Psalm 120–124

A Pilgrim Song

^1–2120I’m in trouble. I cry to God,

desperate for an answer:

“Deliver me from the liars, God!

They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth.”

^3–4Do you know what’s next, can you see what’s coming,

all you barefaced liars?

Pointed arrows and burning coals

will be your reward.

^5–7I’m doomed to live in Meshech,

cursed with a home in Kedar,

My whole life lived camping

among quarreling neighbors.

I’m all for peace, but the minute

I tell them so, they go to war!

A Pilgrim Song

^1–2121I look up to the mountains;

does my strength come from mountains?

No, my strength comes from God,

who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

^3–4He won’t let you stumble,

your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.

Not on your life! Israel’s

Guardian will never doze or sleep.

^5–6God’s your Guardian,

right at your side to protect you—

Shielding you from sunstroke,

sheltering you from moonstroke.

^7–8God guards you from every evil,

he guards your very life.

He guards you when you leave and when you return,

he guards you now, he guards you always.

A Pilgrim Song of David

^1–2122When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”

my heart leaped for joy.

And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,

inside Jerusalem’s walls!

^3–5Jerusalem, well-built city,

built as a place for worship!

The city to which the tribes ascend,

all God’s tribes go up to worship,

To give thanks to the name of God—

this is what it means to be Israel.

Thrones for righteous judgment

are set there, famous David-thrones.

^6–9Pray for Jerusalem’s peace!

Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!

Friendly insiders, get along!

Hostile outsiders, keep your distance!

For the sake of my family and friends,

I say it again: live in peace!

For the sake of the house of our God, God,

I’ll do my very best for you.

A Pilgrim Song

^1–4123I look to you, heaven-dwelling God,

look up to you for help.

Like servants, alert to their master’s commands,

like a maiden attending her lady,

We’re watching and waiting, holding our breath,

awaiting your word of mercy.

Mercy, God, mercy!

We’ve been kicked around long enough,

Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men,

kicked when we’re down by arrogant brutes.

A Pilgrim Song of David

^1–5124If God hadn’t been for us

—all together now, Israel, sing out!—

If God hadn’t been for us

when everyone went against us,

We would have been swallowed alive

by their violent anger,

Swept away by the flood of rage,

drowned in the torrent;

We would have lost our lives

in the wild, raging water.

⁶Oh, blessed be God!

He didn’t go off and leave us.

He didn’t abandon us defenseless,

helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.

⁷We’ve flown free from their fangs,

free of their traps, free as a bird.

Their grip is broken;

we’re free as a bird in flight.

⁸God’s strong name is our help,

the same God who made heaven and earth.