Wesley's Explanatory Notes
Psalms 120:4
Arrows — The wrath and vengeance of the mighty God, which in scripture is often compared to arrows, and here to coals of juniper, which burn very fiercely and retain their heat for a long time.
Arrows — The wrath and vengeance of the mighty God, which in scripture is often compared to arrows, and here to coals of juniper, which burn very fiercely and retain their heat for a long time.
Verse Psalms 120:4. _SHARP ARROWS_] The _Chaldee_ has, "The strong, sharp arrows are like lightning from above, with coals of _juniper_ kindled in hell beneath." On the _juniper_, Job 30:4, where thi...
SHARP ARROWS OF THE MIGHTY - This is an answer to the question in Psalms 120:3. The consequence - the effect - of such a use of the tongue must be like sharp and piercing arrows, or like intensely bur...
PSALM 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrat...
CXX. PRAYER AGAINST CALUMNIATORS. Here begin the Psalms of Ascents, _i.e._ Pss. intended to be sung by the pilgrims at the three great feasts on their way up to Jerusalem, which stood on a height. Psa...
MIGHTY. Mighty [One]....
SHARP ARROWS OF THE MIGHTY— _Sharp arrows of the mighty_ [_shot_] _from coals of juniper._ Hiller. Hierophut. 255. Hamm. "All the reward thou shalt meet with shall be a swift vengeance from the Almigh...
PSALMS 120 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Peace _versus_ War. ANALYSIS (See Inserted Headlines.) (Lm.) Song of the Steps. (A GRATEFUL KING'S MEMORIAL.) 1 Unto Jehovah in the distress that befell me I calle...
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. SHARP ARROWS OF THE MIGHTY, WITH COALS OF JUNIPER. The "sharp arrows of the mighty" are those that are "sharp in the heart of the King's enemies...
A cry for help to Jehovah in the midst of sore distress, evidently by an exile under foreign oppression....
'Sharp arrows of a mighty man, with glowing coals of broom,' i.e. burning charcoal made of broom. Both expressions are figures for divine judgments: cp. Psalms 140:10....
Psalms 107:150 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ PSALMS FOR CLIMBING; PSALMS 120:134 Jesus said, "We will go up to Jerusalem" (Luke 18:31
SHARP. — Better, _sharpened, whetted,_ as if for a purpose. JUNIPER. — Properly, _broom._ Hebrew, _rothem,_ a plant identical with the Arabian _retem_ and Algerian _retama._ (See 1 Kings 19:4.) Doctor...
חִצֵּ֣י גִבֹּ֣ור שְׁנוּנִ֑ים עִ֝֗ם גַּחֲלֵ֥י רְתָמִֽים׃...
Psalms 120:1 THE collection of pilgrim songs is appropriately introduced by one expressive of the unrest arising from compulsory association with uncongenial and hostile neighbours. The psalmist lamen...
WHERE TO FIND HELP Psalms 120:1; Psalms 121:1 This is the first of the “Songs of Degrees.” It has been suggested that they were pilgrim-songs to beguile the journeys from all parts of the country to...
The next fifteen psalms appear to have formed a book of themselves bearing the title, "The Songs of Ascents." That collection is incorporated by the editor at this point not without purpose. The title...
(d) Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. (d) He shows that there is nothing so sharp to pierce, nor so hot to set on fire, as a slanderous tongue....
_Israel. The Church militant. (Worthington) --- These figurative expressions shew that God will never cease to protect his people. (Berthier)_...
If we read another Psalm to this effect, and which hath been always considered as referring to Jesus, we shall find how the holy sufferer complains of false witnesses rising up against him. Psalms 35:...
4._The arrows of a strong man sharpened, with coals of juniper. _Here the Psalmist amplifies in another way the malice of such as distress the simple and innocent by their calumnies, affirming that th...
We now come, Psalms 120-134, to the songs of degrees, which depict, I doubt not, the outward circumstances of the same period, when Israel is in the land, but the power of Gog not yet destroyed. The f...
SHARP ARROWS OF THE MIGHTY, WITH COALS OF JUNIPER. Some think these words describe lying lips, and a false tongue; which are like arrows, sharp ones, sent out from a bow drawn with a mighty hand, whic...
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. Ver. 4. _Sharp arrows of the mighty_] Arrows sharp, and shot with force. A false tongue is likened to a sharp razor, Psalms 52:4; to a sharp sword,...
_Deliver my soul from lying lips_ From the unjust censures and malicious slanders of mine enemies; _and from a deceitful tongue_ Which covers mischievous designs under pretences of kindness. _What sha...
Sharp arrows of the mighty, inflictions of a most destructive kind, WITH COALS OF JUNIPER, the charcoal made of the wood of the broom-tree retaining its heat longest; a picture, therefore, of long-con...
PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM SLANDER AND DECEIT. A song of degrees, literally, "of ascents," the first of fifteen psalms designated by that name, the reference being either to the fact that these hymns...
SHARP ARROWS OF THE MIGHTY, WITH COALS OF JUNIPER: Or, It is as the sharp arrows of the mighty man with coals of juniper...
1-4 The psalmist was brought into great distress by a deceitful tongue. May every good man be delivered from lying lips. They forged false charges against him. In this distress, he sought God by ferv...
So this verse contains an answer to the question PSA 120 3, and declares the slanderer's recompence; which is the wrath and vengeance of the mighty God, which in Scripture, and particularly in this bo...
Psalms 120:4 Sharp H8150 (H8802) arrows H2671 warrior H1368 coals H1513 tree H7574 Sharp - etc. or, It is as the sharp arrows of the mighty man, with coals of juniper....
CONTENTS: Prayer for deliverance from the mischief designed by false and malicious tongues. CHARACTERS: God, Psalmist. CONCLUSION: It is often the lot of the innocent that there are those who carry...
This and the fourteen psalms which follow, are entitled, “Songs of Mahaloth, or degrees.” Kimchi, and some of the rabbins say, they were so called because they were sung on the steps of the second tem...
_Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper._ “SHARP ARROWS OF THE MIGHTY, WITH COALS OF JUNIPER” Thy arrows are not pointless, and thou aimest them with some precision; but on my side is the...
_In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me._ THE SONGS OF DEGREES How came this and fourteen following psalms to be put together, and to receive their distinctive title? It has been sugge...
PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 120:1. Psalms 120:1 is the first of the “Songs of Ascents” ...
PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 120:3 The psalm now addresses the person who is causing the trouble. ⇐ ⇔...
THE SONGS OF DEGREES PSALMS 120-134 GENERAL INTRODUCTION The principal hypotheses on which to account for the “Songs of Degrees,” “Songs of Ascents,” “Pilgrim Psalms,” and to each of which great na...
EXPOSITION THE_ _SONGS_ _OF_ _ASCENTS_._ THE next fifteen psalms have a common heading, which is translated "Songs of Degrees," "Songs of Ascents," or "Songs of Steps." They constitute together "a Li...
This time let's turn in our Bibles to Psalms 120:1-7 to begin our Bible study this evening. Now you'll notice these psalms have a heading. The psalm, "A song of degrees." The word literally is ascents...
Deuteronomy 32:23; Deuteronomy 32:24; James 3:5; Proverbs 11:12;...