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Psalms 123

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Looking Up to the Lord in Heaven 1–2

1
A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. ​
2
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us. ​

A Prayer for Mercy Amidst Contempt 3–4

3
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. ​
4
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalm 123

Verse 1

O thou that dwellest in the heavens — Yashab is to sit, to be seated: the LORD is enthroned there, as in ‘He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh’ (Ps 2:4) and ‘the LORD’S throne is in heaven’ (Ps 11:4). The upward look of the pilgrim in the Songs of degrees (maaloth) answers Ps 121:1, now lifted past the hills to the throne itself.

Verse 2

the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters — Ebed is a male servant, shiphchah a maidservant; the verse names both, and their eyes are on the master’s hand for what it gives or commands. So Israel’s eyes wait on ‘the LORD our God’ for one thing, chanan, to be gracious (‘have mercy’), and keep waiting ‘until’ it comes.

Verse 3

Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us — Chanan, to show favour, is repeated, the cry of the publican (Luke 18:13). The cause follows: ‘exceedingly filled with contempt’. Buz, contempt, is the word that closes both this verse and the next, and ‘filled’ (saba) is the verb of eating one’s fill. Nehemiah prays in the same plight (Neh 4:4).

Verse 4

those that are at ease — Shaanan is secure, undisturbed, in a bad sense: the comfortable who mock. Scripture speaks of them elsewhere: ‘Woe to them that are at ease in Zion’ (Amos 6:1), and ‘He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease’ (Job 12:5). ‘Scorning’ is laag, derision.