A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM CXX.
_David prayeth against Doeg, reproveth his tongue, complaineth of his necessary conversation with the wicked._ A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, _and_ from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, _that_ I dwell in the tents of Kedar! My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I _am for_ peace: but, when I speak, they _are_ for war. This Psalm is an earnest prayer; and it complains, with deep feelings of sorrow, of those horrible evils which Satan causes in the church by a false and crafty tongue: that is, by that virulent and truly serpentine tongue which boasts of God and the worship of God, and never instructs any one in the truth, nor leads them to God. For false teachers cause infinite and terrible evils in the church; and like giants with immense weapons in their hands, they never strike without inflicting some mighty wound: or, like fire-brands cast into a grove of juniper trees, they consume in all directions, with a sudden and devouring flame. And just so, the common people often burst out into one general flame, even by the throwing in among them of one single spark of false and wicked doctrine; and not only do they blaze forth with a sudden flame of their minds and spirits, but even greatly admire the error and the hypocrisy. For all doctrines of this kind, as being more congenial to human reason than the truth of God, quickly please men; as Paul saith, 2 Tim. iv. “They will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”
Mesech are the nations nigh unto Jerusalem itself, towards the north; where the Tartars now are. And Kedar are the Arabs, to the east of Jerusalem. These nations are types of all enemies and heretics who oppose themselves as adversaries to the true church. The Mesech of Christians, at this time are the Turks, who derive their origin from the Tartars. And the Kedar are Mahomet and the Saracens; for they are from Arabia. These with their Alcoran have oppressed and laid waste the Gospel in many places: and that fire of wicked doctrine, broke out into a mighty blaze, just like a brand cast into a thicket of juniper trees.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.