KJV · Chapter 120/150
1In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me.
2Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
3What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
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.