Psalm 120

A song for going up to the temple.

¹I was in trouble. I called to the Lord for help. And he saved me! ²Lord, save me from the people who lied about me. Those people said things that weren’t true. ³Liars, do you know what you will get? Do you know what you will gain? ⁴A soldier’s sharp arrow and hot coals to punish you. ⁵You people are liars, and living near you is like living in Meshech. It is like living in tents in Kedar.* ⁶I have lived too long with people who hate peace. ⁷I said I want peace, so they want war.

Meshech … Kedar People from these places were famous fighters.

Psalm 121

A song for going up to the temple.

¹I look up to the hills {for help}. But where will my help really come from? ²My help will come from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. ³God will not let you fall. Your Protector will not fall asleep. ⁴Israel’s Protector does not become sleepy. God never sleeps. ⁵The Lord is your Protector. He protects you with his great power. ⁶The sun can’t hurt you during the day. And the moon can’t hurt you at night. ⁷The Lord will protect you from every danger. The Lord will protect your soul. ⁸The Lord will help as you come and go.* The Lord will help you now and forever!

come and go This probably refers to going to war.

Psalm 122

A song from David for going up to the temple.

¹I was very happy when people said, “Let us go to the Lord’s temple.*” ²Here we are, standing at the gates of Jerusalem. ³This is New Jerusalem! The city has been built again as one united city. ⁴That is where the family groups go. The people of Israel go there to praise the Lord’s name. They are the family groups that belong to the Lord ⁵The kings from David’s family put their thrones in that place. They set up their thrones there to judge the people. ⁶Pray for peace in Jerusalem. “I hope the people who love you will find peace there. I hope there will be peace inside your walls. I hope there will be safety in your great buildings.” ⁷For the good of my brothers and neighbors, I pray there will be peace here. ⁸For the good of the temple of the Lord our God, I pray that good things will happen to this city.

temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship.

Psalm 123

A song for going up to the temple

¹God, I look up and pray to you. You sit as king in heaven. ²Slaves depend on their masters for the things they need. ³In the same way, we depend on the Lord our God. We wait for God to show mercy to us. ⁴Lord, be merciful to us, because we have been insulted much too long. ⁵We have had enough of the insults and slurs from those lazy, arrogant people.

Psalm 124

A song from David for going up to the temple.

¹What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side? Tell me the answer, Israel. ²What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? ³Our enemies would have swallowed us alive whenever they became angry at us. ⁴Our enemies’ armies would have been like a flood washing over us, like a river drowning us. ⁵Those proud people would have been like water rising up to our mouth and drowning us. ⁶Praise the Lord! The Lord did not let our enemies catch us and kill us. ⁷We are like a bird that was trapped in a net, and then escaped. The net broke, and we escaped! ⁸Our help came from the Lord. The Lord made heaven and earth!

Psalm 125

A song for going up to the temple.

¹People who trust in the Lord will be like Mount Zion. They will never be shaken. They will continue forever. ²Mountains are all around Jerusalem. And the Lord is around his people. He will protect his people forever and ever. ³Evil people will not control good people’s land forever. If that happened, then even good people might start doing bad things. ⁴Lord, be good to good people. Be good to people who have pure hearts. ⁵Evil people do crooked things. The Lord will punish those evil people. Let there be peace in Israel!

Psalm 126

A song for going up to the temple.

¹When the Lord makes us free again it will be like a dream! ²We will be laughing and singing happy songs! People in other nations will say, “The Lord did a wonderful thing for the people of Israel.” ³Yes, we would be so happy if the Lord did that wonderful thing for us. ⁴Lord, make us free again, like desert streams filled again with flowing water. ⁵A person might be sad when he plants the seeds, but he will be happy when he gathers the crops! ⁶He might cry when he carries the seeds out to the field, but he will be happy when he brings the harvest in!

Psalm 127

A song from Solomon for going up to the temple.

¹If it is not the Lord that builds a house, the builder is wasting his time. If it is not the Lord that watches over a city, the guards are wasting their time. ²It is a waste of time to get up early and stay up late, trying to make a living. God cares for the people he loves, even while they are sleeping. ³Children are a gift* from the Lord. They are a reward from a mother’s body. ⁴A young man’s sons are like the arrows in a soldier’s arrow bag. ⁵A man that fills his arrow bag with sons will be very happy. ⁶That man will never be defeated. His sons will defend him against his enemies in public places.*

gift Literally, “inheritance.” Usually, this means the land that God gave to each family in Israel. This land was a gift that never really left the family. A person might sell the land, but at the time of Jubilee, the land was given back to the family. public places Literally, “the gate.” This might mean that a person’s sons will defend him whenever his enemies try to take him to court.

