Psalm 120 is a song of a Jew in captivity in a foreign land, it speaks of faith and hope for the help of the Creator. Some sources report that the chant is called “Warrior Psalm” or “Traveler’s Psalm.” God helps one on the battlefield, and gives another the strength to overcome all the trials of a difficult journey.
Author and writing history
There is no single theory about the origin of the 120th song. According to one version, it was written by Jews captured in Babylon. Other theologians believe that the psalm was created when they were returning home. However, some theologians argue that the text came to David during a confrontation with his enemies. According to them, this is why some sources call the prayer-hymn the “Warrior’s Psalm.” True, there is another theory, completely opposite - the ruler of Ancient Israel wrote a song for traveling and read it when he set off on a long journey.
Psalm 120 praises the Creator, placing hope in Him
We read the Psalter. Psalm 120
Audio |
Conversation with Archpriest Alexy Ladygin about the Psalter.
Dear brothers and sisters, today we will talk about Psalm 120. The 120th Psalm has the following prescription: “Song of degrees 120.” The second degree, say the holy fathers, is God-thinking. We talked about the steps as the ascent of the Israeli people from Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem. Well, in the spiritual sense, we understand what steps are, what ascent is. Ascent from earth to Heaven, ascent from a sinful life to a pious life, to a spiritual life. The Psalms are of great importance, because they speak about our life path, about our spiritual path, connecting it with the spiritual ascent of the Jews who emerged from Babylonian captivity. Every captivity, every suffering in life elevates a person, gives him the opportunity to think about the spiritual, evaluate his life and return from a sinful life to a pious one.
“I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come.” Mountains here are called Heaven - a person, turning to God, looks at Heaven. And when he turns to God for help, the Lord helps him. It is impossible to accomplish any good deed without prayer. It is not for nothing that the holy fathers call us to pray before any of our undertakings. Moreover, it is impossible to return home, it is impossible to complete the journey without God’s blessing. It was no coincidence that our ancestors said: “Without God you can’t reach the threshold.” If you are starting some great work, you must definitely turn to God, raise your eyes to heaven or raise your eyes to a mountain, ask God for help, and then the Lord will send this help. Some holy fathers say that mountains are also angels, to whom we also turn so that they keep us on our path in life. In life, it is necessary that the Lord sends His blessing, strengthens us, gives us the opportunity to go through the path of life, overcoming all trials, and, of course, a guardian angel is needed. Some fathers say, “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains” means that we must pay attention to our life: it is connected with the fulfillment of God’s commandments - if we keep God’s commandments throughout our entire lives, then the Lord helps us and does not turn away His face from us, but always accompanies us with His grace and omnipotent help.
“My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” - these are surprisingly deep words, and the psalm itself is wonderful: it always gives a person consolation. When we encounter great obstacles and difficulties along the path of life, very often we do not know how to cope with them, and this causes despondency and despair. But a person should not forget that there is One who can help. True, we often think that in a given situation our wealth or the powers that be will help us. But a believer understands that “every man is a lie”; “Do not trust in princes, in the sons of men, in them there is no salvation”: it is impossible for a person to rely on means - we see how many people own enormous wealth, but with difficult illnesses they cannot help themselves. Or there may be circumstances when money does not save you from the persecutions that may be committed in this world. And we understand that everything is false, and all this is not saving for us, but the Lord, of course, will lead a person out of any difficult situation.
“My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Both the power of God and the truth of our worship of God are demonstrated. We do not worship the god, say the holy fathers, who is made of wood or stone by human hands; we are not idolaters - we are worshipers of the true God, the Creator of Heaven and earth. And if He is the Creator of Heaven and earth, then what kind of power and love for mankind He has, because He created this wonderful, amazing, beautiful world for man! How much good He put into it, how much logic, so that we could live in accordance with Divine creation and at the same time understand what is happening in this world. The Lord did not create a changeable world, but made it understandable, logical, and this logic is considered and conquered by our minds, so we can keep up with this world, we can even foresee what the weather will be like, what events will happen. We adjust agriculture and even our whole life according to those events that can happen in our nature - as if we predetermine what will happen, what we need to protect ourselves from, how we can calculate our time, for the Lord created the world this way: not because we became so great, we simply begin to understand God’s creation. God has put His laws into this world, they operate and are not broken, therefore we honor God and turn to Him - to the great true God, Who is not only the Creator and Creator, but Who loves His creation and loves His creation, and therefore He will never leave us. He Himself said: “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” And that is why the Psalmist says so deeply: “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
“Do not let your feet fall into confusion, keep you below to slumber.” Indeed, the Lord never leaves a person, but he himself must strive to save his leg: here we speak of brotherly love and prayer for our neighbors; and, of course, this is an instruction for everyone to think about which path they walk in their life. You can walk a slippery path, say the holy fathers, where there is sin of lawlessness and untruth, but then you will not be able to resist, then you will cause yourself severe pain with your fall. There is no need to go through the search for life's riches and pleasures. All this is temporary, everything passes very quickly. And most importantly, it does not give you support in eternity. Therefore, follow the path of a virtuous life, fulfill His commandments, and then the Lord will truly protect you. We know that if a person dozed off, then he overslept something very important that could happen in his house or with him. A sleeping person is deprived of the ability to see and have vigilance. And the Lord tells us to be vigilant and pray, and then we “will not fall into misfortune.” And the Lord Himself constantly protects the one who walks according to the commandment of God, “he will not sleep, he who keeps Israel will fall asleep.” A very deep judgment of the Psalmist, how the Lord protected Ancient Israel.
