BLIVRE · Chapter 120/150
1Cântico dos degraus: Em minha angústia clamei ao SENHOR, e ele me respondeu.
2Ó SENHOR, livra minha alma dos lábios mentirosos, da língua enganadora.
3O que ele te dará, e o que ele fará contigo, ó língua enganadora?
4Flechas afiadas de um guerreiro, com brasas de zimbro.
5Ai de mim, que peregrino em Meseque, [e] habito nas tendas de Quedar!
6Minha alma morou [tempo] demais com os que odeiam a paz.
7Eu sou da paz; mas quando falo, eles [entram] em guerra.
The first of the 'Songs of Ascents' (pilgrimage psalms): a plea against lying lips and a deceitful tongue, lamenting life among people who hate peace and prefer war.
This is the first of 15 psalms (120-134) called the 'Songs of Ascents' or 'Songs of Pilgrimage,' likely sung by Israelites as they went up the road to Jerusalem for the great annual festivals (the city sits on a height, hence 'going up' to Jerusalem). 'Meshech' and 'Kedar' (v.5) were distant regions associated with hostile peoples, used here poetically to describe the feeling of living surrounded by quarrelsome people. The application today is that actively pursuing peace, even surrounded by conflict and hostility, is a conscious choice of character.