I really like the Psalms, but most spiritual people love the Psalms. Monks recite them monthly. I'm sure they have them memorized. Through the centuries spiritual writers have included their insights from the special book. I have spent the last six months reading the Psalms for my devotions and I know that God is not done with His lessons for me contained in the Psalms. You can look back over the past months and discover that many of the weekly devotions have been based in the Psalms.
Having a fresh journey through the Psalms, I was eager to find out what would be so special about the Psalms of Ascent, which would be the subject our Bible study leader chose for her teaching out of the Psalms. They were nice, but really there were so many more sections to choose from, not to mention just studying the longest one written by Ezra (Psalm 119). When I guided a group of leaders through training, I totally skipped Psalm 120 because there was so little to encourage us on our journeys.
I have totally changed my mind! I love Psalm 120. All it takes is the right frame of mind and that Psalm will show you how to accept the reality that you live on a deeper level.
1 “I call on the LORD in my distress,
and he answers me.
2 Save me, O LORD, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
3 What will he do to you,
and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
4 He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
7 I am a man of peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.”
God is the God I can count on in my distress. He will hear my call, even if it takes lots of failed attempts to make things right before I remember that He made a covenant with me to save me and answer me. I finally give Him a call, and He answers. I call to Him, my Covenant-keeping God, to save me. He listens to my complaining descriptions of the people and situations I need saving from. He knows that I have lived too long in this world without a perfect relationship with Him and He reminds me that I am for peace in the midst of a world set on war, and that is the bottom line of what my distress is all about.
This first Psalm of Ascent is merely taking into account what I need to ascend above. It reminds me that I want to go higher, that I want to get above the nonsense. Distress signals are always answered. Send out yours today!