Psalm 120:5-7 — Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
A few days ago I purposed to write about what these verses suggest to me but then last night our Pastor pointed in his message to something at the heart of my inspiration. I thought I should need to let the thought go — but then as I set out this morning I realized there was still more to say.
The Psalmist is saying something hard to understand: “Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!”. It seems to say that he lived in two places far apart. Mesech according to Ezekiel 38:2 is near Magog in the North near the Caspian and Black Seas. Kedar was one of the sons of Ishmael and the “tents of Kedar” refers to the tents of black hair in the midst of the wilderness of Arabia where the tribe of Bedouins descended from Kedar lived. Since he can’t have lived in both these places at once, the Psalmist must have been saying something else — and he was. What he’s saying is that his travels have taken him to live amongst companions he would not have chosen — men who were for war when he was for peace.
I’m actually writing this in mid-air, about 30,000 feet above the ground, on my first significant business trip of the year. As I prepared for it, and thought about my destination, I realized that the message of this Psalm — the first of a series of Psalms sung by travelers as they went up to Jerusalem for the three required feasts every year — was appropriate for me as I went over to (not up to!) Las Vegas.
I’m going to a place where there are many that are for sin and not for good. It’s a place where many go for no good purposes. I’m going to be representing my company at an Information Technology related exhibition, but I’m going to be looking for opportunities to witness, too.
The pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem were going up from many places — but they were going up with a purpose, a purpose to worship. Suppose that we decided, no matter where we went, no matter where we sojourned or whose tent we dwelt in — no matter who we lived among — we decided to speak for peace? And suppose we speak for the broad meaning of peace — Shalom — “peace, health, wholeness, harmony” that Psalm 120 implies? Then perhaps we would be traveling in the spirit of the pilgrim, traveling upward towards Jesus wherever we went.