You, who have reason, must have reasoning and read the Holy Scriptures. When we read the Holy Scriptures, including the Old Testament, depth fills our hearts. We begin to understand that the Lord preserved Ancient Israel when he walked the path of fulfilling the commandments of God, when he did not contradict the Lord, when he walked the path that the Lord showed him. He kept it everywhere, from the exit from Egypt to the discovery of the Promised Land - what trials there were and how the Lord cared: just as parents protect their children, so the Lord protected Ancient Israel. Thus, the Lord protects the New Israel - the entire Christian world, and preserves it with His love. And here the Psalmist points out precisely: see how the Lord does not sleep - “he who guards Israel will sleep.” The Lord will never abandon His faithful: “If a mother forgets her childhood, then I will never forget you,” He says.
“The Lord will protect you, the Lord will protect your right hand” - the Psalmist again makes it worse, he says: “The Lord will protect you!” The Lord will be a covering - but not just like that, again on your right hand. If we talk about the gum (right) hand, then the Lord will always be on your right side, that is, when you walk the right path - not only strive to fulfill the commandments of God, but also lead a virtuous life: for God it is very important that a person lives an active life life, say the holy fathers. Not only did he have deep faith, not only did he preserve himself, but through this he also found the strength to do good deeds.
The Lord says how important our activity and our active faith are, which will attract God’s great mercy. He will never leave a righteous person without bread, without care and without care, He will also take care of his soul. So the Psalmist says that we should not take the slippery path, that our feet should not shake, that through this we would not destroy and kill ourselves - both spiritually and physically.
“In the days the sun will not burn you, below the moon at night” - again it speaks of such care that even the bright sun and moon will not bring you any harm: neither day nor night the Lord will not leave you. The Holy Fathers say that the sun illuminates the path, the sun warms, but it burns a sinful person. Therefore, here again is the desire to fulfill God’s commandments, to live in harmony with the Lord and with one’s conscience. Then the Lord will not leave you, and no one will ever be able to cause you absolutely any harm - neither during the day, nor at night, nor on other days, and the luminaries that exist in this universe will also serve you, illuminating your path and warming you, without they will burn, they will not relax you.
“The Lord will preserve you from all evil; the Lord will preserve your soul.” It is very important to remember that the Lord will protect you from all evil and will not allow you temptations that simply can either break you or cause you harm. The Lord will preserve your soul, take care of your spiritual improvement and spiritual ascent. But we must understand that the temptations that happen to us are necessary for us to move away from the sinful path that leads us away from the Lord. And we ourselves understand that we come to our senses only when we encounter difficulties that cannot be overcome and which are only in the hands of God: especially when a serious illness strikes, you begin to understand that your life is in the hands of God. And only then does the thought come to you: “Yes, I’m living the wrong life - I need to correct it.” We begin to remember the Lord, to remember that there is a Church of Christ here on earth, that we have not been to church for a long time, and how many sins have already accumulated - and then the desire begins to awaken in us to go to the temple of God to repent, to be sure to receive communion.
So you think: why are trials and temptations sent in our lives? So that we come closer to God, so that we are reconciled with God, so that we begin a spiritual life, so that the Lord takes care of us, so that we have a reward in eternity, so that each of us has an abode. “In My Father’s house are many mansions” - everyone will have their own corner in the Kingdom of Heaven. But a person cannot enter there without desire and without purification, without repentance. The Lord sends trials so that we come to our senses. But what if a person lives the right way? Then, the Psalmist answers, the Lord will protect you from all evil, the Lord will preserve your soul: such a person does not need trials and difficulties. Of course, there is a struggle for such a person with the enemy of the human race - he does not tolerate anything sacred. So on the path of the righteous, the enemy of the human race sets nets - to catch him, to tempt him. Therefore, while we live, we must not forget that the enemy of the human race can catch us in his net at the very last moment of our life, when despair and some kind of blasphemy can burst out of our hearts, which will cross out our lives. So the Psalmist says: The Lord does not sleep, but “keep the righteous”—keep the righteous. The Lord will preserve your coming in and your going out from now on and forever.
