"In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from the deceitful tongue.” (vv.1-2)
Psalms 120 through 134 are known as Songs of Ascent. As the Jewish people made their way up to Jerusalem three times a year for the feats of; Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, they would sing these songs. And According to Josephus, there were many times well over a million people who would gather for these feasts to worship the Lord together. Can you imagine those voices joining in together as they approached the city?
Here in the first of these psalms of Degrees, the psalmist is looking forward to that time of fellowship with like minded people. He expresses the turmoil of living in a world that is antagonistic towards God. Living amongst the ungodly, his soul is longing for that fellowship with God, for that peace of God, and the escape from all the confusion, the lying, the conniving, and all that is going on in the world around him. And the closer he gets to Jerusalem the more at peace his soul becomes.
As a Christian, we can identify sometimes with that feeling of being surround by the ungodly. Those times when we are tired of being violated in our minds, and our very soul longs for that fellowship with God and His people. Like the Israelites, we too have a place to worship the Lord, to meet with His people, to hear from His Word. And as we draw near to it, from however far we must travel, the more at peace we begin to feel in our souls.
Oh how I love His church, His Word, the fellowship of believers, and the worship of His people. For my soul seeks the peace of God.
The Truth: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
