Inner Peace Beyond Exile

Neville's Inner Vision

Psalm 120:5-6 speaks as one who finds oneself resident among Mesech and Kedar—symbols of inner turbulence. Yet the true land is the mind in which I AM presence dwells. The lament is the confession that the old self keeps company with thoughts that hate peace. But the I AM within can revise this scene, for imagination creates reality. When I refuse to identify with the voice that says 'woe,' I acknowledge that the self that longs for peace can rewrite the script. The moment I accept that peace is my natural condition, the inner tents shift from contention to calm; Mesech and Kedar dissolve into images I merely observed and now no longer dwell in. Peace is my consistent state; the external world surrenders to the posture of inward harmony. The 'sojourner' becomes the observer, the exile ends, and the return to Shalom occurs not by travel but by inner revision. In this way, the verse becomes a note of gratitude, a reminder that the only real 'adversaries' are thoughts I have consented to.