Psalm 123: Coming to a holy God as a needy supplicant
A song of ascents.
[Preliminary Comments: In this short fourth psalm of ascents, the psalmist, as he senses coming closer to the Lord, bows his heart to come in total submission to the One who is the holy Lord of all. He comes in need of God’s mercy to act on their behalf because they are a people who have suffered at the hands of others.
v.1 The psalmist ventures to approach the Lord
v.1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
v.2 He comes in complete submission and humility
v.2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
v.3 He calls on the Lord to have mercy
v.3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
v.4 They have suffered at the hands of others
v.4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
[Additional Comments: Mercy is not earned but simply given. As such it cannot be claimed or demanded and so now as the psalmist approaches the Lord, having entered the city, he realizes he comes to a Holy God and comes as a needy supplicant, possibly abused by others, but in need of His help [mercy]. A psalm expressing weakness in need but also acknowledging the Lord’s greatness and holiness. A further heart preparation psalm.
After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4 We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: