I Took My Troubles to the Lord

Meditations on Christ in the Psalms

January 24, 2023

I Took My Troubles to the Lord

“I took my troubles to the Lord;

   I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.”

Psalm 120:1

The next fifteen psalms, 120-134, are in a group titled, “A Song of Ascents.” Some translations may render the title, “A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.” These psalms may refer to the three pilgrimages the Jews were required to make to Jerusalem: Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot. All three are related to the Exodus: Passover – the beginning of their exodus from Egypt; Shavuot – God giving Moses the Ten Commandments; and Sukkot, Festival of Booths – remembering the Israelites wandering in the desert and living in tents. (See Exodus 34:24) However, I believe they also relate to a spiritual ascent to God, as the psalms are calling Israel to return to their faith and trust in God.

Psalm 120 is a lament of the psalmist who is living in corrupt times. There are certainly many parallels in the psalm to this present age. There is an old joke that asks how you can tell if a politician is lying; they move their lips. A bit cynical, but very close to reality, as truth in politics or the media is a very rare commodity.

My Takeaway: If there is only one thing you can take away from this psalm, let it be,

“I took my troubles to the Lord;

   I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.”

Psalm 120:1

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.