Psalm 120:5 NKJV
Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
A Pilgrim’s Lament: Longing for Home
My Notes
“Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!“ – Psalm 120:5 (NKJV)
The opening cry of this verse is a deep lament, a “Woe is me” that expresses profound distress. The Psalmist is not just having a bad day; he feels utterly displaced, forced to “sojourn” among people whose ways are alien and hostile to his soul. He names his temporary residences as Meshech and Kedar—ancient names that conjure images of distant, barbarous, and ungodly tribes (Genesis 10:2; 25:13).
Feeling Like a Stranger in a Strange Land
The very words used—”dwell” (garti, ‘sojourn’) and “live” (sakanti, ‘tabernacle’)—signify a temporary lodging, not a permanent home. This reveals the core of his grief: though he may have a physical residence, he doesn’t feel at home. He is a spiritual pilgrim, a traveler on a journey, and he finds himself perpetually out of place among those who do not share his heart for God.
David’s cry, “Woe is me,” reflects the grief of a righteous soul forced to live far from God’s sanctuary and near those who despise peace. This feeling of alienation stems from being “at a distance from the ordinances of God” and the vexation of being surrounded by the wicked, especially those who practice lying and slander. Like righteous Lot was distressed by the “filthy actions” of Sodom (2 Peter 2:7), the devoted heart is wounded by the profane conversation and abominable conduct of an ungodly environment.
This cry, “Woe is me,” is a holy homesickness. It is the sincere grief of a gracious soul that yearns for unhindered communion with God and the peace of His presence, a peace constantly interrupted by the world’s hostility. It reminds us that our true citizenship is in heaven, and until then, we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Hebrews 11:13).
Prayer
Abba, I confess that I, too, often feel the friction of living in the world but not being of it. Like the Psalmist, I can lament the times when I feel far from Your presence and grieved by the ungodly conversation around me. Please guard me from compromise, and stir in me a deeper longing for Your presence. Thank You that You have provided a refuge for my soul. Guard my heart from the infection of this world and strengthen me to stand firm in my faith. Remind me that my true home is with You. Hasten the day when my sojourning will end, and I will dwell in the peace of Your Heaven. I pray for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Cross-References for Further Study (NKJV)
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2 Peter 2:7-8: and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—
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Hebrews 11:13-16: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
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Psalm 42:1-2: As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
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John 17:14-16: I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Questions to meditate on
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Have you ever felt “out of place” because of ungodly influences around you? How did you respond?
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How can you cultivate a pilgrim mindset—living as one who longs for God’s presence more than earthly comfort?
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What practices help you remain spiritually “at home” even when surrounded by worldly voices?
Application
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Recognize your exile: Accept that this world is not your home; you are a pilgrim.
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Guard your heart: Resist being shaped by the ungodly environment around you (Romans 12:2).
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Seek fellowship: Surround yourself with God’s people whenever possible (Hebrews 10:25).
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Long for God’s presence: Let discomfort in this world deepen your desire for heaven.
Proverbs for Today
Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12 NKJV
My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways. Proverbs 23:26 NKJV
Closing
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Rom 8:11 NKJV
Bill
Posted on 11/23/2025 by Bill Stephens
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Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 120:5 expresses the psalmist’s grief at dwelling among hostile, ungodly people symbolized by Meshech and Kedar. He feels exiled from God’s presence, surrounded by deceit and strife, like Lot in Sodom. This lament reflects the believer’s pilgrim journey—longing for God’s sanctuary while enduring the vexation of worldly company.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Woe is me, that sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!” Gracious men are vexed with the conversation of the wicked. Our poet felt himself to be as ill at ease among lying neighbors as if he had lived among savages and cannibals. The traitors around him were as bad as the unspeakable Turk. He cries, “Woe is me!” Their sin appalled him, their enmity galled him. He had some hope from the fact that he was only a sojourner in Mesech, but as years rolled on, the time dragged heavily, and he feared that he might call himself a dweller in Kedar. The wandering tribes to whom he refers were constantly at war with one another; it was their habit to travel armed to the teeth; they were a kind of plundering gypsies, with their hand against every man and every man’s hand against them; and to these he compared the false-hearted ones who had assailed his character. Those who defame the righteous are worse than cannibals; for savages only eat men after they are dead, but these wretches cat them up alive.
