Bible Study readings for the Summer
The next Bible Study will be on Saturday, October 4th, 2025 at 10am.
Table of Contents
- Psalm 123 — A Song of Ascents
- Psalm 122 — A Song of Ascents
- Psalm 121 — A Song of Ascents
- Psalm 120 — A Song of Ascents
Psalm 123 — A Song of Ascents
“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.”
For reading, study, and prayer.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” — Psalm 133 : 1
SELECTED BIBLE COMMENTARY
Psalms 123 : 1 (link)
Lift I up mine eyes — In supplication and prayer. Nature prompts us to look up when we address God, as if he dwelt above us. It is the natural prompting of the heart that he must be the most exalted of all beings, dwelling above all. See Psalm 121:1.
Psalms 123 : 2 (link)
(a) He compares the condition of the godly, to servants who are destitute of all help, assuring that when all other help fails, God is always at hand and like himself.
Psalms 123 : 3, 4 (link)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The plea of suffering Israel, scorned and despised by its insolent neighbours.
Psalms 123 : 4 (link)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The close resemblance of this clause to Psalm 120:6 a in the use of a rare form of the adverb (rabbath), and of the reflexive pronoun (lit. ‘filled for itself’), may indicate that both Psalms were written by the same author. (Psalm 120:6 “My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.”)
Psalm 122 — A Song of Ascents
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
For reading, study, and prayer.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” — Psalm 133 : 1
SELECTED BIBLE COMMENTARY
Psalms 122 : 1-5 (link)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
122:1-5 The pleasure and profit from means of grace, should make us disregard trouble and fatigue in going to them; and we should quicken one another to what is good. We should desire our Christian friends, when they have any good work in hand, to call for us, and take us with them. With what readiness should we think of the heavenly Jerusalem! How cheerfully should we bear the cross and welcome death, in hopes of a crown of glory! Jerusalem is called the beautiful city. It was a type of the gospel church, which is compact together in holy love and Christian communion, so that it is all as one city. If all the disciples of Christ were of one mind, and kept the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, their enemies would be deprived of their chief advantages against them. But Satan’s maxim always has been, to divide that he may conquer; and few Christians are sufficiently aware of his designs.
Psalm 122 : 2 (link)
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Which is to be understood not merely literally of the city of Jerusalem, and of continuance in the possession of it, it being lately taken out of the hands of the Jebusites; but spiritually of the church of God, which is often called by this name;
Psalm 122 : 4 (link)
To give thanks unto the Name of the Lord. The three great feasts whereto Israel was bound to “go up” were all of them seasons of thanksgiving. Psalm 122:4
Psalm 122 : 6 (link)
This is the language which those who were going up to the city – to the house of the Lord – addressed to each other, expressing the joyful feelings of their hearts at their own near approach to the city. It breathes the desire that all would pray for the peace and prosperity of a city so dear to their own souls;
Psalm 122 : 9 (link)
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) Because . . .—Now for the first time the religious motive of the pilgrimage appears, rendered all the more emphatic by being kept for the concluding verse.
Psalm 121 — A Song of Ascents
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.”
For reading, study, and prayer.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” — Psalm 133 : 1
SELECTED BIBLE COMMENTARY
Psalm 121 : 1-8 (link)
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
121:1-8 The safety of the godly. – We must not rely upon men and means, instruments and second causes. Shall I depend upon the strength of the hills? upon princes and great men? No; my confidence is in God only. Or, we must lift up our eyes above the hills; we must look to God who makes all earthly things to us what they are. We must see all our help in God; from him we must expect it, in his own way and time. This psalm teaches us to comfort ourselves in the Lord, when difficulties and dangers are greatest. It is almighty wisdom that contrives, and almighty power that works the safety of those that put themselves under God’s protection. He is a wakeful, watchful Keeper; he is never weary; he not only does not sleep, but he does not so much as slumber. Under this shade they may sit with delight and assurance. He is always near his people for their protection and refreshment. The right hand is the working hand; let them but turn to their duty, and they shall find God ready to give them success. He will take care that his people shall not fall. Thou shalt not be hurt, neither by the open assaults, nor by the secret attempts of thine enemies. The Lord shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and sanctify, remove, or lighten the evil thou feelest. He will preserve the soul, that it be not defiled by sin, and disturbed by affliction; he will preserve it from perishing eternally. He will keep thee in life and death; going out to thy labour in the morning of thy days, and coming home to thy rest when the evening of old age calls thee in. It is a protection for life. The Spirit, who is their Preserver and Comforter, shall abide with them for ever. Let us be found in our work, assured that the blessings promised in this psalm are ours.
