The Sojourner’s Journey (Psalm 120:1-7)
My grandfather immigrated to Singapore in the 1930s from Southern China. He braved the 4000+ kilometres journey by ship and several weeks of hard travel to immigrate to Singapore.
Why did he do it?
China in the 1930s was marked by poverty and financial hardships, with war and political strife as the Nationalist Government battled the Communist Party. My grandfather left China to journey to Singapore, hoping for a better life.
He had to decide to "a no that is a yes". He said no to his land of birth, recognising the misery he was in, and yes to Singapore, which held the promised better life he had hoped for.
Many of us have forebears that had similar experiences.
Today, we start a new sermon series on the Songs of Ascents or "going-ups", titled the "Pilgrim Songs."
These 15 psalms, from Psalm 120 to 134, were likely compiled after the nation of Israel returned from Babylonian exile. Originally, it was sung by worshipers on their journey up to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate their festivals.
Picture this: as they made their way up to Jerusalem, they were singing these psalms together. These psalms turned the pilgrim's eyes towards God, helping to strengthen them in their sojourn through the wilderness. The songs help them to persevere in their journey of return from "exile" in this world as they make their way to the promised city of God.
Psalm 120, in particular, is a psalm of lies and truth, war and peace. Death came into the world through a lie spoken by the serpent tongue of one who has been a murderer from the beginning and the Father of lies (Gen 3:1–5; John 8:44). Ever since then, his lies have attacked the people of God.
In this psalm, spoken by the Spirit of Christ and prayed by Jesus Christ, we hear, above all else, the voice of Jesus in prayer to the Father as he felt the misery of his exile on earth. They are spoken now by us, His church and every member of it as we long to ascend to the heavenly Jerusalem above.
Likewise, as we make our journey, we must decide on "a no that is a yes". A "no" to the lies and deceit told to us by this world, however attractive they are, and a "yes" to a journey of going up as we make our way Godward.
Psalm 120 prepares us to do this as we start our faith journey.
We reject the world's lies and turn to seek our God of Truth.
The big idea of Psalm 120:1-7 is we reject the world's lies and turn to seek our God of Truth.
The outline is in two parts:
Seek God with confidence (Ps 120:1-4)
Grieve over and reject this world (Ps 120:5-7).
As we start our faith journey, we can confidently seek God as we sojourn towards our heavenly Jerusalem.
Seek God with confidence (Ps 120:1-4)
We start our journey with Psalm 120:1-4. We pray with Jesus, seeking God, confident that with God, the enemy's lies will be fully repaid in judgment.
Our faith journey of "going up" starts with the individual pilgrim amid distress and sorrow (Ps 120:1). He faces the lies and deceit of his enemies, and he is in a bad place. And the first thing he does? He calls out to the Lord.
When Jesus prays this prayer, the individual "I" of Psalm 120 and Israel's corporate "I" merge in one covenant head. Believers in Christ can then pray this prayer. So, in our distress, we call out to the Lord.
Beloved, what is your first response amid your distress? Do you cry out to God? Why not? Or do you rely on yourself and plan your way out of trouble? Which is your first response?
And why can we trust the Lord to answer? Note that both "called" and "answered" are in the past tense. It could refer to a past prayer, as the Psalmist calls to mind some earlier answered prayer to encourage himself to pray again in faith.
Alternatively (this is the understanding I hold to), it could anticipate an expected answer from the perspective of faith — that is, we pray to God fully confident that he will answer and deliver us from our distress.
Beloved, I speak to those who struggle to pray to God. You may wonder if He cares or can answer your prayer. Or you question whether you can trust Him. I urge you to go to God and trust Him with your prayers. God has already done the greater thing of hearing our prayer and delivering us from the penalty and power of sin through Jesus Christ's death on the cross in our place.
Do you think He will not hear and answer you in your distress? And His answer will be for your good, even though you may not like the answer you get.
And what is the distress the Psalmist faces?
