Psalms 120-125

Psalms 120-125

            The next 15 psalms (120-134) are all entitled “a song of ascents.” Nobody knows exactly what that means but the predominant understanding is that this collection of psalms was used as Israelite pilgrims made their way up toward Jerusalem. (Jerusalem sat on a hill and one always literally went ‘up’ to get there.) It seems to me that these psalms reflect a post-exilic origin and that they reflect both the longing for a home on Zion, technically the hill on which Jerusalem sat, and for the presence of the Lord.

            So, for example, in Psalm 120, the psalmist mentions living distant lands—Meshek and Kedar. Ancient place names are notoriously hard to track down, but Meshek may have been in what we know as Turkey and it seems likely that Kedar was in what we know as Saudi Arabia. These are not references to Babylon, but it’s possible an exile in Babylon would describe his banishment in those terms. Pair that with Psalm 121, in which the psalmist is looking up to the mountains, presumably to Mount Zion, and it is evocative of the return from exile and the anticipation of being again in the Lord’s presence. Psalm 121 is replete with the notion that the Lord protects even those who are far away from the Jerusalem, that He watches over those who are going away from His presence and those who are returning. Likewise, Psalm 123 suggests an exilic origin with its prayer for mercy because God’s people have ‘endured no end of contempt.’

            Hopefully the application to our lives is clear enough. We live in the exile of sin, but the gift of God in Jesus’ death and resurrection has brought us back into the presence of God.