Psalm 123 Patience for God’s mercy
“I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven.
We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt. We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant.”
Today, it’s hot, it’s dusty, and the water in the water bags is warm and tastes nasty. As the small group of pilgrims from a tiny hamlet trudge toward Jerusalem, they are forced off the narrow road by a rich man’s cavalcade consisting of several camels and a richly caparisoned donkey for the rich man. This fellow is so arrogant that he refuses to even greet his fellow pilgrims, but sneers at their meager possessions as he proceeds grandly on his way to Jerusalem. To make matters even worse, some of the camels defecate directly on the path, forcing those coming behind to dodge fresh camel dung or besmirch themselves. One of the children begins asking his father, “Daddy, why didn’t that man greet us? Why is he so mean?” The father can only look at his little son and shrug his shoulders. “I don’t know, son. Perhaps he really doesn’t know God very well.”
Irritating people are everywhere. Sadly, there are many who feel they must build themselves up by tearing others down or sneering at others. This psalm is a short one, but it packs a powerful message: Where are you focusing your gaze, your energy? Are you focusing on an almighty and merciful God, or are you allowing those around you to influence you?
“We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.” Being a slave means doing everything your master or mistress want as soon as possible, or even anticipating their needs and wants. A faithful servant will study the master or mistress until the servant knows their habits and inclinations better than they do themselves. Slaves might be beaten for failure to anticipate a need or for failure to carry out a task satisfactorily. Here the psalmist is encouraging believers to keep looking at God as closely as a slave does the master or mistress.
“Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt. We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant.” Believers are not worried about being beaten but instead they are hoping to receive God’s mercy. Believers realize that God is so far above any of us that He has no need to scoff or to show contempt. Only humans try to build themselves up by scorning others. We can well imagine that as the camel caravan for our rich man proceeds on up the trail, those plodding behind are chanting, “Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt. We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud.”
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that “God is a spirit and they who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) When the two groups reach Jerusalem, which one will truly worship God, the rich man focused on his own importance or the poor villagers? And the question remains for us, where is our focus? Are our hearts fixed on doing God’s will, or are we trying to build up our own importance? Only those whose minds are fixed on God will have peace and joy.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to fix our minds and hearts on You and nobody and nothing else. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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