Amazingly warm psalm! With what profound words it ends: The Lord will preserve your coming in and your going out from now on and forever. Of course, we can talk about departure and entry - this is entry into this life, and exit from this life, and entry into the house, and departure from it, and our stay in the house... And the Lord will always protect you. This is very important: here we can see both one day of our life on earth and our whole life. Of course, we don’t know when we leave the house what might happen to us. And parents here always take care of their children, try to sign them with the sign of the cross so that everything will be fine with them, or tell them: “With God, my children,” for only the Lord can save. What awaits us this day? We do not know. Home, of course, is our refuge: the walls there help, and icons surround us, but we go out into a world that is not filled with anything - it is a cauldron seething and boiling not only with good, but also with all sorts of reptiles, both spiritual and earthly . And here we begin to understand that without God’s help it is impossible to live even a day, which can either give us life and happiness, or destroy us.
Therefore the Lord will preserve your coming in and your going out from now on and forever. These are very deep words that show how important it is for us to be with God, so that the Lord will preserve us. After all, life is so cruel that we cannot save ourselves: some test, some temptation may await us at any moment of our life. Why does the Holy Scripture say: “Before death, do not call anyone blessed: at the death of a person, his deeds and his fate are revealed.” And at the same time, the one who at the last minute brought repentance to the Lord can become a blessed husband. We cannot judge human life, and the Lord calls us to place judgment only in the power of God. God knows what happens to a person: today he sinned, today he was a robber, and tomorrow he becomes a prudent robber, who in one hour becomes a participant in heavenly life. This is a great miracle and mercy of God. And at the same time, we read the lives of the holy saints of God and elders who could have sinned in the last years of their lives, when passions, it would seem, could not approach them - they approached, and the enemy of the human race sought to steal through this their soul. Therefore, the Holy Scripture tells you: “Before death, do not call anyone blessed.”
The deepest psalm: in terms of depth, beauty, and consoling power, we will find few such psalms in the Psalter. I think it is fitting for the comfort of every Christian who seeks to live his life godly. And when he encounters temptations, he must sing this psalm, and then amazing, deep words will be revealed to him: “my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Interpretation and meaning of Psalm 120
“The Song of Ascension,” as it is written at the beginning of this text, is a commandment that appears more than once in the Bible. In the Synodal translation, it can be seen when reading psalms 119-133 of the Psalter. Theologians divide the interpretation of prayer into several parts:
- The first two verses are full of hope towards the Creator, calling Him the only one who can help (“My help comes from the Lord, who made the earth and the heavens”). A person should trust only in the Almighty, often turn his gaze to the sky and offer prayers.
- The next part talks about a caring Creator who always lends a helping hand to those in need.
The words “lifting up my eyes” are often mentioned in the text for a reason. They are based on the tradition of the Jews to read prayers, turning to Mount Zion - the abode of God the Father.
- Verses 5-6 say that the Lord tirelessly watches over a person, is constantly nearby, and gives strength and faith. He leaves no one unattended, not a single step or deed.
- The last two verses refer to the multiple hardships of the Jewish people. The thought that runs like a red thread is that the Creator will never abandon those who suffer and will protect them under any circumstances.
History of Psalm 120
There is no reliable information about the history of the creation of this text, but several versions have been put forward. The author convinces himself that the Lord will certainly provide support and assures other people of this.
about the author
It is traditionally believed that the authorship of the psalms belongs to David, the second king of Israel, the father of Solomon. He ruled justly and wisely, but he was not without sin. Wanting to make Bathsheba his wife, he deliberately sent her husband Uriah to certain death, for which he was subsequently forced to endure sorrow.
In addition to the psalms, David wrote the following works:
- three cries;
- hymn;
- song (testament).
History of writing
Researchers have put forward several versions about the circumstances under which Psalm 120 was written.
Main opinions:
- David wrote the text of the psalm during the battle. He entrusted his life to the Lord, praying to Him to protect the psalmist on the day of battle.
- David created a song while on the road. It was intended for reading when traveling to distant countries.
- Most interpreters adhere to the third point of view: the text was written during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews or during their return to their native land in Jerusalem.
How and when to read a prayer appeal
Psalm 120 is included in the 18th kathisma and is read monthly during midnight. Several more prayers are also said along with it:
- “Come, let us worship...”;
- "Trisagion";
- Alleluia (three times);
- "Lord have mercy";
- Glory;
- about the remembrance of the living and the dead.