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Enduring Word
Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech: Meshech was a distant place, far from the land of Israel (Ezekiel 27:13, 32:26, 39:1). Kedar was a place associated with the nomadic tribes in the lands surrounding Israel (Isaiah 21:16-17, Jeremiah 49:28). (Guzik)
i. “Meshech was the name of [a group of] barbarous tribes who, in the times of Sargon and Sennacherib, inhabited the highlands to the east of Cilicia, and in later days retreated northwards to the neighborhood of the Black Sea…. Kedar was one of the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian desert.” (Maclaren)
ii. “These two peoples were located so far apart geographically that they can only be taken here as ‘a general term for the heathen.’ No one person could have lived among both. They are examples of warlike tribes, among whom the singers of Psalm 120 had no true home.” (Boice)
iii. “The verbs ‘dwell’ (garti, ‘sojourn’) and ‘live’ (sakanti, ‘tabernacle,’ ‘dwell’) are significantly chosen. Even though the psalmist may have enjoyed a permanent residence, he felt as if he was no more than a sojourner among his contemporaries. He did not feel at home among an ungodly people.” (VanGemeren)
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Albert Barnes
Woe is me – My lot is a sad and pitiable one, that I am compelled to live in this manner, and to be exposed thus to malignant reproaches. It is like living in Mesech or in Kedar.
That I sojourn – The word used here does not denote a permanent abode, but it usually refers to a temporary lodging, as when one is a traveler, a pilgrim, a stranger, and is under a necessity of passing a night in a strange land on his way to the place of his destination. The trouble or discomfort here referred to is not that which would result from having his home there, or abiding there permanently, but of feeling that he was a stranger, and would be exposed to all the evils and inconveniences of a stranger among such a people. A man who resided in a place permanently might be subject to fewer inconveniences than if he were merely a temporary lodger among strangers.
In Mesech – The Septuagint and Vulgate render this, “that my sojourning is protracted.” The Hebrew word – משׁך meshek – means, properly, “drawing,” as of seed “scattered regularly along the furrows” Psalms 126:6; and then possession, Job 28:18. 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; 1 Chronicles 1:5. The name is connected commonly with “Tubal,” Ezekiel 27:13: “Tubal and Meshech they were thy merchants.” Ezekiel 39:1: “I am against … the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,” Herodotus (iii. 94; vii. 78) connects them with the Tibarenes. The idea here is that they were a barbarous, savage, uncivilized people. They dwelt outside of Palestine, beyond what were regarded as the borders of civilization, and the word seems to have had a signification similar to the names Goths, Vandals, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks, in later times. It is not known that they were particularly remarkable for slander or calumny; but the meaning is that they were barbarous and savage, and to dwell among slanderers and revilers seemed to the psalmist to be like dwelling among a people who were strangers to all the rules and principles of civilized society.
That I dwell in the tents of Kedar – The word Kedar means properly dark skin, a darkskinned man. 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). The idea here also is that to dwell among slanderers was like dwelling among barbarians and savages.
