March 7
Reading: 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.
The Songs of Ascent are psalms for the pilgrim on his way to Jerusalem. First, he longs to be there (Psalm 120). Then he gets on his way, walking under God’s protection (Psalm 121). He is filled with anticipation (Psalm 122). Next is a cry from the faith-filled faithful in a hateful world for the mercy of the Lord.
The first verse of this psalm makes me think of Colossians 3:1-2.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
As we journey through this life, on our way to the promised land, it is so important to lift our eyes to the Lord, “enthroned in the heavens!”
This psalm is about looking. We live in a world where people will look with scorn upon those who love the Lord, where arrogant people will despise those who tell them to repent and seek the Lord. Sometimes we don’t need to say a word. Our very God-oriented presence is enough to cause people to hate us.
So, as we live and work and love others, we longingly look up, to the Lord. What humble trust is expressed in the metaphor of verse 2. We are like servants who look to the hand of our master. What do we look for? Mercy. Just mercy. Why? Because we know that we deserve nothing. We actually deserve God’s contempt as well. But we know Him. We know of His covenant love, His care for His children, His kindness and compassion. The mercy of the Lord is far better than anything this cruel world could pretend to give us.
Where are you looking?