Psa 120:1-7 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

Psa 120:1 A Song of degrees^H4609. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
Psa 120:2  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3  What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Psa 120:4  Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Psa 120:5  Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Psa 120:6  My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Psa 120:7  I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

The word degrees^H4609 in this opening verse of Psalm 120 reminds us there is a progression in our walk, or steps, that symbolically describe for us as degrees or steps that have everything to do with the healing of our heavens God is in the process of renewing and healing with His word by which he sends to wash us.

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

degrees H4609
mah-al-aw’

Feminine of H4608; elevation, that is, the act (literally a journey to a higher place, figuratively a thought arising), or (concretely) the condition (literally a step or grade mark, figuratively a superiority of station); specifically a climactic progression (in certain Psalms): – things that come up, (high) degree, deal, go up, stair, step, story.

That healing can only take place by our being “raised … up together, and made … sit together^G4776 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” as a body of believers who by the gifts God has given to us are able to ascend up on high with our Lord, and take all our thoughts captive, as the Lord in us fulfills these words “he led captivity captive” (2Co 10:5-6, Eph 2:6, Eph 4:8-11).

made us sit together^G4776
soong-kath-id’-zo

From G4862 and G2523; to give (or take) a seat in company with: – (make) sit (down) together.

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

These functions in the body of Christ are typified by Jacob’s ladder, that place where Christ ascends and descends in our heavens so we can become disciples indeed “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (Joh 8:31) or “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” spoken of in the context of “the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man”.

Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Joh 1:47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Joh 1:48  Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Joh 1:49  Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Joh 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Now that we’ve looked at these verses which talk about the power that Christ has over all the powers and principalities above which He is far higher within us (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:21), we can look at this parable found in the book of John a little closer (Joh 5:1-15) and see how blessed we are to be singled out by Christ and told “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”. This particular Psalm 120 is very much about that process of maturing that is happening within the body of Christ who are blessed to bring forth much fruit in Him today (Eph 1:4, Joh 15:5) as  a result of being granted to carry our cross or “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”. These verses below explain how this is all being accomplished and what it accomplishes right now in the lives of God’s elect.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection [Luk 13:32]; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.

If we are granted to be raised with Christ that is exactly what we will do, as we “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen [“Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”] with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God [Rom 6:11].

These verses in John explain how we are raised in heavenly places through Christ (Joh 1:1-15):

Joh 5:1  After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem [not to keep the feast of the Jews (Joh 7:2), but went up to Jerusalem symbolizing our head who precedes us in being raised in heavenly Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26)].
Joh 5:2  Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda^G964, having five porches. [This pool is a symbol of the favour or grace (5) that God shows His elect in this age as we “have no man” (Joh 5:7) other than Christ who can save us and wash us in this pool (Act 4:12, Oba 1:21).]

G964
Bēthesda
bay-thes-dah’

Of Chaldee origin (compare [H1004] and [H2617]); house of kindness; Bethesda, a pool in Jerusalem: – Bethesda.

H2617
kheh’-sed

From H2616; kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opprobrium) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty: – favour, good deed (-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity, reproach, wicked thing.

Joh 5:3  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water [symbolizing Babylon where God out calls the sick who need a physician, just as this man was called out (Mar 2:17)]
Joh 5:4  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had [Heb 2:3].
Joh 5:5  And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
Joh 5:6  When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
Joh 5:7  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me [Luk 10:30-33].
Joh 5:8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath [Heb 4:8-12 “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk”].
Joh 5:10  The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
Joh 5:11  He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk [When we are healed we can then be about our Father’s business continuing in it until the end of this life (Psa 107:20, Luk 2:49, Ecc 12:13].
Joh 5:12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
Joh 5:13  And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
Joh 5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee [Rom 6:11].
Joh 5:15  The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole [Rev 11:3].

