120:1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
120:3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
120:4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
120:6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
120:7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
The verse centers on "distress", "cried", "lord", "heard", "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 KJV 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.