In Psalm 120:2, "Deliver me, O Lord" is literally, "O Lord, deliver my soul." The Psalmist pleads mercy and deliverance of the Lord God from "lying lips" and "a deceitful tongue".
As one commentator writes: "These adversaries do violence to the truth [so] that they might do violence to people." He faces enemies out to get him and who use lies and deceit as weapons. Since followers of Christ have the devil as their enemy, it is indeed unsurprising for us to escape being attacked by his lies.
Beloved, do not be surprised if you get slandered when you stand up as a witness for Christ in your workplace. Do not be surprised if you get wrongly gossiped against when you proclaim the gospel in your schools. Do not be surprised if you get maligned when you share Christ with your family and relatives. After all, we served a master who was slandered against and maligned by His own people. But be encouraged that our Lord God can and will deliver us.
And how will God deliver us? He will deliver us by vindicating us believers and bringing judgment on the deceitful enemies (Ps 120:3-4). Do you see it?
The expression "what … and what more" in Psalm 120:3 is a familiar Old Testament formula calling for God's judgment (e.g., Ruth 1:16–17; 1 Sam 3:17; 2 Sam 3:35). So, the Psalmist follows up his plea for deliverance by recalling God's coming righteous judgment against deceitful sinners.
The warrior in Psalm 120:4 recalls God as a "divine warrior" who acts on behalf of His people. The "be given... be done" refers to a divine passive, picturing God as a divine warrior acting in judgment against deceitful enemies. God will bring judgment against sinners and vindication for believers.
Psalm 120:4 answers the question of Psalm 120:3, describing the punishment that perfectly fits the crime. The deceitful tongue is itself a sharp sword (Ps 64:3) and arrow (Jer 9:8) and is like a fire kindled in hell (Jas 3:6). "Glowing coals" are something like charcoal. The "broom tree" cannot be precisely identified, but the context suggests that it was a plant known to burn long and hot.
Just as the false tongue is both sharp and lastingly agonizing in the wounds it inflicts on the righteous (and supremely on Jesus), so the punishment of the unrepentant speaker of these lying words will be unbearably sharp and unimaginably painful in its heat. God's judgment will be just.
The main thrust of Psalm 120:3–4 is that we may, like Jesus, entrust ourselves to the one who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23).
Beloved, I speak to those who are facing injustice. Perhaps you are in a workplace situation where your employer has treated you unfairly. Or because you have made a stand for the gospel, and now you face prejudice. Pray and trust. Trust that God will bring vindication and final judgment. If not now, definitely on the day when Christ returns. It may be difficult, but suffer injustice with patience and hope. One day soon, all will be made right.
Cry out to God, trusting He will deliver by bringing justice upon those who act in deceit.
My friends, when we receive punishment when we sin, remember also that God's arrows are judgements aimed at provoking repentance. It is God's means of grace, warning us to turn from deceit and lies and to turn to our God of truth. So, when you experience the reprimanding hand of God, humble yourself and repent.
The main takeaway is for us to cry out to God, trusting He will deliver; by bringing justice upon those who act in deceit. We have a righteous and faithful God who acts, leading the Psalmist to start his journey towards a God of peace.
Grieve over and reject this world (Ps 120:5-7)
The sojourner turns from looking at his enemies to examining his own state. He starts his journey "going up" in Psalm 120:5-7 by grieving over and rejecting the alluring lies of this war-loving world.
In Psalm 120:5, the Psalmist proclaims "woe" on himself. "Woe" expresses deep grief. The Christian Standard Bible translate it as "What misery that …". He realizes the miserable state he dwells in.
The verb "sojourn" used here implies that the Psalmist is an exile from his homeland. "Meshech" probably signifies a region to the north of Judah, south or southeast of the Black Sea, inhabited by a tribe of fierce and warlike people. "Kedar" refers to nomadic tribes far to the south or southeast of Judah, somewhere between Egypt and Edom. Both refer to tribes who are not part of God's people and to places outside the land of promise.
