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
Verse 4 says, “Our soul has had more than its fill of the contempt of the proud.” Surely we all have experienced some of that contempt in politicians, in road rage, among associates, even in the church. The temptation is to respond in kind, acting out of our own pride in self.
This psalm reminds us that it is better to lift our eyes to the Lord our God. It is better to ask God for help to control our temper and for help to trust his kindness (mercy) toward us.
The writer of the psalm reminds us that we are like servants who must depend on their master, or a maid who must depend on her mistress. We must depend on God’s kindness. And we know God will help us because we know God's mercy in Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Merciful God, when we are hurting because of the scorn and contempt of others, help us to trust in you and your mercy so that we do not, out of our own pride, respond in kind. Help us to be merciful as you have been merciful to us. Amen.