Songs of the Great Ascent - Resident Alien: Living in the Unwelcome Present

Psalm 120

Psalm 120 opens the “Songs of the Great Ascent” by giving voice to a feeling many of God’s people recognize: the strain of living faithfully in a place that does not feel like home.

The psalmist names his situation plainly. He lives in “Kedar,” a place marked by darkness, deceit, and conflict. He is surrounded by lies, and when he speaks of peace, he is met with hostility. This is not exaggerated despair; it is honest prayer spoken aloud before God.

Yet Psalm 120 teaches us that longing itself is an act of faith. The cry that rises from Kedar is already the first step upward. Before there is movement, there is truth-telling. Before the journey begins, God’s people speak honestly about where they are.

As this psalm is read among us, it reminds us that God hears his people when they feel weary, out of place, or worn down by the world around them. We are not alone in that experience, and we are not meant to remain there.

What do we do? We do what the psalmist does: we turn to God in prayer for deliverance. Eugene Peterson puts this prayer in modern language for us:

     “Rescue me from the lies of advertisers who claim to know what I need and what I desire, from the lies of entertainers who promise a cheap way to joy, from the lies of politicians who pretend to instruct me in power and morality, from the lies of psychologists who offer to shape my behavior and my morals so that I will live long, happily and successfully, from the lies of religionists who ‘heal the wounds of this people lightly’ (Jer. 8:11), from the lips of moralists who pretend to promote me to the office of captain of my fate, from the lies of pastors who ‘leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men’ (Mark 7:8). Rescue me from the person who tells me of life and omits Christ, who is wise in the ways of the world and ignores the movement of the Spirit.” (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction).

The Songs of Ascents begin here, with a cry from an unwelcome place, and with the quiet confidence that God invites his people to keep walking toward him. If you want to make the journey to God, you need to at first be thoroughly dissatisfied with the way the world is. That’s why this is a song for a pilgrim.

Are you a pilgrim? Is this world your home, or are you just passing through? Here is where we start.

Join us on our pilgrim journey as we look at the first song of the great ascent, Psalm 120.

A fellow pilgrim,

Pastor Wayne