book titles and authors for these three well-known opening lines.

• “Call me Ishmael.” (Moby Dick, Herman Melville)
• “In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.” (Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans)
• “You better not never tell nobody but God.” (The Color Purple, Alice Walker)

Last week we did a broad overview of the Pilgrimage Psalms and read all 15 of them aloud. Today we are looking more closely at the first of these psalms. Pay close attention to the opening line of this psalm.

Psalm 120:1-7 (NRSV) –

“1 In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me:

2 ‘Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.’

3 What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?

4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!

5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar.

6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.

7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”

Psalm 120’s opening line grabs our attention, establishes the tone, gives us clues about what we can expect, and makes us want to keep reading. We know that this is the first of the Pilgrimage Psalms. As we noticed last Sunday when we read all 15 of those aloud, they’re not all the same kind of psalms, though. Broadly speaking, biblical psalms fall into one of these categories: individual or communal songs of lament, individual or communal thanksgiving songs, hymns, royal psalms, wisdom psalms, or prophetic liturgies. Where does Psalm 120 fit? There are two main options, hinging on whether the opening line is interpreted as being in present tense or past tense.

The first option is the present tense option, which views Psalm 120 as an individual lament, as it is rendered in the NRSV – “In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me.” Psalm 120 includes several standard elements of lament: in verse 2, sorrow because of slander and a request to God for relief; in verses 5-6, a bellow of woe and description of distress; and in verse 7, an insistence of innocence. These overall currents of complaint lead some scholars to categorize this psalm among the laments.

The second option is the past tense option, which views Psalm 120 as an individual thanksgiving song. Many English translations render verse 1 as a past tense statement: “I cried to the Lord in my distress, and he heard me.” In this understanding, the psalmist is singing to God with thanksgiving, not because the psalmist’s circumstances have improved, but because God has heard the psalmist’s prayer.

I think it makes the most sense to read Psalm 120 as an individual thanksgiving song. In this past tense option, there are three parts to this psalm: praise, prayer, protest. In verses 2-4, the psalmist provides part of his prayer and announces the punishment that he thinks his oppressors deserve. The psalmist tells them to leave him alone because of his confidence that God has heard his prayer. Verses 5-7 give us the backstory of the psalmist’s situation, offering an unspoken plea for God to regard the psalmist’s desperate circumstances and to respond according to God’s dependable character. I want to suggest that it might help us to understand an historically linear timeline by reading the psalm’s three parts in reverse order. In this reversed timeline, we start with the protest, move on to the prayer, and conclude with the praise. Let’s look at each of these three parts of Psalm 120 in turn.

The first part of Psalm 120 is a protest (v. 5-7)

Psalm 120:5-7 – “5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar. 6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.”

The psalmist turns to God with words of protest, as he pours out his heart to God. Psalm 62:8 instructs us to “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

Let’s consider who is saying these words of protest. Although some commentators regard the speaker to be a king, and others consider the protest to come from a soldier accused of treason, I am drawn towards the predominant view that these are the words of a homesick expat who comes to Jerusalem as a pilgrim.

Our psalmist pilgrim begins his protest with the word ’ō·w·yāh- – “Woe!” This interjection is and even to us sounds like a word of despair, as though he was sighing, “I am lost!” or “How long, oh Lord?” “Woe!” expresses the pilgrim’s distress as he waits for the Lord’s response, describing himself as an alien in a foreign land.

When Paul and I moved to the US in 1989, the US considered him, legally speaking, to be an alien, defined as “any person not a citizen or national of the United States.” As his American wife I’d had to submit a “Petition for Alien Relative.” Even though Paul was an alien for many years, he enjoyed many legal rights and protections, in sharp contrast to our pilgrim speaking in Psalm 120 (and even some aliens in our land today).

Our psalmist pilgrim has lacked secure legal status and has been living like a nomad in a temporary dwelling. The pilgrim does not use the most common Hebrew term for living or dwelling. The words translated “live” and “dwell” in this passage mean “I lived as a foreigner” and “I dwelled insecurely.” His careful choice of words tells us that the pilgrim’s living arrangements in distant lands have been quite precarious.

