Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Psalms 120:1

In my distress I cried unto the Lord , and he heard me.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Prayer;   Speaking;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Doeg;   Psalms, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Music, Instruments, Dancing;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Hallel;   Jonah;   Psalms;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Degrees;   Psalms the book of;   Temple;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Hezekiah (2);   Psalms, Book of;   Tribulation;  

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

I took my troubles to the Lord ; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.
Update Bible Version
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cried to Yahweh, And he answered me.
New Century Version

A psalm for going up to worship.

When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord , and he answered me.
New English Translation

A song of ascents.

In my distress I cried out to the Lord and he answered me.
Webster's Bible Translation
A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried to the LORD, and he heard me.
World English Bible
<> In my distress, I cried to Yahweh. He answered me.
Amplified Bible
In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me.
English Standard Version

A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I called to the Lord , and he answered me.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The `title of the hundrid and nyntenthe salm. The song of greces. Whanne Y was set in tribulacioun, Y criede to the Lord; and he herde me.
English Revised Version
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he answered me.
Berean Standard Bible
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cried to the LORD, and He answered me.
Contemporary English Version

(A song for worship.)

When I am in trouble, I pray,
American Standard Version

A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I cried unto Jehovah, And he answered me.
Bible in Basic English
In my trouble my cry went up to the Lord, and he gave me an answer.
Complete Jewish Bible
A song of ascents: I called to Adonai in my distress, and he answered me.
Darby Translation

A Song of degrees.

In my trouble I called unto Jehovah, and he answered me.
Easy-to-Read Version

A song for going up to the Temple.

I was in trouble. I called to the Lord for help, and he answered me!
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A Song of Ascents.
King James Version (1611)
[A song of degrees.] In my distresse I cried vnto the Lord: and hee heard me.
New Life Bible
I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He answered me.
New Revised Standard

A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I cry to the Lord , that he may answer me:
Geneva Bible (1587)
I called vnto the Lorde in my trouble, and hee heard me.
George Lamsa Translation
IN my distress I cried to the LORD, and he heard me.
Good News Translation
When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord , and he answered me.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Unto Yahweh, in the distress that befell me, I cried - and he answered me.
Douay-Rheims Bible
(119-1) In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.
Revised Standard Version
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cry to the LORD, that he may answer me:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
When I was in trouble I called vpon God: and he hearde me.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
In mine affliction I cried to the Lord, and he hearkened to me.
Christian Standard Bible®
In my distress I called to the Lord,and he answered me.
Hebrew Names Version
<
> In my distress, I cried to the LORD. He answered me.
Lexham English Bible

A song of ascents.

In my distress I called to Yahweh, and he answered me.
Literal Translation
A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cried to Jehovah, and He answered me.
Young's Literal Translation
A Song of the Ascents. Unto Jehovah in my distress I have called, And He answereth me.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
When I am in trouble, I call vpon ye LORDE, & he answereth me.
THE MESSAGE
A Pilgrim Song I'm in trouble. I cry to God , desperate for an answer: "Deliver me from the liars, God ! They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth."
New American Standard Bible
I cried to the LORD in my trouble, And He answered me.
New King James Version
In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me.
New American Standard Bible (1995)

A Song of Ascents.

In my trouble I cried to the Lord , And He answered me.
Legacy Standard Bible
In my distress I called to Yahweh,And He answered me.

Contextual Overview

1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord , and he heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O Lord , from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

my distress: Psalms 18:6, Psalms 30:7, Psalms 30:8, Psalms 50:15, Psalms 107:13, Psalms 116:3, Psalms 116:4, Psalms 118:5, Isaiah 37:3, Isaiah 37:4, Isaiah 37:14-20, Isaiah 38:2-5, Jonah 2:2, Luke 22:44, Hebrews 5:7

Reciprocal: Judges 15:19 - Enhakkore 2 Samuel 22:7 - my distress 2 Chronicles 14:11 - cried unto Psalms 6:9 - hath heard

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In my distress I cried unto the Lord,.... Being at a distance from his own country, or, however, from the house of God; persecuted by men, under the lash of their tongues; reproached, abused, and belied by them: in this his case and circumstances, he betook himself by prayer to the Lord, and importuned help and deliverance of him, knowing that none could help him as he; see Psalms 18:6;

and he heard me; answered him, and delivered him. The petition he put up follows, which shows his case, and his particular distress.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In my distress - In my suffering, as arising from slander, Psalms 120:2-3. There are few forms of suffering more keen than those caused by slander:

“Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue

Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath

Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie

All corners of the world: kings, queens, and states,

Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave

This viperous slander enters.”

Cymbeline, iii. 4.

It is one of those things which a man cannot guard against; which he cannot repel by force; whose origin he cannot always trace; which will go where a vindication will not follow; whose effects will live long after the slander is refuted; which will adhere to a man, or leave a trait of suspicion, even after the most successful vindication, for the effect will be to make a second slander more easily credited than the first was.

I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me - I had no other resource. I could not meet the slander. I could not refute it. I could not prevent its effects on my reputation, and all that I could do was to commit the case to the Lord. See the notes at Psalms 37:5-6.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

PSALM CXX

The psalmist, in great distress, calls on the Lord for

deliverance from calumny and defamation, 1, 2;

shows the punishment that awaits his persecutor, 3, 4;

deplores the necessity of his residence with the ungodly, 5-7.


NOTES ON PSALM CXX

This Psalm, and all the rest that follow it, to the end of Psalms 134:0, fifteen in number, are called Psalms of Degrees; for thus the Hebrew title המעלות hammaaloth is generally translated, as coming from the root עלה alah, to ascend or mount upwards. Hence מעלות maaloth, steps or stairs for ascending, 1 Kings 10:19-20; 2 Kings 9:13. But as the word may be applied to elevation in general, hence some have thought that it may here signify the elevation of voice; "these Psalms being sung with the highest elevations of voice and music." Others have thought the word expresses rather the matter of these Psalms, as being of peculiar excellence: and hence Junius and Tremellius prefix to each Canticum excellentissimum, "A most excellent ode."

R. D. Kimchi says, "There were fifteen steps by which the priests ascended into the temple, on each of which they sang one of these fifteen Psalms." This opinion I find referred to in the Apocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary: "Her parents brought her to the temple, and set her upon one of the steps. Now there are fifteen steps about the temple, by which they go up to it, according to the fifteen Psalms of Degrees." But the existence of such steps and practices cannot be proved.

Aben Ezra supposes that the word means some kind of tune sung to these Psalms. It is more likely, if the title be really ancient, that it was affixed to them on account of their being sung on the return from the Babylonish captivity, as the people were going up to Jerusalem; for though some of them are attributed to David, yet it is very probable that they were all made long after his time, and probably during the captivity, or about the end of it. The author of these fifteen Psalms is not known; and most probably they were not the work of one person. They have been attributed to David, to Solomon, to Ezra, to Haggai, to Zechariah, and to Malachi, without any positive evidence. They are, however, excellent in their kind, and written with much elegance; containing strong and nervous sentiments of the most exalted piety, expressed with great felicity of language in a few words.

Verse Psalms 120:1. In my distress — Through the causes afterwards mentioned.

I cried unto the Lord — Made strong supplication for help.

And he heard one. — Answered my prayer by comforting my soul.

It appears to be a prayer of the captives in Babylon for complete liberty; or perhaps he recites the prayer the Israelites had made previously to their restoration.


 
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