There are 15 psalms of ascent (Psalms 120-134) in the Psalms. They are songs that were sung by the Israelites as they ascended in their pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Zion) to worship the Lord at His annual feasts; more specifically, the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. According to some traditions, the Jewish priests would sing these songs as they walked up the 15 steps to the temple in Jerusalem. Four of these psalms were written by David (122,124,131,133), and one by Solomon (127); the remaining ten were written by unknown psalmists. These particular psalms are grouped together in the book of Psalms and written to encourage Jewish pilgrims celebrating the various feasts of the Lord, and later, for believers in their worship of Jesus the Messiah. Many hymns and songs of worship to Jesus have been written based on these psalms and they serve as powerful examples of how believers can express their love and worship of the Lord through song.
In this blog, I should like to provide a brief commentary on each of the psalms of ascent in an effort to encourage and build up your faith in these very last of the last days. These biblical passages, as with all of the passages that I post in my blogs, are from the NKJV. I will be posting one blog per day for the next two weeks. This is the first time I have ever posted a blog series, but I feel the Lord leading me in it. I hope that it will provide encouragement and perspective in your walk with the Lord as we near His soon return.
Psalm 120 – Plea for Relief from Bitter Foes:
A Song of Ascents.
“In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given to you, or what shall be done to you, you false tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the warrior (mighty one), with coals of the broom tree! 5 Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace. 7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” – Psalm 120
- As I read this I am thinking of the past couple of years, more specifically, the year 2020. We started out well, but in early March, the world was attacked by a virus of unknown origin. While there are many conspiracy theories out there, what is for sure is that we were lied to and a lot of people died.
There were many lies propagated by our government and the governments of the world to disassemble our nation, the global nations, and our way of life; what we used to call normal. At our church in Gardena, CA we had to transform our playground into a sanctuary where parishioners could meet outside or in the parking lot via a drive-in service. Some parishioners just quit coming to church all together and just watched it on YouTube. While our then president did his best to lead our nation, I did my best to lead our church. It became obvious that our media was very biased and the lies just kept pouring in. While we knew they were telling us lies, what we wanted was the truth; a truth we were denied. We knew all too well that the ‘powers that be’ were changing our world one lie at a time and we were forced to change and adjust with it.
Their false narrative (tongue) and liberal freedom taking policies (warrior tongue) was only the beginning; but in the end, they will get their judgment. When Jesus returns to this earth and us with Him, He will set it all straight and establish His millennial kingdom. While I have longed for heaven for way too long now, I feel a sense of dread and excitement as I realize that we are in the pre-stages of the tribulation, a pre-tribulation era. The phrase ‘Meshech’ (Moscow) and the ‘tents of Kedar’ can reference places in this world; places that suffer loss or will in the near future because of this great deception and the climate change (aka birth pains) that we are currently and more frequently experiencing in our weather and other atmospheric phenomena.
As believers, we long to be with Jesus, but we live in a world where too many people want to live their lives without Him. They want what they want, and we want to be home with the Lord. While we continue to be a witness of the Christ to those who will listen, we also long to be with the Lord. My wife and I moved to Missouri in mid-December of 2020, mainly to be close to our three adult children and their families, but also because we felt a release from the Lord to leave our church after 22 years of faithful service and join God working elsewhere. We left the church way better than we found it and we left it in good hands; with a well-trained council and an exceptional young man of God who would later be elected to be the Lead Pastor and has since done a great job. The void we left and what the people felt in our leaving was minor in comparison to what the global masses of people will experience when the Church instantly leaves the earth in the Rapture. They may hate us now, but when we’re gone; they’re really going to miss us. We are for peace, the Prince of Peace, Jesus. We long to be with Him. They are for war, to fight for their way of life and to get as much out of this life as they can; not realizing their eternal state. Life on this side of the veil is way too short; life with Jesus lasts for an eternity and this is the life that we seek. It’s our plea for relief from the bitter foes of the Lord.
Maranatha!
Encouragemen is a blog written by Pastor Rob Lee, recently relocated to Northern Missouri. He lives with his wife of 33-years, near their three adult children, their spouses, and children (their grandchildren). Pastor Rob is an Ordained Assemblies of God minister, a former Lead Pastor (25 years), police chaplain, and community advocate. He continues to serve, consult, and disciple men of God, including those who are in the ministry.
Encourage Men 