DUNCAN/I cried. He answered

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Psalm 120. This psalm is about a believer far from home and in great distress. Have you ever been a long way from home and under considerable duress? What did your heart want to do? If you’re like me, you wanted to be in the place where you felt like you belonged. I can remember times as a young man, whether I was twelve hours or an ocean away from home I thought, “If I could just cross the border of South Carolina and get into the home with mom and dad, everything will be alright.” That’s something of the experience of this psalmist. He’s dwelling a long way from Jerusalem, a long way from God’s people, and things are very hard there. He is being slandered, he is the victim of character assassination, and even though he wants the wellbeing of the people with whom he lives, they’re not interested in cooperating with him. All his efforts seem to be of no avail. But notice where that forces him? It’s here that the psalmist goes to God in prayer, trusting His judgment, learning to navigate a land that is not his own. 

Praying in the Midst of Distress

Let’s begin by looking together at verse 1, “In my distress I called to the LORD.” The psalmist is reminding us here that believers can count on the Lord hearing them when they cry out in times of distress. Though we ought to pray in every circumstance, we certainly ought to pray in times of distress calling out to God, knowing He will hear us in those times of distress. You know, the Lord often puts us in circumstances where the only thing we can do is pray. And when He puts us there, He has us exactly where He wants us to teach us a mighty lesson. Our hope is not in our activity, but in His sovereignty. Our hope is not in our doing, but in His doing. We are always dependent upon Him, but especially when He kicks the legs out from under the stool that we are sitting on. We are especially aware of our dependency upon Him and all we can do is cry out to the Lord. 

But this psalm also teaches us about trials. It is what is being said about the psalmist that is causing him this trial. And he cries out — Look at verse 2 — “Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips and the deceitful tongue.” One of the greatest trials that we can undergo as believers is the trial of character assassination and false accusation. The psalmist here is speaking about trouble that he has had from treachery in the company of pagans. It reminds us that the person of the purest character is not immune from slander. In fact, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was slandered, though He was of the purest character and of unimpeachable integrity. 

Trusting in God’s Righteous Judgment in the Midst of Trials 

But as he faces this trial, prayer isn’t his only anchor. He trusts the sovereign providence and justice of God. Look at verses 3 and 4. “What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coal of the broom tree!” That’s an interesting progression, isn’t it? The psalmist is describing what the one who has been treacherous with his tongue in speaking against the believer is going to get from God. His tongue may shoot arrows that hurt, but God’s arrows of judgment are going to be much, much sharper than the arrows of the one who has been falsely accusing God’s children.

And so, what do we learn here? The psalmist, as he’s thinking about this trial, starts meditating on God’s sovereignty and judgment. The psalmist begins to meditate about the fact that the one who is speaking treacherously against him will in fact incur a greater judgment than the pains that he is causing by the wrong that he is doing. The psalmist meets this trial not only with prayer, not only with a recognition that this can and does happen to believers, but also with an appeal to God’s sovereign providence and judgment.

Sojourning in a Foreign Land

And then in verses 5 to 7 the psalmist meditates on sojourning — Dwelling in a land that is not his own. First, notice verse 5, “Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” Now these two places refer to peoples that lived in the far north above Israel or way down in the Arabian Peninsula. So it may be that the psalmist is describing two foreign people groups, one blood relative but at enmity with Israel, the other, complete Gentile pagans. He’s describing having to live outside of the context of the people of God, and he says, “Woe to me, that I sojourned here.” He’s lamenting the burden of dwelling among pagans.

Look at verses 6 and 7. “Too long have I had my dwelling place among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” The psalmist is saying here, “I want the well-being of the pagans among whom I live. I want to be a good witness to my God. I want to work for their best interest, and I want them to see a testimony that I love and serve the God of Israel, but they are adversarial. I’m at odds with them and I feel so alone and weary.” It can be a weariness of the soul, can’t it, to dwell amongst antagonistic unbelievers. We may well find ourselves feeling like we are strangers in a strange land in our own hometowns, but it’s important for us to remember what the Bible counsels us to do in that setting. The temptation is to compromise with the world — To go along with the mindset of the culture. Or the temptation is to be antagonistic, wholly negative towards that culture. Neither is correct. Christians are to be in the world but not of the world — Not compromising on God’s Word. 

But where do we go when our souls are weary? Look where the psalmist goes. He can’t wait to get up to Jerusalem to worship God. That ought to be our attitude Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day. Where the Lord has us planted in our neighborhoods and our community, we are working for its wellbeing, we are working to bear witness to the Gospel, to be good neighbors, to be good witnesses to Jesus Christ in our community, to serve in our vocations with all our hearts and all our might, to give glory to God in everything we do. In the house of the Lord with the people of God worshiping the Lord! May the Lord bless His Word to us all.

The Rev. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III  is the Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary and the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. He is also currently serving as President of RTS Jackson.