Psalm 128

A song for going up to the temple.

¹All of the Lord’s followers are happy. Those people live the way God wants. ²You will enjoy the things you work for. You will be happy, and good things will happen to you. ³At home, your wife will be like a fruitful grape vine. Around the table, your children will be like olive trees you planted. ⁴The Lord will truly bless his followers this way. ⁵May the Lord bless you from Zion.* I hope you enjoy the blessings in Jerusalem all of your life. ⁶And I hope you live to see your grandchildren. Let there be peace in Israel!

Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem.

Psalm 129

A song for going up to the temple.

¹I have had many enemies all my life. Tell us about those enemies, Israel. ²I have had many enemies all my life. But they never won. ³They beat me until I had deep cuts in my back. I had long and deep wounds. ⁴But the good Lord cut the ropes and set me free from those evil people. ⁵The people who hated Zion* were defeated. They stopped fighting and ran away. ⁶Those people were like grass on the roof. That grass dies before it has time to grow. ⁷A worker can’t get a handful of that grass. There is not enough for a pile of grain. ⁸People walking by them will not say, “May the Lord bless you.” People will not greet them and say, “We bless you in the name of the Lord.”

Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem.

Psalm 130

A song for going up to the temple.

¹Lord, I am in deep trouble, so I am calling to you for help. ²My Master, listen to me. Listen to my call for help. ³Lord, if you really punished people for all of their sins, no person would be left alive. ⁴Lord, forgive your people. Then there will be people to worship you. ⁵I am waiting for the Lord to help me. My soul waits for him. I trust what the Lord says. ⁶I am waiting for my Master. I am like guards waiting and waiting for the morning to come. ⁷Israel, trust the Lord. True love is found only with the Lord. The Lord saves us again and again. And the Lord will forgive Israel for all their sins.

Psalm 131

A song for going up to the temple.

¹Lord, I am not proud. I don’t try to act important. I don’t try to do great things. I don’t worry about things that are too hard for me. ²I am calm. My soul is quiet. ³My soul is calm and quiet like a satisfied baby in his mother’s arms. ⁴Israel, trust the Lord. Trust him now, and trust him forever!

Psalm 132

A song for going up to the temple.

¹Lord, remember how David suffered. ²David made a promise to the Lord. David made a special promise to the Mighty God of Jacob. ³David said, “I will not go into my house, I will not lie down on my bed, ⁴I will not sleep, I will not let my eyes rest, ⁵I will not do any of those things until I find a house for the Lord, a home for the Mighty God of Jacob!” ⁶We heard about it in Ephrathah.* We found the Box of the Agreement* at Kiriath Jearim.* ⁷Let’s go to the Holy Tent. Let’s worship at the stool where God rests his feet.* ⁸Lord, get up* from your resting place. Get up Lord, you and your powerful Box. ⁹Lord, your priests are dressed in goodness. Your loyal followers are very happy. ¹⁰For the good of your servant, David, don’t reject your chosen king. ¹¹The Lord made a promise to David. The Lord promised to be loyal to David. The Lord promised that the kings would come from David’s family. ¹²{The Lord said,} “David, if your children obey my Agreement* and the laws I teach them, then someone from your family will always be the king.” ¹³The Lord chose Zion* to be the place for his temple. That is the place he wanted for his home. ¹⁴{The Lord said,} “This will be my place forever and ever. I choose this to be the place where I will be. ¹⁵I will bless this city with plenty of food. Even poor people will have plenty to eat. ¹⁶I will clothe the priests with salvation. And my followers will be very happy here. ¹⁷In this place, I will make David strong. I will provide a lamp for my chosen king. ¹⁸I will cover David’s enemies in shame. But I will make David’s kingdom grow.”

Ephrathah Bethlehem, the town where David was born. Box of the Agreement Or, “ark of the Covenant.” The box containing the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them and other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai desert. Kiriath Jearim Literally, “fields of the forest.” The Hebrew word meaning “forest” is like the name of this city. stool where God rests his feet This can mean the Box of the Agreement, the Holy Tent, or the temple. It is like God is a king sitting on his throne and resting his feet on the place where people worship him. Lord, get up The people said this when they lifted the Box of the Agreement and took it into battle with them. This showed that God was with them. See Num. 10:35,36. Agreement Literally, “Proof.” The flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them were proof of the Agreement between God and Israel. Zion The southeast part of the mountain Jerusalem is built on. Sometimes it means the people of God living in Jerusalem.