Psalm 123:1-4 (ESV)
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
Where do you lift up your eyes to when the tough times come? When we were children, we would lift up our eyes to mom or dad, from whom would come our deliverance. Perhaps it was for something to eat, or relief after a fall, or for protection from some threat (including siblings). As we got older, we would lift our eyes up to our closest friends for support or advice or just a shoulder to cry on. As adults, many of us turn our eyes inward, looking to ourselves for deliverance in the land where you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and are applauded for being “self-made.”
In reading Psalm 123—another psalm of ascents for pilgrims headed to Jerusalem—we need to ask ourselves one, simple question: Do I really believe this? Do I really look to the one “enthroned in the heavens” for my deliverance from any and all trouble? Like the earthly servant, do I look to my Master for any and all needs? “This is not an endorsement of slavery, of course. It is a way of saying that the disciple’s dependence on God and submission to God should be no less total than the most obedient servant of an earthly master.” (Boice)
On this same issue (Believers like servants), Spurgeon noted that, “They look continuously, for there never is a time when they are off duty; at all times they delight to serve in all things: Upon the Lord they fix their eyes expectantly, looking for supply, succor, and safety from his hands, waiting that he may have mercy upon them.” And in this waiting, there is not always passivity, but rather, a patient pleading with God for his hand of mercy to move on our behalf. Sometimes, God’s mercy shows up by simply removing the source of our trouble or contempt or scorn. Other times, that mercy comes to us via loving and supportive saints who walk alongside us in our time of need. In whatever form it takes, God’s mercy is assured, and we must continually “look to the hand” of our Heavenly Master to make sure we are being obedient to His commands.
One final and more general note…
As our nation becomes more secular, attacks against our faith are becoming more frequent and more direct. Maybe there are people in your life—at work or in your family or neighborhood—who are taunting you because of your faith. Maybe they treat you with contempt, ridiculing you for your devotion to Christ. Maybe there is nothing you can do about it; you can’t move, can’t change jobs, can’t disown your family. What you can do is look to the Lord in humble dependence. You can pray every day and every time you feel belittled, persecuted, or threatened. We all must lift our eyes to the one who is enthroned in the heavens as the days grow darker and the contempt and scorn of the lost becomes more pronounced.
