Woe to me (Psalm 120)
By: Jcml Project
Tags: Pain, Prayer, Bible, Psamls, Faith

How does the ascent to spiritual heights begin for the author of the psalm? From the sorrow that does not leave him until the end of this cry for help. Probably, the author of this, like many others of these 15 songs, is David, and the circumstances of the writing reveal the very depths of his spiritual fall. Some also suggest that the psalm could have been written during the Babylonian captivity, which may be indicated by v. 5, which we will discuss in more detail. However, judging by the ancient inscription mentioned by Ch. Spurgeon in the “Treasury of David”, this psalm was written as a complaint against Doyk the Edomite, who, on the orders of King Saul, killed 85 priests led by Ahimelech for giving David bread and weapons (for more details see chapters 21–22 of the 1st book of Kings). David understood that the responsibility for the death of innocent people lays entirely with him.

It was during these times, probably, that this psalm-complaint was written, a psalm that, upon careful reading, seems to be shifting responsibility from oneself to those around. Here, such a “peaceful” David, who almost destroyed all the people of Nabal because of an insult, who did not spare either men or women who could reveal his secret to the Philistine ruler, who killed Uriah with others to hide his sin with his wife … We can also read in the 2nd chapter of the 3rd book of Kings, how David on his deathbed asks Solomon to take revenge on those whom he himself could not take revenge on during his lifetime. Of course, the Lord points out to David many times about this character trait, but this psalm does not show a trace of this understanding. Here he literally says “I am the world (SHALOM)”, which is completely inconsistent with his behavior, although with God’s help he sometimes conquered his tendency to aggression. Suffice it to recall that he could have killed Saul twice, but did not do it even when he was persuaded by his own associates.

Perhaps without realizing it, asking God to get rid of the evil people around, he also speaks about himself — “lying lips, crafty tongue,” belligerence and aggressiveness. It is also possible that the people around David, some of whom were his relatives, as well as numerous desperate thugs in his army, encouraged him to take military action for their own benefit or out of a sense of revenge. And the expression of these ideas is just Article 5, “ Woe is me, that I stay with Mosoch, I live at the tents of Kidar.”Mosokh is the grandson of Noah along the line of Japheth, these names were the names of the people who lived on the territory on the border of modern Turkey and Armenia, Kidar is the son of Ishmael, as well as a warlike nomadic tribe that lived in the deserts of the Arab Peninsula, and between them — Babylon. The expression translated “woe to me” is a short interjection “oya”, which occurs only in this scripture, similar to it “oh” occurs 23 times already, for example, in a text saturated with mention of evil from the book of Isaiah: “ … alas to me! villains do evil, and villains do evil … ”(24:16). This is not even a word, but rather a groan about how hard it is to live among sinners, how the consequences of sins torment the soul like fiery arrows.

We can all understand this state of a person who has already despaired, does not see deliverance. He appeals to the Lord, vaguely hoping that he is still a good, peaceful person. It’s just that the surrounding reality is such that there is no longer the strength to fight, I want a respite, I want deliverance, I want to hope that life will change, that problems and trials will subside and become even a little easier. This is the beginning of the path of ascent, which can lead to wonderful relationships with people ( “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133 ) and joy in the Creator of all things together with other believers ( “Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord ! ” Psalm 134 ).

But to start this path, you must first of all turn to the Lord with all your worries, doubts, despair, pain, and hope, and He will definitely hear!