120:1 In my distress, I cried to Yahweh. He answered me.
120:2 Deliver my soul, Yahweh, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
120:3 What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue?
120:4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
120:5 Woe is me, that I live in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
120:6 My soul has had her dwelling too long with him who hates peace.
120:7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
The verse centers on "distress", "cried", "yahweh", "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 WEB 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.