February 12, 2023

Ridgeline Study Prompts

Psalm 120

Prayer and Preparation
As we make our way back into the Book of Psalms, take a few minutes to ask the Holy Spirit to focus your heart and give you a heightened sensitivity to His prompting, Then expectantly read Psalm 120 once or twice.

Study

In verse 1 the writer begins the entire psalm by stating the end result. Why might the end result be a right and healthy place to start when processing hardship and hostility?

 
In verse 2 the psalmist makes a request of God, then has a rhetorical question and answer conversation with his adversary in the following verses. If verse 2 is a request for God’s deliverance, who is the “warrior” he is referencing, and how does that shape your understanding of the psalm? 

Meshech and Kedar (v. 5) were two desolate and remote villages that were far from Jerusalem. Verse 5 depicts a longing for home. Based on the entire psalm, what are some of the hopes and desires of the psalmist as he longs for “home”?

Application
The Psalms of Ascent (Ps 120 – 134) are believed to have been songs the people of God would sing on their pilgrimage back to Jerusalem each year. As exiles and aliens, how might we find help and hope from this first Psalm of Ascent? From where does your hope for deliverance come?