Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Psalms 120:2
2, 3. Slander and deceit charged on his foes implies his innocence. tongue—as in Psalms 52:2; Psalms 52:4. read more
Psalm 120:2-3 Nlt,niv,esv
Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 120:1-2
1. God’s deliverance from liars 120:1-2The psalmist testified that he had prayed to God for deliverance from liars and that God had granted his request."After over fifty years of ministry, I am convinced that most of the problems in families and churches are caused by professed Christians who do not have a real and vital relationship to Jesus Christ. They are not humble peacemakers but arrogant troublemakers." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 335.] read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 120:1-7
Psalms 120Psalms 120-134 are all "songs of ascent." This group, in turn, constitutes the major part of the Great Hallel psalms (Psalms 120-136). The psalms of ascent received this title because the pilgrim Israelites sang them as they traveled from their homes all over the land and ascended Mt. Zion for the annual feasts. David composed at least four of these 15 psalms (Psalms 122, 124, 131, , 133). Solomon wrote one (Psalms 127), and the remaining 10 are anonymous. They may not have been... read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 120:3-4
2. God’s destruction of liars 120:3-4The writer asked the liar what would befall him and then answered his own question. God would destroy him as a warrior who shot arrows at an enemy or as a fire devoured a dry broom tree. read more
John Dummelow
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 120:1-3
These Pss. are similar in thought, style, and language. Each bears the heading A Song of degrees, RV ’A Song of Ascents.’ Scholars now agree for the most part in interpreting this title ’A Song of Pilgrimages’ (lit. ’goings up’), as indicating the use of these Pss. for pilgrims on their annual journeys to keep the various feasts at Jerusalem. Others explain the ’Ascent’ as referring to the return of the exiles from Babylon. This section had doubtless been a separate Psalter with this title,... read more
John Dummelow
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 120:1-7
A cry for help to Jehovah in the midst of sore distress, evidently by an exile under foreign oppression.4. ’Sharp arrows of a mighty man, with glowing coals of broom,’ i.e. burning charcoal made of broom. Both expressions are figures for divine judgments: cp. Psalms 140:10.5. Mesech] i.e. the Moschi, a tribe dwelling near the Euxine Sea: cp. Genesis 10:2, also Herodotus 3.94. Kedar] tribes of N. Arabia famous for their black tents: cp. Song of Solomon 1:5. Here the two names are probably taken... read more
Charles John Ellicott
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 120:2
(2) Deliver . . .—This is the cry for help of which mention has just been made. The thought is one we have met frequently. Of all the elements of bitterness which made up the lot of Israel under foreign dominion, taunts and calumnies seem to have made the deepest wound, and left the most lasting scar. This was “the torture prolonged from age to age,” under which we hear psalmist after psalmist raising his cry for deliverance. read more
Charles John Ellicott
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 120:3
(3) What shall . . .?—Literally, What will he give to thee, and what will he add to thee, deceitful tongue? where it is better, as in the Authorised Version, to take the subject as indefinite, and so render by the passive. Thus we get in substance the following question: “What more can be added to thee (i.e., in the way of epithet), besides lying and false, thou deceitful tongue?” the answer is given by suggesting the usual metaphors of malicious speech, “the warrior’s sharpened arrows”... read more
William Nicoll
Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 120:1-7
Psalms 120:1-7THE collection of pilgrim songs is appropriately introduced by one expressive of the unrest arising from compulsory association with uncongenial and hostile neighbours. The psalmist laments that his sensitive "soul" has been so long obliged to be a "sojourner" where he has heard nothing but lying and strife. Weary of these, his soul stretches her wings towards a land of rest. His feeling ill at ease amidst present surroundings stings him to take the pilgrim’s staff. "In" this... read more
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E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Psalms 120:3
done = heaped upon: i.e. added to. Compare 1 Samuel 3:17 ; 1 Samuel 20:13 , &c. read more