Week 34: Psalms 120 – 150

THE BOOK OF PSALMS – Chapters 120 to 150

 

Psalms 120 to 134 – You will notice that these psalms all have the title “A Song of Ascents.” It is not certain in what way this title is meant: A song to be sung on the way to Jerusalem for feasts?  A song to be sung while going up the steps of the temple?  A song for elevated voices?  A song of elevated thoughts?  They compose a sort of “collection within a collection,” and are so down-to-earth they have been called “A People’s Song Book.”

 

Psalm 120 – Lament of an exile.  He was a “dove” among “hawks.”

 

Psalm 121 – The traveler’s psalm.   The journey toward the beloved city.

 

Psalm 122 – Jerusalem the golden.  The joy of the pilgrimage !

 

Psalm 123 – Under the lash of scorn.

 

Psalm 124 – “If it had not been the LORD.”  Verses 4 and 5 remind us of Luther’s “Our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing” (A Mighty Fortress).

 

Psalm 125 – “Those who trust in the LORD.”

 

Psalm 126 – Too good to be true !   Written on the return from captivity?  Notice verses 5 and 6 – “The ‘sowing’ or ‘seedtime’ period of any enterprise is a time of toil and anxiety, but a bountiful harvest makes up for all the labor that has gone before” (Purkiser).  “But if he is not obedient to God’s natural laws – even when the task is wearisome unto tears – there will be no harvest” (Motyer).   The text for Knowles Shaw’s song “Bringing in the Sheaves” (not in our hymn book, sadly).  

 

Psalm 127 –A secure habitation.  The vanity of work without God.  V. 2 reminds us of Matthew 6:25-34.

 

Psalm 128 – A happy home.  A marriage song?

 

Psalm 129 – Vindication.  

 

Psalm 130 – De Profundis (Out of the depths).  The cry for help (1-4).  The patient waiting (5,6).  Exhortation to hope (7,8).

 

Psalm 131 – Childlike trust – the song of a humble and quiet heart.

 

Psalm 132 – Prayer for the house of God.  David’s vow (1-5).  The fulfillment of David’s vow (6-10).  The promise of the LORD to David and to Zion (11-18).   Verses 8 and 9 are quoted in Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple (2 Chron. 6:41,42).  Compare verse 11 to Peter’s statement in Acts 2:30.  

 

Psalm 133 – Unity in the family.

 

Psalm 134 – Temple night watchers.   The last of the Songs of Ascents – now we are with the priests in the temple !

Psalm 135 – The greatness of our God.  Seems to incorporate phrases from other psalms (compare v. 15-18 with Ps 115:4-8).

 

Psalm 136 – The Great Hallel Song (so called by the Jews).  Obviously sung as a responsive song!

 

Psalm 137 – Song of the exiles.  A hymn of the exiles in Babylon.  Verse 9 is certainly the most difficult to us of the imprecations.  It is in response to the actions of the Edomites at the fall of Jerusalem (see also Obadiah 8-14).  So we need to (1) remember the treatment the people of Jerusalem had received from Edomites and (2) remember that justice does demand punishment, which the psalmist does not take into his own hands but asks of God.  We do not need to agree with all his statements but can see from where they issue.

 

Psalm 138 – Thanksgiving.  Acknowledgment of God’s faithfulness (1-3).  All the kings shall praise the LORD (4-6).  Confidence in God’s faithfulness (7,8).

 

Psalm 139 – The wonder of the LORD.   God’s omniscience –  the all-knowing God (1-6).  God’s omnipresence  – the ever-present God (7-12).  God’s personal concern – the all- sovereign God (13-16).  A prayer (17-24).  The writer knows that he cannot escape God but he finds only joy, and no regret, in that fact.  He can say, “God is with me no matter wherever I am,” and that makes all the difference.

 

Psalm 140 – “Deliver me.”  Petition for deliverance (1-5).  A cry for God to hear (6-8).  Request for justice from God (9-11).  Confidence in the LORD (12-13).

 

Psalm 141 – A prayer for help.  Prayer as incense (2) – compare Revelation 5:8; 8:3,4.  

 

Psalm 142 – The prisoner’s prayer.  The “right hand”(4) is where the helper or defender stands (cf.  16:8).  

 

Psalm 143 – Longing and living for the LORD.

 

Psalm 144 – National blessings. The warrior’s psalm.  Praise to a great God (1-4).  Prayer for help and deliverance (5-11).   Prayer for blessings for God’s people (12-15).

 

Psalm 145 – Great is the LORD.  The goodness of God. Used in Jewish daily prayers.  “Day in, day out, it is read twice in the morning and once in the afternoon service” (Simpson).

 

Psalms 146 – 150 – Hallelu-Jah psalms.  Notice how each one begins.  The five have been used daily in the synagogue service from very early times.  

 

Psalm 146 – God is our help.

 

Psalm 147 – Matchless power/matchless grace.

 

Psalm 148 – “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah.”  The joy song of creation.  Set to music by William J. Kirkpatrick, so should be familiar to us.

 

Psalm 149 – Praise and vindication.  
Psalm 150 – Let everything praise the LORD.  “Grand finale of the spiritual concert.”