Psa 120:1  A Song of degrees^H4609. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

In the days of Christ’s flesh, “when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” is what this section of our Psalm reminds us. Our heavenly Father uses the “distress” in our lives to bring us to our wits’ end so we learn to trust in Him (Psa 107:26-29, 2Co 1:9-10).

Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
2Co 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

Psa 120:2  Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3  What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

The “lying lips” and the “deceitful tongue” that must always be first and foremost dealt with is our own hearts which control our tongue that must be reigned in through the dying daily process to which we’re called as we continue to be about our Father’s business.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1Co 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners [Rom 6:11].
1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

After we are given to see that we are the man (2Sa 12:7), then the rest of our life is to be a living sacrifice that is being lost to the glory of God (Mat 16:25). Adam and Eve will be delivered “from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue” through the second Adam “who knows what shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue” (Psa 120:3).

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

Psa 120:4  Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Let’s continue on with the thought, “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?” We have our answer in type and shadow with words that describe the purification which comes as a result of the words of God abiding within us.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

“Juniper“^H7574 has a root word H7573 meaning “to yoke up” or to “bind” and when we go through fiery trials that purify our hearts, that control our lips (1Pe 4:12), the resulting effect of those trials will be a zealousness and holding fast to the yoke to which we are called and bound through Christ (2Co 7:11, Luk 9:62, Psa 118:27-29, Heb 13:15).

H7574
rethem  rôthem
reh’-them, ro’-them

From H7573; the Spanish broom (from its pole-like stems): – juniper (tree).

H7573
râtham
raw-tham’

A primitive root; to yoke up (to the pole of a vehicle): – bind.

The “Sharp arrows of the mighty” are a witness that it is God’s word we sow when we put our hands to the plow where we need to be equally yoked together (2Co 6:14, Rom 12:3) as the body of Christ (Luk 9:62, Php 2:13). Looking back when we have our hand to the plow is symbolic of wanting to go back into the world like Lot’s wife, and many are called but few are chosen to accomplish the work of His hand working in us, which makes it possible for us to be found with His righteousness and not our own.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Php 2:16  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Php 2:17  Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

“Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper” is what it will take to destroy the man of perditon within us who is comfortable with his own righteousness and must go through much tribulation, chastening and scourging which comes by way of the “Sharp arrows of the mighty” the word of God that is sharper than any two edged sword.

Psa 127:4  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. [Doctrine]
Psa 127:5  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate [2Ti 2:15].

Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
Psa 64:4  That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Isa 49:2  And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

Psa 91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Psa 120:5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Psa 120:6  My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
Psa 120:7  I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

Sojourning “in Mesech” and dwelling in the “tents of Kedar” are symbols of our flesh which wars against our spirit and is never at peace (Gal 5:17, Rom 7:24).

Inwardly Christ is my hope of glory who “hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace” which is represented by my Gentile flesh (Col 1:27).

Christ within us can say “I am for peace” and “when I speak” (Jer 1:4-19) “they are for war” (Mat 10:22, Luk 10:20).

God has chosen the weak and base things of the world to confound the world in this spiritual battle which we have been promised to overcome with Christ in us (1Co 1:27). He has raised us up in heavenly places for that express purpose (Eph 2:6), and it will be through a lifetime of overcoming “Mesech” and “Kedar” through the seals, trumpets and vials of Revelation 6:6, 8:6, and 16:1 or the lamentation, mourning and woe spoken of in Ezekiel 2:10 that will ultimately bring about the lasting peace in our lives as we are purified through those judgments and witness to the world what God has done for us through Christ, the author and finisher of our faith (Php 1:6).

“When I speak they are for war” and these verses in Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-19) were written for our sakes (1Pe 1:12) to give us stedfast confidence in what Christ can and will do through His little flock of whom He says it is His good pleasure to give the kingdom (Luk 12:32).

Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Jer 1:15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them [“when I speak“] all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Luk 12:33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luk 12:35  Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
Luk 12:36  And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [immediately], at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.