Psalm 120
In My Distress I Cried to the LORD
A song of ascents.
“In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue. What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of juniper!
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace. I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they want war.”
After Psalm 119, it’s a relief to come to Psalm 120. This psalm is also the first of the “Psalms of Ascents,” psalms that were sung by pilgrims as they traveled toward Jerusalem to celebrate one of the annual festivals. Once more, we realize the writers of psalms don’t disguise their feelings. This writer feels surrounded by critics willing to start fights over minutiae.
APPLICATION: It can happen to anybody. You start a job with a company you enjoy, only for upper-level personnel to change, leading to a toxic work place environment. At that point, you share the feelings of this writer. Given the chance, you would gladly do something to deal with the deceitful tongues. All you want is to do your job while those around you are engaged in office intrigue. What can you do?
Jobs are scarce, so quitting might not be an option. Try this instead: Follow Jesus’ instructions and “pray for those who despitefully use you.” I once found myself working with a surgical team at a hospital where we had many chronic patients. One of the most disagreeable was Jimmy M. Jimmy was a diabetic whose right foot was trying to rot. The Chief of Surgery insisted that we should do everything possible to save Jimmy’s foot. As the most junior member of the team, I was the one charged with changing Jimmy’s dressings every day and picking out the dead tissue. Was Jimmy grateful? Are you kidding? All the time I was changing Jimmy’s dressings, he was cursing me up one side and down the other.
One day as I was enduring Jimmy’s insults, God spoke to me. “Pray for Jimmy!” “But God, I don’t want to! “ I whined. “Do it anyway!” came the answer. So I began silently praying for Jimmy. Days turned into weeks and I was still dressing Jimmy’s foot and praying. Suddenly, one day, Jimmy demanded to attend the chapel service, something he had always shunned previously. After that, Jimmy changed. The curses stopped, and he was much more pleasant. What made the difference? God answering my prayers. Shortly after that, I rotated on to a different service in a different hospital, and I never saw Jimmy again. But it didn’t matter. God had already used Jimmy to teach me the power of praying for unpleasant people.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to pray for all those around us, particularly for those who are unlovely and hard to love. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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