Till He Has Mercy Upon Us – Psalm 123
NOTE: This is the last week of commentary by Dr. Kevin Watson, who has moved to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence. I wrote a post announcing and explaining this move. I’m going to resume writing commentary starting with Psalm 125, this coming Saturday!
—Andrew
Psalm 123
A Song of Ascents.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 123 is a short but piercing prayer to God for mercy.
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. (v.1-2)
Tremper Longman III helps unpack the meaning of this Psalm:
The psalmist adopts an attitude of humility before God, the divine Master, as he hopes for help in the midst of persecution. He submits himself to God in order to be free from the oppressor (Moody 2013: 52-53). Perhaps the most striking aspect of the gospel is that Jesus himself takes on the role of a servant on our behalf, washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17). Paul calls on Christians to adopt the same attitude as Christ:
who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8)
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. (v.3-4)
The pain and suffering brought on by contempt and scorn directed at the psalmist are described.
The psalmists hope for mercy comes not from those who pour out contempt and scorn. Rather, it comes from the Lord alone.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus until you receive his comfort and consolation. Even when we are hurt by others, it is the mercy of Jesus Christ we need to receive in order to experience healing and wholeness.
Where do you need the Lord to have mercy on you right now? Ask him for mercy now.