A Song of Ascents: Psalm 120 "Deliverer"

"Songs of Ascent" = ("Degrees") steps, stages, gradations, or ascending up a mountain, climbing"

The spiritual life is one of progress.

The first step in the progress of the spiritual life is to call to the Lord.

Psalm 120

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. (NIV)

 

Theme:  Deliverer

Key thought:  “A cry in distress”

Key verse:   (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.

How is God revealed?  “He answers me.” (:1)

What kind of distress are you in?  Do you ever feel you are "stuck" IN that distress?

Do what the Psalmist did:  "call to the Lord."  You don't have to wait until you are OUT of your distress, you must call to Him IN your distress.

What will happen?  The Lord will "answer me."

The Scriptures are filled with all types of stories of people in distress who called to the Lord.

 

For example, Manasseh, a king of Judah, "...was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD." The scriptures then detail his terrible deeds.  Verse 10 says:

"The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God."

God heard a wicked king when he called to Him and he "listened to his plea." If God can hear a wicked king, He certainly will hear you!

Psalm 9 says "And Jehovah will be a refuge to the oppressed one, a refuge in times of distress" (:9)

"God's a safe-house for the battered,
      a sanctuary during bad times.
   The moment you arrive, you relax;
      you're never sorry you knocked." (Psalm 9:9-10 The Message)

Need a safe house in your distress?  The LORD is that refuge, that safe-house!

Knock and He will open!