Psalm 123
1 I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
4 We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.
One of our favorite TV shows on satellite TV is “Air Crash Investigations.” This program depicts air disasters throughout the world, both those in which passengers and crew survive and those that end in catastrophe. Although some of the disasters stem from failures of equipment, terrible weather, or unexpected interference from birds or other aircraft, many of the problems stem from a failure of pilots to completely understand how to trouble shoot malfunctions on their airplanes, failure to pay attention to others in the cockpit or failure to follow instructions from air traffic controllers.
These days, responsible airlines make sure their pilots train in simulators that allow operators to face every kind of emergency possible. In addition, there has been a cultural shift in the relationships between pilots and first officers. In the past, pilots have tended to believe that they had God-like powers and that their first officers should remain quiet and respectful, no matter what. Sadly, when cockpit voice recordings are played, investigators learn that many situations could have been salvaged had the first officer voiced his/her opinions more forcefully and had the captain listened respectfully to the first officer. At other times, pilots and copilots fail to follow instructions from control towers.
In this psalm, the psalmist compares waiting for the Lord to the behavior of servants and maid servants with their masters and mistresses. Traditionally, servants found themselves in a very precarious position, particularly if the master or mistress was an imperious bully. Servants who lost their places in a household might find themselves out on the street with no income, no resources, and no place to live. A vicious master or mistress could spoil a servant’s reputation so that nobody else would employ that servant, leaving the servant and their family to starve. Servants had no option other than enduring contempt from arrogant and proud masters and mistresses, not to mention guests who might also abuse the servants. If the master or mistress ordered a servant to jump, the servant had better begin jumping and ask “how high?” on the way up.
Blessedly, the Lord is merciful; however, obedience is still paramount. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus advised his listeners, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
Air crashes occur because pilots and first officers fail to communicate properly or prepare sufficiently to operate the particular aircraft they are operating. Additionally, pilots must attend carefully to all weather reports and maps, particularly to information from air traffic controllers. For us to wait on the Lord, we must study His Word and try to obey His Will for our lives, just as those servants would obey their masters and mistresses. If we don’t want to crash and burn, we must keep our eyes on God!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to keep our eyes on You, no matter our circumstances. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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