Psalm 124 (résumé): If the Lord had not been on our side!

 Psalm 124 is another song of ascents attributed to David saying that if it hadn't been for God's intervention Israel would have been "swallowed alive" or "engulfed". But David praised the Lord because they had not been ripped apart by their enemies teeth or trapped by the fowler's snare. For David declares: "Our help is in the name of the Lord"!

Psalm 123 (résumé): I lift up my eyes to you!

This another short song of pilgrimage is a prayer for God's mercy. It says that as the slave looks to his master and as the maid looks to her mistress so we look to God for him to have mercy on us.

Psalm 122 (résumé): I rejoiced with those who said let's go the God's house

Psalm 122 is the 3rd song of ascents which this time is attributed to David. It is a happy psalm which starts by rejoicing with those who invite people to God's house. Then he rejoices at being at the gates of Jerusalem, which is a compact community city. Then in the last part of the psalm believers are encouraged to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for its prosperity. 

Psalm 121 (résumé): I lift up my eyes to the hills

Psalm 121 points to God as the true source of protection and blessing... my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. God, says the psalmist, watches over his people constantly without slumbering and provides shade in the day and moonlight at night. God will watch over his people constantly. 

Psalm 120 (résumé): I call on the Lord in my distress!

This is the first of 15 songs of ascents up to Psalm 134. A song of ascent is a psalm traditionally sung on pilgrimages to Jerusalem or sung by Levites climbing the temple steps. In Psalm 120 the psalmist in distress calls upon the Lord asking for salvation from lying deceitful tongues. He prays for punishment for the sinners who love wars, whereas he is a man of peace. 

Psalm 119 (résumé): Blessed are they whose ways are blameless!

This is the longest psalm - in fact it is the longest chapter in the whole Bible. And the psalm is another alphabetic acrostic with 22 stanzas, with 8 verses in each, using the 22 letters of each letter of the Hebrew alphabet to start each stanza. The psalm emphasizes the great value of God's word and stresses how much the author loves God's word, how good it is to meditate on it and how essential it is to obey it. Verse 105, out of the 176 verses, is the most well known verse when it says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path". The whole psalm exudes joy in God's word... your statutes are wonderful... it gives understanding to the simple... I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold... how I love your law... how sweet are your promises to my taste! Coming to the close of this mega psalm the psalmist says: "May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous... your law is my delight... let me live so that I can praise you!"

Psalm 118 (résumé): Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!

Psalm 188 is a joyful hymn of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord whose "love endures forever". 4 times in the opening 4 verses it's repeated "his love endures forever". The psalmist says how he had cried to the Lord and he set him free... it is better to trust God than men... for the Lord is his strength and song... shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous... this is the day that the Lord has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it... you are my God and I will give you thanks... give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever!