Psalms 120:5

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! WOE IS ME THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH, THAT I DWELL IN THE TENTS OF KEDAR! "Mesech" - i:e., the Moschi, in the regions of Iberia, Armenia, and Colchis. "Kedar" is a people of Arabis. As the Psalmist and his people could not be at once in two places so widely apart, the sense can only be figurative. I dwell among people lawless and fierce is those of Mesech or Kedar. He explains it so in - "him (the foe) that hateth peace." Mesach was the chief vassal of Gog, the ideal representative of the pagan barbarian world. The Arabs, and so the Kedarenes, love strife, like their first father, Ishmael, of whom the Angel of the Lord prophesied, "He will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him" ...

5._Alas for me! that I have been a sojourner in Mesech. _David complains that he was doomed to linger for a long time among a perverse people; his condition resembling that of some wretched individual who is compelled to live till he grows old in sorrowful exile. The Mesechites and Kedarenes, as is well known, were Eastern tribes; the former of which derived their original from Japhet, as Moses informs us in Genesis 10:2; and the latter from a son of Ishmael. (Genesis 25:13.) To take the latter for a people of Italy, who were anciently called Hetrurians, is altogether absurd, and without the least color of probability, Some ‘would have the word Mesech to be an appellative noun; and because מש _mashak, _signifies _to draw, to protract, _they think that the Prophet bewails his protr

5-7 It is very grievous to a good man, to be cast into, and kept in the company of the wicked, from whom he hopes to be for ever separated. See here the character of a good man; he is for living peaceably with all men. And let us follow David as he prefigured Christ; in our distress let us cry unto the Lord, and he will hear us. Let us follow after peace and holiness, striving to overcome evil with good...

Verse Psalms 120:5. _THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH_] The _Chaldee_ has it, "Wo is me that I am a stranger with the Asiatics, (אוסאי _useey_,) and that I dwell in the tents of the Arabs." _Calmet_, who understands the Psalm as speaking of the state of the captives in _Babylon_ and its _provinces_, says, "Meshec was apparently the father of the Mosquians, who dwelt in the mountains that separate Iberia from Armenia, and both from Colchis. These provinces were subjugated by Nebuchadnezzar; and it is evident from 2 Kings 17:23-12; 2 Kings 18:11; 2 Kings 19:12, that many of the Jews were held in captivi...

WOE IS ME - My lot is a sad and pitiable one, that I am compelled to live in this manner, and to be exposed thus to malignant reproaches. It is like living in Mesech or in Kedar. THAT I SOJOURN - The word used here does not denote a permanent abode, but it usually refers to a temporary lodging, as when one is a traveler, a pilgrim, a stranger, and is under a necessity of passing a night in a strange land on his way to the place of his destination. The trouble or discomfort here referred to is not that which would result from having his home there, or abiding there permanently, but of feeling that he was a stranger, and would be exposed to all the evils and inconveniences of a stranger among such a people. A man who resided in a place permanently might be subject to fewer inconveniences than if he were merely a temporary lodger among strangers. IN MESECH - The

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 Little Psalter," which contains indications of a formal arrangement. The central psalm—the only one ascribed to Solomon—has on either side of it a group of seven; each such group formed of two psalms ascribed to David, and five anonymous ones. The ascribed psalms are separated one from another by the anonymous ones, in such sort that no two of the former ever come together. This is evidently not the result of chance. Of the title itself different explanations are given. Some regard the degrees (_ma_'_aloth_)_ as _"steps," and accept a rabbinical explanation

WOE IS ME, THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH,.... Meshech was a son of Japheth, Genesis 10:2; whose posterity are thought by some to be the Muscovites z and Scythians, a barbarous sort of people: Mesech is frequently mentioned with Tubal and his brother, and with Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 38:2; the Targum here calls them Asiatics. Rather the Cappadocians, according to Josephus a; and Strabo b makes mention of a city of theirs, called Mazaca: and the rather, since they are mentioned with the Kedarenes, or Arabian Scenites, and were nearer to the land of Judea than the former; [THAT] I DWELL IN THE TENTS OF KEDAR; Kedar was a son of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13; whose posterity were Arabians, as the Targum here

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 celebrate the feasts of the Lord--”Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.” They are indeed Psalms of “the goings-up” for we rise higher and higher as we read through them. Prophetically they give us again the steps from trial and suffering to the glorious consummation. As they are so simple in language and construction no lengthy annotations are needed. Psalms 120:1 begins with distress, picturing again the suffering of the righteous godly remnant. In Psalms 121:1 the Keeper of Israel, the Covenant Keeping God, is revealed

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. Psalms 120-134 all bear this title (see also Psalms 84:5). The title Psalms of Ascents may have been originally given to the collection and then written over each Ps. individually. PSALMS 120:1. What shall he (_i.e._ Yahweh) give unto thee? The punishment is in accordance with the guilt. In Jeremiah 9:7 the deceitful tongue is compared to a deadly arrow. It is therefore fitting that Yahweh should send sharp arrows against those who slander the righteous. The author adds burning broom, which emits intense heat

MESECH... KEDAR. Used typically of cruel and merciless peoples; as we use the terms Vandals, Goths, Philistines....