The first of the psalms with the superscription "a song for going up", this sets the tone of the rest of the collection (120-134). This psalm describes a problem (1-2) but quickly moves on to assert Yhwh's certain action (3-4). Next comes a description of the overall sitz-im-leben of the psalmist (5-6), including a recapitulation of their character which leads to the friction (7).
Rescue me!
The metre of the first verse (after the heading) is quite uneven, with four words in the first stich (to Yhwh in my distress I call) and only one in the second (and he answers). Interestingly the atnach (the main verse divider) is found on the penultimate word, which would lead to a different reading of the verse which would read the first phrase potentially as an addition to the heading: "a song of ascents. to Yhwh in my distress." Following would then be the two words as the two halves of the verse proper: "I called / and he answered." Dividing it this way would seem to honour the Masoretic reading of the verse, although reading it in the uneven way speaks an important message: although the description of the problem (בַּצָּרָתָה לִּי) and the action (אֶל־יְהוָה ... קָרָאתִי) are long, the response is swift (וַיַּעֲנֵנִי).
The צרה (distress) is explained in v2 to be a moral problem rather than more physical abuse or persecution. The call to Yhwh is to נצל (rescue) his soul from said distress, which consists of lying lips and deceitful tongues. In both instances it is "lip" (singular) and "tongue" (singular), which raises one tantalising possibility that there is one particular person's lies which are plaguing the psalm's supplicant, although more likely they are describing a situation in general where bearing false witness is the norm.
Smite them!
In v3c the deceitful tongue becomes the focus of the imprecation, first with a veiled threat in 3a-b, "what will he give to you/what will he add to you?", but then with specifics in v4. The image here is bandied about without any verbs of action: the warrior's arrows sharpened with burning juniper coals. We are not told what will happen with them, Yhwh is not asked to fire them. But for those who have ears to hear, the description of the arrows should be threat enough.
Protect me!
Finally, v5-7 remind us of the situation, and also the remoteness of the psalmist from Jerusalem (as a song of ascent). As the first among these pilgrim psalms, two locations are given at opposite ends of Israel:
כִּי־גַרְתִּי מֶשֶׁךְ | For I sojourn [in] Meshek
שָׁכַנְתִּי עִם־אָהֳלֵי קֵדָר | I dwell with the tents of Qedar.
Allen (WBC) explains that Meshek is a kingdom to the north of Israel, while Qedar (Kedar) lies to the east. As such, rather than synonymous parallelism such as with Ephrathah/Ja'ar (Ps 132:6), this is more akin to a merismus, giving two points on the compass far from Zion, far from the holiness of Yhwh which should flow out to his people.
Living so far away is depicted as temporary through the verb גור, which means to sojourn, to be a foreigner. It is this former verb, rather than the following שׁכן (to dwell), which determines the meaning of the second. The substantive משׁכן means dwelling place (it occurs twice in Ps 132 to describe a home for the ark), but often is to be read in parallel to אהל (tent, v5c), signifying a more temporary dwelling. They are called to remember that they are foreigners, living in a foreign land, and are thus governed by a different moral code. Lies and deceit characterise the dealings around them; their tendency is towards war rather than peace (v6-7). But Israel must be different - they must be those who love peace, who are for peace.
Shalom on earth
And this is the goal of the psalm: peace (שׁלום, shalom). In contrast with hatred and war, the psalmist's words are about and for the purpose of peace, for wholeness and completeness. Like the seeds which fall in the rocky ground, the difficulty of living faithfully in this context often seems impossibly difficult. Our tendency is to give in. But whether we are in Meshek or Qedar, whether we have lived there for a week or a generation, by reading this psalm as the first of the songs of ascent, we are reminded to keep our eyes directed towards Zion, and towards Yhwh who dwells there. Yhwh is both our rescuer (v2) as well as our avenger (v3-4), and so we look to him and call to him wherever God has placed us.
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