“First: A Song of Ascents”

Psalm 120 is the first of a series of 15 psalms called A Song of Ascents (Psalm 120-134). It is a psalm about praying in times of trouble and asking God to deliver the psalmist from wicked enemies. The psalmist may have been living far from Jerusalem, in a hostile environment. We can note from the title, “A Song of Ascents,” that these psalms were originally put to music and sung by Jewish families on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A song of ascents. That title is repeated in every psalm through number 134. The idea here has to do with ascending (climbing) up a mountain. These psalms were organized after the time of King David wrote Psalms 122, 124, 131 and 133 and after the time of his son King Solomon wrote Psalm 127.
First: A song of ascents.

It reads in Psalm 120:1-7 NIV>© Anonymous.
I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues. What will he do to you, and what more besides, you deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom bush. Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek, that I live among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.