The use of these places are figurative; the Psalmist cannot be physically in both places at the same time. But they tell us how he feels rather than where he is, surrounded by an aggressive, warlike, and destructive world far from the promised land. The Psalmist grieves and expresses tragedy and unhappiness and also hope because he has learned to grieve.
Many others, just as wretched, do not grieve; they are exiles, too, but have no desire to go home. By contrast, we see the Psalmist does want to go home, for he experiences the misery of his exile. Because he recognises his misery and the true state of the broken world, he is on the way already.
The first step toward God is a step away from the world's lies.
The first step toward God is a step away from the world's lies.
He is beginning his ascent Godwards, for he is starting to sing the song of ascents. We see the Psalmist deciding and acting on "a no that is a yes". He says no to dwelling in this warlike world, and a yes to a return from exile, beginning a journey of "going ups". He realizes what James 4:4 tells us — “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
He understands what 1 John 2:15 says — “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
The "world" here refers to the system of human society and culture characterized by worldly desires and sin, which is not from God but is passing away. It is not simply the physical world but the way of life and values that are antithetical to God's will.
The usual biblical word describing the no we say to the world's lies and the yes we say to God's truth is repentance. It is always and everywhere the first Word in the Christian Life. Jesus's first sermon, described in Matthew 4:17, as "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Biblical repentance involves a change of mind and heart, turning away from sin and toward God.
Repentance is more than just feeling sorry; It includes a commitment to change behaviour and seeking God's forgiveness. It is a key aspect of Christian faith and a necessary step for reconciliation with God.
Augustine, in his Expositions of the Psalms, writes: "The soul travels by its affections. If you are in love with the earth, your journey is taking you far from God. If you are in love with God, you are climbing toward him."
Beloved, our first step in our return from exile in our journey home is to repent of our love for the sinful things of this world that oppose God and to return to a love for God.
Beloved, consider the influences around you – are there areas where you have "to say "Woe to me" and reject the "lies"?
I speak to those who might have slipped into complacency. We understand that as believers, we first repent of our sins and turn to Jesus alone by faith only for our salvation. But we may be allured by the world and deceived into thinking we only need to repent that once.
Repentance is an ongoing part of the Christian life Believers must not stop repenting until death or when Christ returns. Repentance begins at conversion and continues through the life of the disciple as we are sanctified and grow to become more and more like Jesus Christ.
Beloved, do you need to bring any areas before God in repentance today? While we have a responsibility to repent of our sins as individuals, we are helped by others in the community.
Beloved, we gather as a church to help us continuously repent as we hear the Word of truth preached and sung corporately. We then speak the Word to one another to expose and remedy the world's lies. We seek to apply the Word to one another in our one-on-one meetups and small groups to help each other in our journeys of repentance and faith.
So, beloved, do not neglect gathering together.
The Psalmist continues in Psalm 120:6-7.
Psalm 120:6 builds on Psalm 120:5 with the exclamation, "Too long"! And clarify that what these contrasting "places" have in common is hatred for peace.The Psalmist regrets dwelling among the peace-haters for too long. He desires to make the journey to return from exile promptly. In the description of "those who hate peace," they picture the divisions that rejection of God always causes in human affairs.
Truth is inseparable from peace, and "deceit" (Ps 120:2, 3) is always associated with war. In Psalm 120:7, the Psalmist emphatically states, "I am for peace" (literally: "I—peace"), signalling that he is peace personified; he wants to live in peace and create peace.
As used here, peace includes harmonious relationships and freedom from disputes, especially in the absence of war. It can also mean wholeness, completeness, soundness and peace with God. Ultimately, it is only something the Prince of Peace can give. And because we receive this peace with God, we, too, can be peacemakers.
We can seek to resolve conflict and restore relationships with God and others. We can courageously address relational issues, seek reconciliation and restoration, and live in true harmony. We address hurt, acknowledge responsibility, and actively seek forgiveness.
