King James Version
Psalms 120
7 verses with commentary
Deliver Me, O Lord
A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
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KJV Study Commentary
This opening verse initiates the fifteen 'Songs of Ascents' (Psalms 120-134), likely sung by pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem for the three annual feasts. The psalmist's appeal 'In my distress I cried unto the LORD' demonstrates that prayer is the proper response to trouble, not self-reliance or despair. The Hebrew word 'tsarah' (distress) denotes narrow straits, confinement, or pressure - situatio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 97 Psa 97:1-12. The writer celebrates the Lord's dominion over nations and nature, describes its effect on foes and friends, and exhorts and encourages the latter.
1-2. This dominion is a cause of joy, because, even though our minds are oppressed with terror before the throne of the King of kings (Ex 19:16; De 5:22), we know it is based on righteous principles and judgments which are accord...
Read full commentary →Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
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KJV Study Commentary
The specific distress emerges: the psalmist suffers from 'lying lips' and 'deceitful tongue.' The Hebrew 'lashon remiyah' (deceitful tongue) refers to speech intended to mislead, manipulate, or destroy. Slander and false testimony were serious offenses in Israel's covenant community (Exodus 20:16; 23:1), as they violated both truth and neighbor-love. The double reference to speech organs ('lips' a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Deliver . . .**—This is the cry for help of which mention has just been made. The thought is one we have met frequently. Of all the elements of bitterness which made up the lot of Israel under foreign dominion, taunts and calumnies seem to have made the deepest wound, and left the most lasting scar. This was “the torture prolonged from age to age,” under which we hear psalmist after psalmist...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 97 Psa 97:1-12. The writer celebrates the Lord's dominion over nations and nature, describes its effect on foes and friends, and exhorts and encourages the latter.
1-2. This dominion is a cause of joy, because, even though our minds are oppressed with terror before the throne of the King of kings (Ex 19:16; De 5:22), we know it is based on righteous principles and judgments which are accord...
Read full commentary →What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? What shall be given: or, What shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee? or, what shall is profit thee? done: Heb. added
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalmist poses a rhetorical question about divine judgment against deceivers: 'What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?' This question anticipates God's judicial response to persistent liars. The interrogative form implies that appropriate punishment exceeds human imagination - God's justice will fit the crime perfectly. The direct address to 'thou fal...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **What shall . . .**?—Literally, *What will he give to thee, *and *what will he add to thee, deceitful tongue*? where it is better, as in the Authorised Version, to take the subject as indefinite, and so render by the passive. Thus we get in substance the following question: “What more can be added to thee (*i.e., *in the way of epithet), besides *lying *and *false, thou deceitful tongue*?” th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3-5. The attending illustrations of God's awful justice on enemies (Psa 83:14) are seen in the disclosures of His almighty power on the elements of nature (compare Psa 46:2; 77:17; Ha 3:6, &c.).
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. Sharp: or, It is as the sharp arrows of the mighty man, with coals of juniper
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KJV Study Commentary
God's judgment against the deceitful tongue is described with vivid military imagery: 'Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.' The 'sharp arrows' represent God's precise, inescapable judgment - arrows find their target at distance, suggesting that liars cannot escape divine justice. The 'coals of juniper' (or 'broom tree' in some translations) reference wood known for intense, long-las...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Sharp.**—Better, *sharpened, whetted, *as if for a purpose.
**Juniper.**—Properly, *broom. *Hebrew, *rothem, *a plant identical with the Arabian *retem *and Algerian *retama. *(See 1Kings 19:4-5.) Doctor Tristram mentions the employment of this bush for fuel. “It is ruthlessly uprooted by the Arabs, wherever it is tolerably abundant, for the manufacture of charcoal, which is considered of th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3-5. The attending illustrations of God's awful justice on enemies (Psa 83:14) are seen in the disclosures of His almighty power on the elements of nature (compare Psa 46:2; 77:17; Ha 3:6, &c.).
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalmist laments his situation: 'Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!' This expresses profound spiritual alienation. 'Mesech' refers to a region in modern-day Turkey associated with barbarous people (Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 27:13; 38:2), while 'Kedar' denotes Bedouin tribes of the Arabian desert descended from Ishmael (Genesis 25:13). These locations represent...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Mesech.**—This name is generally identified with *Moschi, *mentioned by Herodotus (iii. 94), a tribe on the borders of Colchis and Armenia. It appears again in the prophet Ezekiel 27:13; Ezekiel 38:3; Ezekiel 39:1. The only reason for suspecting the accuracy of this identification is the remoteness from *Kedar, *who were a nomad tribe of Arabia. (See Genesis 25:13; Song of Solomon 1:5.) But ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3-5. The attending illustrations of God's awful justice on enemies (Psa 83:14) are seen in the disclosures of His almighty power on the elements of nature (compare Psa 46:2; 77:17; Ha 3:6, &c.).
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
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KJV Study Commentary
The lament continues: 'My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.' The word 'soul' (Hebrew 'nephesh') denotes the whole person - mind, emotions, and will. The phrase 'long dwelt' emphasizes extended suffering; this is not momentary discomfort but sustained trial. Those who 'hateth peace' are characterized by hostility, conflict, and discord. The psalmist mourns being forced to coexist wit...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. heavens--**or, their inhabitants (Psa 50:6), as opposed to "nations" in the latter clause (compare Is 40:5; 66:18).
I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war. for peace: or, a man of peace
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalm concludes with the righteous person's posture: 'I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.' This contrast defines the fundamental divide between the godly and the ungodly. The psalmist's identity is 'for peace' - oriented toward reconciliation, harmony, and flourishing. Yet every attempt at peaceful communication ('when I speak') is met with hostility ('they are for war'). The H...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **I am for peace.**—For the pregnant, “I peace,” see Note, Psalm 109:3. Both pronouns, *I *and *they, *are emphatic. No doubt these verses are intended to indicate the nature of the malicious speeches mentioned in Psalm 120:2-3. We imagine Israel in peculiarly difficult political relations under the Persians, possibly very soon after the Return, trying to keep in favour and peace with the ruli...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. Idolaters are utterly put to shame, for if angels must worship Him, how much more those who worshipped them.
**all ye gods--**literally, "all ye angels" (Psa 8:5; 138:1; He 1:6; 2:7). Paul quotes, not as a prophecy, but as language used in regard to the Lord Jehovah, who in the Old Testament theophania is the second person of the Godhead.