Chapter Text
120:1 In my distress I cried unto Jehovah, And he answered me.
120:2 Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips, [And] from a deceitful tongue.
120:3 What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, Thou deceitful tongue?
120:4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, With coals of juniper.
120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
120:6 My soul hath long had her dwelling With him that hateth peace.
120:7 I am [for] peace: But when I speak, they are for war. Psalm 121 A Song of Ascents.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "distress", "cried", "jehovah", "answered", "deliver", "soul", and "lying". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "distress" and "cried", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The local ASV text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "distress" and "cried" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "distress" and "cried" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.