Beloved, is there anyone in the church whom you need to seek forgiveness from or forgive, just as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven us? Take the first steps this coming week to make peace.
Psalm 120:7 ends the psalm on a note of great sadness, "But when I speak, they are for war!"
But this note ends neither the Songs of Ascents (it goes for fourteen more Psalms till Psalm 134) nor the story of God's dealings with humankind. Ultimately, God deals with humankind in exile in the person of the true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the sinless believer who grieved over this sinful, broken world and first ascended the hill of the Lord for us. He is the focus and meaning of that place to which we ascend, the one greater than the temple. We return from exile through Jesus, trusting in Him, following in His steps, and journeying towards Him. At the end of the day, we grieve over this sinful, broken world and turn to trust in Jesus Christ and walk in his footsteps.
I speak to our non-Christian friends here today. Do you want a rescue from this warlike, deceitful world? Do you desire true peace? Then start your journey towards God. Firstly, you acknowledge that you are among those who have brought into the world's deceit and lies. You have rebelled against God and have been at war with God in your thoughts, words and deeds. You have wandered far from God.
Secondly, you believe that Jesus Christ is the only one sent by God who can bring deliverance. Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place for your lies, deceit and war against God. He took on the punishment by God that was due to you because of your sins. He was raised on the third day and vindicated by God as the true Prince of Peace.
Thirdly, you confess your need for Jesus Christ. You cry out to Jesus Christ to deliver you, placing your trust and faith in him alone to rescue you. Decide on "a no that is a yes". Say no to the deceitful sins of this world, and say yes to Jesus Christ. My friends, if this is what you desire, please speak to your Christian friend who brought you here this morning. Or you can talk to any of the elders of this church. We will gladly walk you through how to know Jesus Christ and start your faith journey.
I speak to struggling sojourners. You may have repented of sins, but you still face a struggle as you yet again give in to the alluring lies and deceit, and sin again. You want to love God, but it seems your love for the things of this world is stronger. Dear beloved, remember that you are not home yet. You are on a journey of "going ups", which involves hills and valleys. You will struggle with temptations and sins, but you can pray to God fully confident that he will answer and deliver us from your distress.
Remember the good news: Jesus was exiled for us in His death on the cross. He endured the punishment and curse that we deserved due to our sins. But He was raised to life, in His return from exile, being restored to the presence of God. Through Jesus's death and resurrection, believers who place their faith in Jesus Christ, are brought back into God's presence, experiencing a return from exile. Our broken relationship with God is restored, restoring fellowship with Father, Son and Spirit.
Our return from exile depends not on us but on Jesus Christ, and this has been accomplished by Jesus Christ, once and for all.
Beloved, our return from exile depends not on us but on Jesus Christ, and this has been accomplished by Jesus Christ, once and for all. We do not go on this journey alone. By His grace, God has given us companions for the journey — our church. How can our church community support your faith journey? How can you help other church members' faith journeys? You can find encouragement in the gospel as we commit to live out our Members' Covenant with each other.
Statement 7 of our members' covenant reminds us: “We will strive [together as a church] to pursue personal holiness in our lives and grow in Christ-likeness with the help of the Holy Spirit by resisting conformity to this world and submitting to the authority of Scripture.”
We journey together as we make our way home from exile. What a comfort and encouragement.
Beloved, Psalm 120 exhorts us to long for the Lord, our only hope and salvation. It reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven as we await our Saviour, Jesus Christ. May you continue to commit to "a no that is a yes". Saying no to the enticing lies and deceit of this sinful world and a yes toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray.
Bibliography
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D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018.
David Gundersen, "Psalms," in The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible, ed. R. Albert Mohler Jr. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021.
Willem A. VanGemeren, "Psalms," in The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Psalms (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 5. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.
Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014.
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Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, Commemorative Edition. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019.