Psalm 123 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 123 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Verse 2As 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 the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.
Verse 3Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Verse 4Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
Devotion
Many of the psalms are laments. No one passes through life's veil of tears without struggles of faith and fortune. The psalmist shows us how to direct our laments.
God's covenant made Israel different from all the nations of the world. The Lord sent prophets to continually remind Israel of its election to be "a priestly kingdom and a holy nation"¯ (Exodus 19:5). So the psalmist always found himself in conflict with the surrounding culture.
Like the psalmist, we also need to lift up our eyes and keep our focus on our Lord who is "enthroned in the heavens."¯ God's mercy gives us courage to do this. Christians today can take strength from counsel to 1st century Christians: "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial"¯ (2 Peter 2:9).
Prayer
Lord Jesus, keep our nation in the palm of your hand. Amen.