During worship, kathisma is read in Church Slavonic, but at home you can address the Creator in Russian. The prayer is said in a half-whisper, as if chanting the lines.
If there is a need to interrupt, the text is read again from the place where it stopped.
Before reading the psalm, prayers are said
During the prayer service, a candle should be lit. The prayer is said in a half-whisper.
Why do they read?
In Judaism, the psalm is read during fasting, when there is no rain on the earth, and during the ritual of blessing the new moon, which occurs monthly. Sephardim recite it along with three other psalms at Saturday morning prayer. There is a tradition in which a woman preparing for childbirth hangs the text of a prayer above her bed.
In Christianity, this chant is included in the rite of Great Vespers. The Armenian Church adheres to a similar tradition to this day.
In the Synodal translation, several psalms (from 119 to 133) are preceded by the same signature - “Song of Ascension.” The Jews read them one after another during worship. These chants are united by one main idea and have a similar meaning. They form, as it were, a separate collection within the Psalter.
The name “Song of Ascension” means that this chant was performed during the return of the people from Babylonian captivity and their ascent to Mount Jerusalem and during special services. This opinion is expressed by many interpreters. According to John Chrysostom, the name has a figurative meaning - ascent along the steps of virtues leading a person to the Heavenly City. The text was also sung by pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the holiday.
Text of Psalm 120 in Russian
A modern translation helps not only to understand the meaning of the hymn song, but also to penetrate deeper into its essence. Sincere words raised to the Lord God will help strengthen the spirit, gain faith and should glorify the Heavenly Creator.
Song of Ascension.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from whence my help will come.
2 My help comes from the Lord, who created heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip; He who guards you will not slumber;
4 He who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
5 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shadow at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; The Lord will preserve your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from now on and forever.
True Christian believers read the Psalter throughout their lives, having received a blessing from a priest. Such daily appeal to the Almighty helps strengthen the hope that God will never abandon his children.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl+Enter.
Interpretation
To correctly interpret Psalm 120, it must be divided into separate parts, carefully studying each separately:
- Verses 1 and 2: The righteous can find consolation only in the Lord. In difficult times, He gives Christians strength to fight. In times of trouble, you must rely not only on yourself, but also on the Almighty.
- Verses 3 and 4: God owns everything on earth. He never sleeps, He always answers those who worship Him.
- Verses 5 and 6: description of the image of the Lord. The emphasis is also placed on the fact that the fate of the righteous, if it is difficult, is always made easier by Him if faith in Him is strong.
- Verses 7 and 8: The Almighty is near, he will not leave the chosen people in a difficult situation.
Psalm of David 120
- History of writing
- Interpretation of the Psalm
- Reading rules
Not all the psalms in the Psalter belong to the hand of King David, but each of them is the property of the Jewish chosen people, and today of every Christian who professes faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity. Psalm 120 is a hymn of hope in the Creator, when a person publicly declares that he relies only on the heavenly Father and no one else.
Interpretation of the Psalm
The prescription before the text “Song of Ascension” means that the text was read upon returning from captivity, while ascending Mount Jerusalem, and in special services. It can be interpreted in parts:
- Verses 1-2: The Jews relied on God as their only source of Strength and Comfort. Christians should also adhere to this position. A person should not rely on another person, on a happy coincidence or on luck. You should look at the sky more often, realizing that only from there can help come to the believer. People should trust the Creator more often, even in difficult trials; if He does not help, then no one will be able to save a person.
- Verses 3-4: We are talking about God's constant care and control of man and the Earth. God does not sleep, He does not wake up on duty - He is always there and always helps a person. People must persistently ask the Creator for deliverance, remembering that only the Heavenly Father is able to help. The words “I lift up my eyes” are often used - this is associated with the Jewish tradition of praying towards the temple mount or Mount Zion, where, according to promise, the Lord dwells.
- Verses 5-6: the characteristics of the Lord are characterized - He is a guardian and a shade, i.e.
shadow and strength. It is the constant presence of God in life that helps a person cope with all difficulties. God tries to make life easier, gives strength to do all things. Stays nearby at any time “day and night”, i.e. in happy times of life and in times of difficulties. The psalmist David encourages us to find comfort by trusting in the Lord - Verses 7-8: The Creator will never abandon his creation. Here there is a reference to the numerous captivities of the Israeli people and encouragement that God will never leave, neither in freedom nor in captivity, and will always protect His people.
Important! Despite the fact that the psalm is closely related to the many difficulties of the people of Israel, today every Christian can read it and strengthen their hope in the Lord.
