What is the meaning of Psalm 120:5? Woe to me • The psalmist opens with a cry of distress: “Woe to me…” (Psalm 120:5). • This heartfelt lament mirrors other godly cries—Isaiah said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined” (Isaiah 6:5), and Paul groaned, “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24). • By using “woe,” the writer confesses real grief over his surroundings, refusing to downplay sin’s weight. • Faith takes sin and hostility seriously, yet brings them honestly before the Lord, trusting Him to act (Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7). that I dwell in Meshech • Meshech was a distant, war-like people descended from Japheth (Genesis 10:2). Ezekiel later links Meshech with nations that oppose God’s people (Ezekiel 38:2-3). • The psalmist is not claiming literal residence in that northern land; he is saying, “I’m surrounded by folks who act like Meshech—hostile, violent, far from covenant faith.” • Living among such godlessness brings tension: – Constant pressure to compromise (Daniel 1:8). – Weariness from hearing and seeing evil (Psalm 94:3-7). – A homesick longing for the place where God’s name is honored (Psalm 84:1-2). • Believers today still feel this ache as “foreigners and exiles” in a fallen world (1 Peter 2:11; Philippians 3:20). that I live among the tents of Kedar • Kedar, a nomadic Arabian tribe descended from Ishmael, was known for its black goat-hair tents and, at times, for raiding and warfare (Songs 1:5; Isaiah 21:16-17). • “Among the tents of Kedar” pictures a temporary, shifting environment—unstable and unsafe. • The psalmist highlights two burdens: – Physical nearness to people who “love war” (Psalm 120:6-7). – Moral distance from God, which makes true fellowship impossible (2 Corinthians 6:14). • Yet Kedar also reminds us that God’s grace reaches far; Isaiah foresaw Kedar’s flocks coming to worship (Isaiah 60:7). Even when surrounded by darkness, God is still gathering people to Himself. summary Psalm 120:5 voices the righteous soul’s anguish at living in a world that feels like Meshech—remote, violent—and Kedar—restless, hostile. The psalmist’s “woe” is both a literal acknowledgment of his environment and a timeless picture of every believer’s pilgrimage through a fallen culture. We grieve the sin around us, resist its pull, and wait eagerly for the day our dwelling will be with the Lord in perfect peace. |
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