The Psalms of Ascent Psalms 120

 Motivation

 The Psalms  of Ascent are comprised of Psalms 120 to 134. This set of 15 psalms were sung as people went up to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship the Lord. No matter which direction a person traveled from to get to Jerusalem, they would always use the phrase "going up to Jerusalem" because it was, and still is, considered a spiritual high place, the city of the Great King. Today, people can still read each of these Psalms as they take a step up the 15 southern steps of the Temple Mount.

Have you ever just wanted to "get away from it all?" This desire is what motivated the writer of Psalm 120. He lived in a place where godless, hostile people surround him. There were those who had made up lies about him. He had decided to take the high road and let God deal with them. All he wanted was to live in peace, but those around him were intent on fighting. Living in this bad neighborhood had taken its toll on the writer and he was feeling despair and a longing to get away

from it all and get to the house of God and surround himself by people who loved God. He decided it was worth it to  spend the energy and the money to go up to Jerusalem. 

You have enemies everyday that are at war for your soul and you may not even be aware of it. (Rom 7:21-24) Any thing that brings you down, makes up lies about you,

or tries to pull you away from living and behaving godly is an enemy.  We are surrounded by a culture that is antagonistic toward God and constantly seeking to be entertained. Constatnly  living with this type of bombardment will eventually leave us feeling empty, worn-down and fed-up. When we finally decide that we are tired of the lying, the emptiness and the fighting we are ready to make up our minds to.......