Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 120

In my distress - In my suffering, as arising from slander (Psalms 120:2–3). There are few forms of suffering more keen than those caused by slander:

“Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath
Rides on the posting winds, and does belie
All corners of the world: kings, queens, and states,
Maids, matrons, or even the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters.”
Cymbeline, iii. 4.

It is one of those things against which a person cannot guard, which they cannot repel by force, and whose origin they cannot always trace. It is something that will go where a vindication will not follow.

Its effects will live long after the slander is refuted. It will adhere to a person, or leave a trace of suspicion, even after the most successful vindication.

Indeed, the effect will be to make a second slander more easily credited than the first was.

I cried to the Lord, and he heard me - I had no other resource. I could not meet the slander. I could not refute it. I could not prevent its effects on my reputation, and all that I could do was to commit the case to the Lord. See the notes at (Psalms 37:5–6).

Deliver my soul, O Lord - My soul is harassed and distressed. Perhaps the meaning also may be, My life is in danger. Or, if it refers to the soul as such, then it means that everything pertaining to his soul was deeply affected by the course which was pursued. He was maligned, slandered, misrepresented, deceived, and he had no comfort or peace.

From lying lips - False, deceitful, slanderous. Compare the notes at Psalms 31:18.

And from a deceitful tongue - From a tongue whose statements cannot be relied on; whose words are deceptive; whose promises are false. David was often called to experience troubles of this sort; and this is a kind of trial which may come upon anyone in a form which he can no more anticipate or prevent than he can the coming of a “mist from the ocean.” No man can certainly guard against the influence of falsehood; no man can be sure that all that will be said to him is true; no man can be certain that all the promises made to him - save those made to him by God - will be performed.

What shall be given to you? — Margin, “What shall the deceitful tongue give to you;” or, “what shall it profit you?” Luther, “What can the false tongue do?” Others render this, “How will God punish you?” Others, “What will He (God) give to you?” That is, what recompense can you expect from God for these malicious slanders?

A literal translation of this verse would be, “What shall the tongue of deceit give to you, and what shall it add to you?” — referring to the offender himself. The essential idea is, what will be the result of such conduct? What must be expected to follow from it? That is, either:

• from the unprofitability of such a course; or
• from the natural consequences to one’s reputation and happiness; or
• from the judgment of God.

The answer to these questions is found in Psalms 120:4.

Or what shall be done to you? — Margin, as in Hebrew, “added.” What must be the consequence of this? What will follow?

You false tongue — This may be either an address to the tongue itself, or, as above, the word “tongue” may be used as the nominative to the verbs in the sentence. The sense is not materially affected either way.

Sharp arrows of the mighty — This is an answer to the question in (Psalms 120:3). The consequence — the effect — of such a use of the tongue must be like sharp and piercing arrows, or like intensely burning coals. The sharp arrows of the mighty are the arrows of the warrior — as war was conducted mainly by bows and arrows. Those arrows were, of course, sharpened to make them piercing, penetrating, more deadly.

With coals of juniper — On the word here rendered “juniper,” see the notes at (Job 30:4). The idea here is, that coals made from that would be intensely hot, and would cause severer pain than if made from other wood. The word refers to a species of broom or shrub growing in the deserts of Arabia, with yellowish flowers and a bitter root. See “Robinson’s Biblical Researches,” vol. i., p. 299. Burchardt says that he found the Bedouin of Sinai burning the roots into coal, and says that they make the best charcoal, and throw out the most intense heat. The shrub sometimes grows so large as to furnish a shade to those exposed to the heat of the sun in the desert, (1 Kings 19:4); “Land and the Book” (Thomson), vol. ii., pp. 438, 439. The illustration given below will give an idea of this plant.

Woe is me - My lot is sad and pitiable, that I am forced to live in this way and to be exposed like this to malicious accusations. It is like living in Mesech or in Kedar.

That I sojourn - The word used here does not mean a permanent home. Instead, it usually refers to a temporary lodging, such as when one is a traveler, a pilgrim, or a stranger, and must spend a night in an unfamiliar land on his way to his destination.

The trouble or discomfort referred to here is not what would result from having his home there, or living there permanently. Rather, it stems from feeling that he was a stranger and would be exposed to all the evils and inconveniences a stranger faces among such people. A man who lived in a place permanently might be subject to fewer inconveniences than if he were merely a temporary lodger among strangers.

In Mesech - The Septuagint and Vulgate render this, “that my sojourning is protracted.” The Hebrew word - משׁך meshek - properly means “drawing,” as of seed “scattered regularly along the furrows” (Psalms 126:6); and then possession (Job 28:18).

The people of Meshech, or the Moschi, were a barbarous race inhabiting the Moschian regions between Iberia, Armenia, and Colchis. Meshech was a son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5). The name is commonly connected with “Tubal,” (Ezekiel 27:13): “Tubal and Meshech they were thy merchants.” (Ezekiel 39:1): “I am against ... the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” Herodotus (iii. 94; vii. 78) connects them with the Tibarenes.

The idea here is that they were a barbarous, savage, uncivilized people. They lived outside of Palestine, beyond what were regarded as the borders of civilization. The word seems to have had a meaning similar to the names Goths, Vandals, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks in later times.

It is not known that they were particularly remarkable for slander or calumny; but the meaning is that they were barbarous and savage. To dwell among slanderers and revilers seemed to the psalmist to be like dwelling among a people who were strangers to all the rules and principles of civilized society.

That I dwell in the tents of Kedar - The word Kedar properly means dark skin, a dark-skinned man. Kedar was a son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13), and therefore the name was given to an Arabian tribe descended from him (Isaiah 42:11; Isaiah 60:7; Jeremiah 49:28). The idea here also is that to dwell among slanderers was like dwelling among barbarians and savages.