We have all moved from there to here at some point in our lives. Maybe we have moved from one side of town to another. Perhaps we have moved across the state, the country, or the world. Moving from one place to another means the disruption of relationships and routines. Upheavals invariably usher in additional physical, mental, and emotional stressors. Transitions, whether smooth or traumatic, always involve change, and change can be very hard. We grieve who and what we’ve left behind. We feel anxious about uncertainties and unknowns that lie ahead. It takes a long time for a new and unfamiliar place to feel like home.

Our psalmist pilgrim is a long way from home in a place that is not welcoming or inclusive. Being an outsider, someone who does not fit into neat social categories, is always accompanied by loneliness, isolation, culture shock, and social awkwardness. And unfortunately, far too often there is also bullying, banishment, bitterness, and even brutality towards outsiders. This pilgrim has experienced these things and cries in his distress, “Woe is me, that I am an alien!” The experiences and emotions described by our homesick expat psalmist pilgrim are very relatable.

In verse 7 our psalmist pilgrim says he is coming to Jerusalem seeking shalom: “I am for peace.” He longs for that which is right, true, and just. But his longing is not enough to change the situation. It’s not possible to have lasting peace in any relationship unless both parties both desire and work towards that. The vicious words and actions of those around him indicate their desire for war, sabotaging all prospects of peace for our pilgrim. This has caused him to lose both patience and hope. Not only is the pilgrim an alien in a faraway land; he feels alienated from his own society among people who are hostile and warmongering.

The pilgrim is appealing to God to act on his behalf, on the basis of who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised to do. The pilgrim’s situation was impossible from a human perspective. Perhaps he prayed Jeremiah’s prayer that was written just over a century earlier: Jeremiah 32:17 – “Ah Lord God! It is you who made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” The pilgrim’s despair propels him to turn to God with words of protest about his troubles and difficulties.

The second part of Psalm 120 is a prayer (v. 2-4)

Psalm 120:2-4 – “2 ‘Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.’ 3 What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? 4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!”

The psalmist pilgrim now shares with us his prayer to the Lord. He cries out to God to rescue him from his enemies’ jaws of death, jaws that are grasping him with lips, tongues, and words. They have persecuted him with lies, laxness, deception, deceit, false testimony, and fraud. Each of these violations of trust have caused the pilgrim intense emotional pain. Any violation of trust leads to what we now call betrayal trauma, an emotional response caused by severe distressing events that are outside the normal range of human experiences. We’ve all experienced the pain of betrayal, threats, and hostility. Lies and laxness hurt others. Deception and deceit hurt others. False testimony and fraud hurt others.

In verse 3, the pilgrim poses a rhetorical question to the deceitful tongue that has caused his suffering: “What can God give to you as punishment? What more can be added?” The language used here resembles a Jewish oath formula: “so shall God do this, and more.” Our pilgrim wants the deceitful tongue to be punished according to the law of exact retaliation, better known in Scripture as “an eye for eye and a tooth for tooth” (Exodus 21:24a).

The pilgrim’s suggested answer is given in verse 4 – “A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals.” In other words, the pilgrim is asking God to repay his enemies by treating them as they had treated him – with sharpened arrows made hotter with coals! Apparently, the broom tree has very hard wood which retains its heat for a long time. There are numerous places in Scripture where weapons are used as metaphors for the inflicting of intense emotional pain:

• Psalm 52:2b – “Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery.”
• Psalm 57:4 – “I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.”

At the time this Psalm was written, arrows, razors, spears, and swords were commonplace weapons that could be used to inflict harm on others, whether family, neighbors, or enemies. Sharp arrows can cause terrible damage to an individual. But add glowing coals to those and fires from those flaming arrows can cause widespread destruction.

We also see the use of weapons as metaphors for God’s justice:

• Psalm 7:11-13 – “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. If one does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow; he has prepared his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.”
• Psalm 64:7-9 – “But God will shoot his arrow at them; they will be wounded suddenly. Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake with horror. Then everyone will fear; they will tell what God has brought about, and ponder what he has done.”

