Psalms 118:5

118:5 In my distress ¹  I cried out to the Lord.

The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place. ² 

Psalms 119:145

ק (Qof)

119:145 I cried out with all my heart, “Answer me, O Lord!

I will observe your statutes.”

Psalms 120:1

Psalm 120 ³ 

A song of ascents. ⁴ 

120:1 In my distress I cried out

to the Lord and he answered me.

[118:5]  ¹ tn Heb “from the distress.” The noun מֵצַר (metsar, “straits; distress”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:3. In Ps 116:3 מצר should probably be emended to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”).

[118:5]  ² tn Heb “the Lord answered me in a wide open place.”

[120:1]  ³ sn Psalm 120. The genre and structure of this psalm are uncertain. It begins like a thanksgiving psalm, with a brief notice that God has heard the psalmist’s prayer for help and has intervened. But v. 2 is a petition for help, followed by a taunt directed toward enemies (vv. 3-4) and a lament (vv. 5-7). Perhaps vv. 2-7 recall the psalmist’s prayer when he cried out to the Lord.

[120:1]  ⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.