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John Gill
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech,…. Meshech was a son of Japheth, Genesis 10:2; whose posterity are thought by some to be the Muscovites and Scythians, a barbarous sort of people: Meshech is frequently mentioned with Tubal and his brother, and with Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 38:2; the Targum here calls them Asiatics. Rather, the Cappadocians, according to Josephus and Strabo, make mention of a city of theirs, called Mazaca, and the rather, since they are mentioned with the Kedarenes, or Arabian Scenites, and were nearer to the land of Judea than the former;
[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 says, they dwelt not far from Babylon, when he wrote; they lived a pastoral life, and dwelt in tents: Pliny makes mention of Arabs, called Cedrei; and also of Scenite Arabs, from the tents they dwelt in, which they could remove from place to place for the sake of pasturage. And among these David dwelt, when in the wilderness of Paran, 1 Samuel 25:1; though some think David never dwelt among any of those people, but among such who were like unto them for ignorance, idolatry, and barbarity. Some render the words, “woe is me, that I sojourn so long, dwelling as in the tents of Kedar”; as when he was among the Philistines and Moabites; nay, even he may compare his own people to those, many of whom it was as disagreeable dwelling with as with these: and we find Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, speaking of them in their times in like manner, and making the same complaints, Isaiah 6:5. And very grieving and distressing it is to good men to have their abode among wicked men; as well as it is infectious and dangerous: to hear their profane and blasphemous talk, to see their wicked and filthy actions, and to observe their abominable conversation, is very vexatious, and gives great uneasiness, as it did to righteous Lot, 2 Peter 2:7. The first clause is rendered by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, “woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged”; to which the next words agree, Psalm 120:6.
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Matthew Henry
Woe is me, says David, that I am forced to dwell among such, that I sojourn in Mesech and Kedar. Not that David dwelt in the country of Mesech or Kedar; we never find him so far off from his own native country; but he dwelt among rude and barbarous people, like the inhabitants of Mesech and Kedar: as, when we would describe an ill neighbourhood, we say, We dwell among Turks and heathens. This made him cry out, Woe is me!
He was forced to live at a distance from the ordinances of God. While he was in banishment, he looked upon himself as a sojourner, never at home but when he was near God’s altars; and he cries out, “Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged, that I cannot get home to my resting-place, but am still kept at a distance!” So some read it. Note, A good man cannot think himself at home while he is banished from God’s ordinances and has not them within reach. And it is a great grief to all that love God to be without the means of grace and of communion with God: when they are under a force of that kind, they cannot but cry out, as David here, Woe to me!
He was forced to live among wicked people, who were, upon many accounts, troublesome to him. He dwell in the tents of Kedar, where the shepherds were probably in an ill name for being litigious, like the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot. It is a very grievous burden to a good man to be cast into, and kept in, the company of those whom he hopes to be for ever separated from (like Lot in Sodom; 2 Pt. 2:8); to dwell long with such is grievous indeed, for they are thorns, vexing, and scratching, and tearing, and they will show the old enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman. Those that David dwelt with were such as not only hated him, but hated peace, and proclaimed war with it, who might write on their weapons of war not Sic sequimur pacem-Thus we aim at peace, but Sic persequimur-Thus we persecute. Perhaps Saul’s court was the Mesech and Kedar in which David dwelt, and Saul was the man he meant that hated peace, whom David studied to oblige and could not, but the more service he did him, the more exasperated he was against him.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!” Mesech was a son of Japheth, and the name here signifies his descendants, the Mosques, who occupied that wild mountain region which lies between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Kedar, again, was a son of Ishmael; and the name here signifies his descendants, the wandering tribes, whose “hand is against every man, and every man’s hand against them.” There is no geographical connection between those two nations: the former being upon the north of Palestine, and the latter upon the south. The connection is a moral one. They are mentioned together because they were fierce and warlike barbarians. David had never lived on the shores of the Caspian Sea, or in the Arabian wilderness, and he means no more than this, that the persons with whom he now dwelt were as savage and quarrelsome as Mesech and Kedar. After a similar fashion, we call rude and troublesome persons Turks, Tartars, and Hottentots. David exclaims, I am just as miserable among these haters of peace, as if I had taken up my abode with those savage and treacherous tribes.
—N. McMichael.
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech,” etc. David exclaims, Alas for me! because, dwelling amongst false brethren and an illegitimate race of Abraham, he was wrongfully molested and tormented by them, although he had behaved himself towards them in good conscience. Since then, at the present day, in the church of Rome, religion is dishonored by all manner of disgraceful imputations, faith torn in pieces, light turned into darkness, and the majesty of God exposed to the grossest mockeries, it will certainly be impossible for those who have any feeling of true piety within them to lie in the midst of such pollutions without great anguish of spirit.
—John Calvin.
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