Our psalmist pilgrim had been persecuted with lies, laxness, deception, deceit, false testimony, and fraud. He describes those around him, among whom he has been living, as being in the habit of intentionally figuring out evil, itching for a fight vigorously, igniting and fueling violence. These personal attacks probably left him feeling deflated and dejected. He’s been treated like an enemy. He’s been labeled as someone who just does not belong. He’s been shown hostility instead of hospitality. His efforts to offer positivity and peace have been met by negativity and war. Yet he knows that God’s weapons are more powerful than human weapons. He trusts that God’s fiery arrows will bring ultimate justice to all, in his own way and in his own time. He turns to God and remembers who God is. Psalm 89:14 – “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.”

But our psalmist pilgrim is not abandoned or alone. He has done what he could and places his hope and trust in God. He is certain that God wills and works truth, honor, and justice for all. He trusts that God will restore both his reputation and his relational standing in this culture dominated by honor and shame. He is assured that God is on the side of those who are victimized or marginalized. Our psalmist pilgrim knows that God doesn’t just passively listen to his problems. He is confident that God has heard his prayers before and will hear them again. He prays with hope and courage in an alien land.

The third and final part of Psalm 120 is a praise (v. 1)

Psalm 120:1 – “1 In my distress I cry to the Lord, that he may answer me.”

In the original Hebrew, apart from announcing that it is a Psalm of Ascents, the first two words in Psalm 120 are “’el-Yah·weh” – “to the Lord”. Our psalmist pilgrim puts the Lord first to emphasize his main point: In my time of need, I turn to the Lord. In his time of need, the pilgrim could have tried to fix his situation himself. In his time of need, the pilgrim could have looked elsewhere for assistance. In his time of need, the pilgrim could have retaliated. But no. Our psalmist pilgrim turned to the Lord and rested with confidence in God’s character, God’s faithfulness.

There was a time written about just a few decades earlier in which there was a very visible competition between the gods on Mount Carmel. The prophet Elijah had posed this challenge to the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah: 1 Kings 18:24 – “You call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” After Baal’s prophets called on the name of Baal from morning until noon and received no answer, Elijah suggested, “either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27). The Baal prophets continued to cry out all afternoon and even cut themselves with swords and lances, but 1 Kings 18:29 tells us that “there was no voice, no answer, and no response.” Then, in an extraordinary and unforgettable display, Elijah prayed simply, “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (1 Kings 18:37). The next two verses go on to tell us, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.’”

Our psalmist pilgrim in Psalm 120 cries to the Lord because of his confidence that God hears his prayers. Let’s remember that in Hebrew, the word meaning “to hear” (shama) always means to hear and respond. Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” When God tells us to hear, it means that we are to hear and to obey. Psalm 55:16-17 – “I call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice.” When God hears, it means that God hears us and responds to us. The psalmist cried to the Lord because of his confidence that God would hear and respond. Our triune God is a hearing and responding God who enters our world with us and enters into our suffering with us. And because the pilgrim knows that God hears and responds to him, he is singing a song of praise to God.

Our psalmist pilgrim came weary with life’s struggles, seeking shalom. The Lord invited and welcomed pilgrims to turn to him and pour out their hearts to God with words of protest about their troubles and difficulties. The Lord invited and welcomed them to pray with hope and courage in an alien land. The Lord invited and welcomed them to praise him as the hearing and responding God.

In the kingdom of God, we, too, come to God as pilgrims who are weary with life’s struggles, seeking shalom. The Lord invites and welcomes us to turn to him and pour out our hearts to God with words of protest about our troubles and difficulties. The Lord invites and welcomes us to pray with hope and courage in an alien land. The Lord invites and welcomes us to praise our hearing and responding God.

Come, Holy Spirit! May we do all that we can, “if it is possible, so far as it depends on [us], live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). May we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8), trusting that God will bring ultimate justice to all in the time and manner of God’s choosing.

In closing, let’s remember the words of 1 Peter 5:7-11 (NRSV) – “7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.”

May the Lord restore, support, strengthen, and establish us to seek shalom, the place of wholeness, flourishing, and delight for all, in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, for the greater glory of God!