Psalm 121 : 1 (link)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The mountains are not the “mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 6:2 and often), to which the exile turns his longing eyes, but the mountains upon which Zion is built (Psalm 87:1; Psalm 125:1-2; Psalm 133:3), the seat of Jehovah’s throne (Psalm 78:68), from which He sends help to His people (Psalm 3:4; Psalm 20:2; Psalm 134:3).
Psalm 121 : 2 (link)
My help cometh from the Lord – From Yahweh. This is the answer to the anxious inquiry in Psalm 121:1. It indicates
(a) a consciousness that help could come only from God;
(b) a belief that it would come from him; and a confident yet humble reliance on him.
Psalm 121 : 3 (link)
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved – He will enable you to stand firm. You are safe in his protection.
Psalm 121 : 5 (link)
Verse 5. – The Lord is thy Keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. “Thy shade” means “thy protection.” “thy defense.”
Psalm 121 : 7 (link)
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil – This is an advance of the thought. The psalmist had in the previous verses specified some particular evils from which he says God would keep those who put their trust in him. He now makes the remark general, and says that God would not only preserve from these particular evils, but would keep those who trusted in him from all evil: he would be their Protector in all the perils of life.
Psalm 121 : 8 (link)
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in,…. In transacting all the business of life, in going in and out about it; in all ways, works, and conversation; in journeying and travelling; in all affairs, civil and religious; and not only preserve, but prosper in all,
Psalm 120 — A Song of Ascents
For reading, study, and prayer.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” — Psalm 133 : 1
SELECTED BIBLE COMMENTARY
Psalm 120 : 1-7 (link)
from Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
This is the first of fifteen Psalms (Psalms 120-134) entitled “A Song of Degrees” (Ps 121:1—literally, “A song for the degrees”), or ascents. It seems most probable they were designed for the use of the people when going up (compare I Kings 12:27, 28) to Jerusalem on the festival occasions (Deuteronomy 16:16), three times a year. David appears as the author of four, Solomon of one (Psalm 127:1), and the other ten are anonymous, probably composed after the captivity. In this Psalm the writer acknowledges God’s mercy, prays for relief from a malicious foe, whose punishment he anticipates, and then repeats his complaint.
Psalm 120 : 1-4
from Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
The psalmist was brought into great distress by a deceitful tongue. May every good man be delivered from lying lips.
Psalm 120 : 5
from Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The people of Meshech or the Moschi, were a barbarous race inhabiting the Moschian regions between Iberia, Armenia, and Colchis. Meshech was a son of Japheth, Genesis 10:2; I Chronicles 1:5.
Kedar was a son of Ishmael Genesis 25:13, and hence, the name was given to an Arabian tribe descended from him, Isaiah 42:11; Isaiah 60:7; Jeremiah 49:28.
Psalm 120 : 5
from Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
…that I dwell in the tents of Kedar; Kedar was a son of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13; whose posterity were Arabians, as the Targum here renders it; and Suidas (c) says, they dwelt not far from Babylon, when he wrote; they lived a pastoral life, and dwelt in tents:
Psalm 120 : 6, 7
from Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
While those who surrounded him were maliciously hostile, he was disposed to peace.
Psalm 120 : 5-7
from Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
It is very grievous to a good man, to be cast into, and kept in the company of the wicked, from whom he hopes to be for ever separated. See here the character of a good man; he is for living peaceably with all men. And let us follow David as he prefigured Christ; in our distress let us cry unto the Lord, and he will hear us. Let us follow after peace and holiness, striving to overcome evil with good.