Psalm 123 (World English Bible)
1 To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to Yahweh, our God, until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
What Psalm 123 means
"To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens." Arriving in Jerusalem does not end the need. The pilgrim looks past the city to the throne of God.
The picture is of a servant watching the hand of their master, or a maid watching the hand of her mistress, waiting for the smallest signal. That is how the pilgrim waits on God: eyes up, attentive, dependent, until He shows mercy.
Then the cry comes three times: have mercy on us, have mercy on us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. The scorn of the comfortable and the proud has worn them down.
Where it fits in the Songs of Ascent
In Psalm 121 the eyes went up to the hills. Here they go past the hills and the city to God Himself. This is the posture the whole climb is forming: before we arrive and after we arrive, we keep looking to Him.
A question to sit with
Where are you waiting on the hand of God right now?
A prayer you can pray
Lord, I lift my eyes to You. Like a servant watching for a signal, I am waiting on You. Have mercy on me. When I am worn down by the scorn of others, let my eyes stay fixed on You. In Jesus' name, amen.
Go deeper
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain).
