In my distress I cry to You, that You may come quickly to comfort me:
“Be strong in me, that I might face the darkness,
the despair that rises up from the depths.”
“I am bowed down with remorse:
for my inappropriate choices, forgive me, O Healer.
For all my betrayals of others and to my own soul, forgive me, O Healer.
Bless my tears that flow like a stream
running to meet the Living Waters of your Love.
I yearn to live in peace; come quickly!
Strengthen me as I face the illusions within!”
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
“Shalom in the psalmic vocabulary is the hopefulness and wholesomeness of life when living is knit into the fabric of relatedness to God and others and world. It is the at-one-ness that makes for goodness.” James L. Mays
The Psalms of Ascent (120 – 134) were used by pilgrims making their journey to Jerusalem. The pilgrims’ desire for peace, fueled their prayers and their journey. They sought peace as an escape from the hostility of everyday life. They prayed that God would make things right. Sometimes these prayers sound confident or desperate, but I imagine that all of us pilgrims find ourselves vacillating between hope and despair in our own journeys.
Psalm 120 reminds us that words have power, to harm or to inspire. The pilgrim is inspired to let go of hate speech and to pray for peace, unity, and love. The goal of the pilgrims’ journey is to find at-one-ness with God, neighbor, and all of creation, a true and everlasting shalom.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020. Shortly after, we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I posted Psalm 119 and began work on missed psalms from Year D and others not in the lectionary. Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year D Psalms that I haven’t come across in the other lectionary years, yet:
18, 144, 44, 110, 73, 75, 76, 28, 12, 61, 11, 88, 108, 64, 60, 10, 120
These are the psalms I haven’t found in any lectionary, yet:
5, 53, 64, 81, 131, 134, 135
Sources and notes:
“Psalm 120 is the first in the collection of songs of ascents (see Psalms 120-134). On first reading, it seems an unlikely selection to sere as an introduction of the collection, a strange and difficult little poem. Bu the declaration, “I am for peace,” uses the theme that is repeated in the following songs in the collection. The connection is an important clue to the role of the psalm and its meaning.” Mays p. 387
“The designation of the psalm as a pilgrim’s song provides a context for its interpretation. It is a poignant expression of pilgrim’s pain over the world from which they come. It puts that world in sharpest contrast to the peace they desire and seek in coming to Zion. The distress that forms the background of the pilgrimage is featured in all three part of the psalm. The first part (vv. 1-2) recalls that distress drove the pilgrim to prayer. It could be endured and surmounted only by dependence on the LORD. The moment to prayer was indeed the first movement of the pilgrimage. The journey to Zion enacts in space the verbal move toward the LORD made in prayer. Lying, deceitful speech is often cited in the psalms as a powerful weapon of social hostility (e.g., 5:9; 10:7; 12:1-4; 31:18; etc.). Lies subvert life; deceit undermines it; the soul is left insecure and damaged. In part two (vv. 3-4) the curse turned into a rhetorical question reflects the depth of the pain caused by the distress. What did such hostility deserve? Would it not be one right that those who were so much “for war” (v. 7) should undergo its pain, the arrows and fire of attack on a city? For those who want war, the reward of war! In an extended lament cry, the third part of the psalm (vv. 5-7) descries the distress as a sojourn among people who hate peace and love war. War is here a metaphor for the hostility of personal adversaries, as in Psalm 27:3. Meshech and Kedar are also used metaphorically; they are the names of alien distant places associated with ward and warring people (see Exek. 38:2 and Isa. 21:13-17). One would say, “also, I live in Meshech and dwell in the midst of Kedar: as a way of characterizing any residence best with social strife.” Mays p. 388
“The pilgrim says who he is and why he is a pilgrim with the declaration, “I am for peace.” Peace (Heb. shalom) is the central issue of the psalm. Shalom in the psalmic vocabulary is the hopefulness and wholesomeness of life when living is knit into the fabric of relatedness to God and others and world. It is the at-one-ness that makes for goodness. The pilgrim’s distress comes from having to live without shalom. The pain of its lack shows in his all too human invocation of the wages of ward on his mean neighbors (v. 4). But the pilgrim is a pilgrim because his is committed to shalom. The pilgrim comes to Jerusalem as one who seeks shalom. It is the connection between this need and quest and the various ways that shalom features in the following psalms that uncovers the introductory role of this first one.” Mays pp. 288-389 Emphasis mine
Comment on Meshech and Kedar: “The psalm singer may be referring to specific locations or using the designations as metaphors for places to the farthest north and farthest south of Israel, suggesting a sense of being totally surrounded by hostility.” W p. 179
Shalom: “The deeper meaning of the word has to do with wholeness, wellness, and settledness.” W p. 179 (also sites Mays’ definition in bold above).
“Lying lips, deceitful tongues, and those who hate “peace” are the subject of this first Song of Ascents. The psalm singer cries out to God to deliver and to make things right.” W p. 179
“Words are a powerful commodity. The creator God has given humanity the first of speech, and it can be used for good of for oppression and hurtfulness. The old adage “Sticks and stones may beak my bones, but words will never hurt me” is a lie. Israelite pilgrims perhaps sang the words of Psalm 120 as they journeyed from their villages to Jerusalem to celebrate festal occasions or as they made their way home from exile in Babylon. But the psalm’s words resonate also in many life situations in the twenty-first century. Domestic abuse may not be an often is not physical, but rather emotional and verbal. instinct belittling, accusing , and angry rants are as damaging as physical harm. Women, men, children, and people in the workplace also suffer quietly in such circumstances. The singer of Psalm 120 longs to be away from lips that speak falsehood and from deceitful tongues and to find the well-being that comes with living in the presence of God. She remembers past situations of oppression in which God has answered her (v. 1). Confident that God will be faithful again, the psalmist uses strong words of imprecation against those oppressing her (vv. 3-4). When lying lips and deceitful tongues overwhelm us, may we really the words of the palm singer and cry out in confident exception that God will indeed respond.” W pp. 179-180
Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
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Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.
NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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