Day 178. Psalms 120-131

Psalm 120
This psalm, together with all those in today's reading, are "Songs of Ascents," hymns sung by pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem to celebrate the great feasts of the Jewish year. In this psalm—number 120—the voice says he lives as an "alien in Meshech" and "among the tents of Kedar" (5) Meshech is in Asia Minor near the Black Sea; Kedar is in the Arabian Peninsula. They are nowhere near each other, but both are very distant from Jerusalem and the temple. And the voice of the psalm laments that as a Jew living far from his homeland he constantly faces hostility toward himself and his faith. Those he daily deals with are deceitful and dishonest. He is "for peace," but his bellicose neighbors are always "for war" (7). This is a song of homesick exile in a foreign country; he longs to go home. And those pilgrims who sang this psalm as they journeyed to Jerusalem to worship in the temple were in the most real sense going home.
Psalm 121
This psalm—number 121—is a dialogue. "From where will my help come?" the first voice of the psalm asks (1). (We can clearly hear the answer and response pattern of liturgy.) Help does not come from "the hills," but from the one who "made heaven and earth" (1-2). "The Lord is your keeper," the second voice answers the first. The LORD "watches over" those who look to him for help. He will take care of you your whole life through, your "going out" and "coming in" (8). Whatever happens on your journey, he is with his pilgrim people.
Psalm 122
This psalm—number 122—is a perfect example of the "Song of Ascent," a journey hymn expressing the joy of those who look forward to being in the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem. To Jerusalem "the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD," the psalmist says. The people of Israel—males especially--were commanded to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year, if possible (see Exodus 23:14-19). "There the thrones of judgment were set up" (5)—there the king of the "house of David" arbitrated disputes and dispensed justice. The psalm ends with an ecstatic blessing upon Jerusalem, where God's name dwells. It is the place where heaven and earth meet, and the pilgrim voice of the psalmist prays for its "peace" because upon the peace of Jerusalem depends the peace of the whole earth—and that is still as true today as it was then.
Psalm 123
This psalm—number 123—is a communal plea for help—communal because the voice refers to itself as "we." "We have had more than enough of contempt," the voice says (3). Together the people have suffered "the scorn of those who are at ease" (4), and now they wait for the vindication of the LORD. As his servants, they look with expectation and impatience for God's help in the face of the oppression "of the proud" (4).
Psalm 124
Again in this psalm—number 124—we hear the call and response pattern of the liturgy. What would have happened if the LORD had not been on our side "when our enemies attacked us?"—that is the question that is being asked here. And the answer is forthcoming—"They would have swallowed us up alive" (3). The psalm celebrates Israel's history of crisis and deliverance. "We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers," the pilgrims sing. "The snare is broken and we are escaped" (7). We would be swallowed up, swept away, drowned, caught in a snare, if the LORD had not been on our side, they sing. But we are alive and free because "our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth" (8).
Psalm 125
The community of pilgrims who sing this psalm—number 125—as they journey to Jerusalem, compare "those who trust in the LORD" to Zion, the temple mount itself; they are unmovable and firm (1). And their song compares the LORD's protection to the mountains that surround Jerusalem, all-encompassing and worthy of trust (2). The power of the wicked—their "scepter"—shall not continue to oppress the land that rightfully belongs to these who trust the LORD (3). "Do good, O LORD, to those who do good," the pilgrims pray (4). And they end with shout--"Peace be upon Israel!"
Psalm 126
The first verse of this Song of Ascent—Psalm 126—probably refers to the return of the exiles from Babylon. That was a moment of unadulterated joy when even the pagan "nations" celebrated the return of the exiles as an act of God. Now the pilgrim voices pray that the Lord will "restore [their] fortunes" as a nation, and again turn their tears into "shouts of joy" (5). Once God miraculously renewed the world for their ancestors—like rain renews the desert—may he do it again in this present time, they pray.
Psalm 127
This little wisdom psalm—number 127—which is ascribed to Solomon, speaks of the futility of trying to build anything permanent—a house, a city, a home, a family—without the support and help of the LORD. If he is not involved in our projects, we may "rise up early and go late to rest"(2), it will not matter. All human effort is useless without God's blessing; only what is done for the LORD lasts.
Psalm 128
What does it take to have happy family? This wisdom psalm—number 128—answers that question by saying that everyone is happy "who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways" (1). If you do that, the voice says, "everything will go well with you" (2). You will be blessed with a fruitful wife and many children—in Bible times this is the definition of happiness—and you will "see your children's children" (6)—living long in the land of promise surrounded by the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem.
Psalm 129
Notice the call and response structure of this psalm—number 129. The worship leader says a phrase, and the worshipers repeat it. The "me" of the psalm is the nation of Israel. Many have "attacked' Israel since the nation came into existence, but they have gotten nowhere (2). Those who curse God's chosen people will always be "put to shame" and have their curse turned upon themselves (5-8). They will be like withered grass, useless and sterile. But those who bless them will be blessed.
Psalm 130
In this psalm—number 130—the voice cries "out of the depths" for forgiveness and waits anxiously for an answer. In his suspense, however, he still firmly hopes, knowing that "with the LORD is steadfast love" (7). God keeps his promises to his people, and "with him is great power to redeem." The whole experience of Israel proves this, and the memory of God's mercies to his people fills that psalmist with hope that he too will be helped.
Psalm 131
In this little psalm of trust—number 131—the psalmist humbly professes his utter dependence upon God. He is like a "weaned child with its mother" (2), sitting in her lap, filled with quiet trust. And he calls on the worshipping community to adopt a child-like faith and humbly "hope in the LORD from this time on forevermore" (3).