Mercy for the Climb

Psalm 123

Our Eyes Look to the LORD Our God

A Song of Ascents.

 ¹To you I lift up my eyes,
   O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
²Behold, 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.
⁴Our soul has had more than enough
   of the scorn of those who are at ease,
   of the contempt of the proud.

Some think these “Psalms of Ascents” were actually sung in the order they’re presented in the Bible during the climb to Jerusalem for holy days and festivals. It’s not difficult to imagine the image of upturned eyes navigating a rocky uphill path singing, “To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens!”

The remainder of the short psalm addresses God’s mercy. Biblical images of servant and master are often misunderstood. Here, the master lovingly provides for the servant just as our God provides for us. His mercy is needed when the attacks of the world wear us down, as in the closing two verses. The concept is subtle. When we have had “more than enough”, we might first think that we need God’s sympathy, or His compassion, or His consolation. We must, however, be ever-mindful of our status apart from God and recognize that before all else we need not His coddling but His mercy.