Catholic Commentary on Psalm 120

"I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me." (Psalm 120:1)

The First Song of Ascents

Psalm 120 opens the collection of fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120-134, pilgrim songs sung by Israelites as they made the annual journey up to Jerusalem for the great feasts. The collection begins unexpectedly in distress: the psalmist is surrounded by deceitful lips and lying tongues, dwelling among those who hate peace. He is a person of peace who speaks peace but is answered with war. The setting could not be further from the joyful arrival at Zion.

This is deliberate. The pilgrimage to Jerusalem, like the Christian pilgrimage toward the heavenly Jerusalem, begins in the messiness of ordinary life, surrounded by hostility and deception. It does not begin in a state of spiritual elevation. It begins with a cry: I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. The one word, answers, is the door through which the pilgrim enters the collection. The journey is possible because the LORD answers. Not always immediately, not always in the way expected, but he answers. The Catechism calls perseverance in prayer a participation in the patience of Christ, who prayed through his darkest night and was heard by the Father (CCC 2741).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, are you surrounded by lying tongues and a culture of deceit? Welcome to Psalm 120. The first move of the pilgrim is not to fix the environment but to call on the LORD. You cannot change those who love war. You can go to the one who answers when you call. Begin there, and the journey toward Zion begins.

Prayer

Lord God, I call on you from my distress, from the surrounding of deceitful lips and hostile hearts. Answer me. I am a person of peace but war follows me. Lead me from this Meshech toward the peace of Jerusalem. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

120
In My Distress I Cried to the LORD
A song of ascents.
 
1 In my distress I cried to the LORD,
and He answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD,
from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.
 
3 What will He do to you,
and what will be added to you,
O deceitful tongue?
4 Sharp arrows will come from the warrior,
with burning coals of the broom tree!
 
5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I dwelt
among those who hate peace.
7 I am in favor of peace;
but when I speak, they want war.

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