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(A song for worship.)

A Prayer for the Lord's Help

When I am in trouble, I pray,
“Come and save me, Lord,
    from deceitful liars!”

What punishment is fitting
    for you deceitful liars?
Your reward should be
    sharp and flaming arrows!

But I must live as a foreigner
among the people of Meshech
    and in the tents of Kedar.[a]
I have spent too much time
living among people
    who hate peace.
I am in favor of peace,
but when I speak of it,
    all they want is war.

Footnotes

  1. 120.5 Meshech … Kedar: Meshech was a country near the Black Sea, and Kedar was a tribe of the Syrian desert.

Psalm 120

A song of ascents.

I call on the Lord(A) in my distress,(B)
    and he answers me.
Save me, Lord,
    from lying lips(C)
    and from deceitful tongues.(D)

What will he do to you,
    and what more besides,
    you deceitful tongue?
He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows,(E)
    with burning coals of the broom bush.

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
    that I live among the tents of Kedar!(F)
Too long have I lived
    among those who hate peace.
I am for peace;
    but when I speak, they are for war.