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Study this verse
Public-domain commentary
Matthew Henry
From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Psalms 123:1–4. His four-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.
We have here,
I.The solemn profession which God's people make of faith and hope in God, Psa 123:1, Psa 123:2. Observe,
1.The title here given to God: O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Our Lord Jesus has taught us, in prayer, to have an eye to God as our Father in heaven; not that he is confined there, but there especially he manifests his glory, as the King in his court. Heaven is a place of prospect and a place of power; he that dwells there beholds thence all the calamities of his people and thence can send to save them. Sometimes God seems to have forsaken the earth, and the enemies of God's people ask, Where is now your God? But then they can say with comfort, Our God is in the heavens. O thou that sittest in the heavens (so some), sittest as Judge there; for the Lord has prepared his throne in the heavens, and to that throne injured innocency may appeal.
2.The regard here had to God. The psalmist himself lifted up his eyes to him. The eyes of a good man are ever towards the Lord, Psa 25:15. In every prayer we lift up our soul, the eye of our soul, to God, especially in trouble, which was the case here. The eyes of the people waited on the Lord, Psa 123:2. We find mercy coming towards a people when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, are towards the Lord, Zac 9:1. The eyes of the body are heaven-ward. Os homini sublime dedit - To man he gave an erect mien, to teach us which way to direct the eyes of the mind. Our eyes wait on the Lord, the eye of desire and prayer, the begging eye, and the eye of dependence, hope, and expectation, the longing eye. Our eyes must wait upon God as the Lord, and our God, until that he have mercy upon us. We desire mercy from him, we hope he will show us mercy, and we will continue our attendance on him till the mercy come. This is illustrated (Psa 123:2) by a similitude: Our eyes are to God as the eyes of a servant, and handmaid, to the hand of their master and mistress. The eyes of a servant are,
(1.)To his master's directing hand, expecting that he will appoint him his work, and cut it out for him, and show him how he must do it. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
(2.)To his supplying hand. Servants look to their master, or their mistress, for their portion of meat in due season, Pro 31:15. And to God must we look for daily bread, for grace sufficient; from him we must receive it thankfully.
(3.)To his assisting hand. If the servant cannot do his work himself, where must he look for help but to his master? And in the strength of the Lord God we must go forth and go on.
(4.)To his protecting hand. If the servant meet with opposition in his work, if he be questioned for what he does, if he be wronged and injured, who should bear him out and right him, but his master that set him on work? The people of God, when they are persecuted, may appeal to their Master, We are thine; save us.
(5.)To his correcting hand. If the servant has provoked his master to beat him, he does not call for help against his master, but looks at the hand that strikes him, till it shall say, "It is enough; I will not contend for ever." The people of God were now under his rebukes; and whither should they turn but to him that smote them? Isa 9:13. To whom should they make supplication but to their Judge? They will not do as Hagar did, who ran away from her mistress when she put some hardships upon her (Gen 16:6), but they submit themselves to and humble themselves under God's mighty hand.
(6.)To his rewarding hand. The servant expects his wages, his well-done, from his master. Hypocrites have their eye to the world's hand; thence they have their reward (Mat 6:2); but true Christians have their eye to God as their rewarder.
II.The humble address which God's people present to him in their calamitous condition (Psa 123:3, Psa 123:4), wherein,
1.They sue for mercy, not prescribing to God what he shall do for them, nor pleading any merit of their own why he should do it for them, but, Have mercy upon us, O Lord! have mercy upon us. We find little mercy with men; their tender mercies are cruel; there are cruel mockings. But this is our comfort, that with the Lord there is mercy and we need desire no more to relieve us, and make us easy, than the mercy of God. Whatever the troubles of the church are, God's mercy is a sovereign remedy.
2.They set forth their grievances: We are exceedingly filled with contempt. Reproach is the wound, the burden, they complain of. Observe,
(1.)Who were reproached: "We, who have our eyes up to thee." Those who are owned of God are often despised and trampled on by the world. Some translate the words which we render, those that are at ease, and the proud, so as to signify the persons that are scorned and contemned. "Our soul is troubled to see how those that are at peace, and the excellent ones, are scorned and despised." The saints are a peaceable people and yet are abused (Psa 35:20), the excellent ones of the earth and yet undervalued, Lam 4:1, Lam 4:2.
(2.)Who did reproach them. Taking the words as we read them, they were the epicures who lived at ease, carnal sensual people, Job 12:5. The scoffers are such as walk after their own lusts and serve their own bellies, and the proud such as set God himself at defiance and had a high opinion of themselves; they trampled on God's people, thinking they magnified themselves by vilifying them.
(3.)To what degree they were reproached: "We are filled, we are surfeited with it. Our soul is exceedingly filled with it." The enemies thought they could never jeer them enough, nor say enough to make them despicable; and they could not but lay it to heart; it was a sword in their bones, Psa 42:10. Note,
[1.]Scorning and contempt have been, and are, and are likely to be, the lot of God's people in this world. Ishmael mocked Isaac, which is called persecuting him; and so it is now, Gal 4:29.
[2.]In reference to the scorn and contempt of men it is matter of comfort that there is mercy with God, mercy to our good names when they are barbarously used. Hear, O our God! for we are despised.
Historical interpretation
Two Centuries of Reception
4 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.
The tax collector in the Gospel, therefore, acting properly, “did not wish even to lift up his eyes,” but on the other hand, the disciple who is present with Jesus would reasonably lift them up when he is given the command, “Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are already white to harvest.”2The prophet, too, says, “Lift up your eyes on high.” But in addition, in Psalm 122 (LXX), which is the fourth song of the gradual psalms, the prophet, when he has lifted up his eyes to God in a fitting manner, says, “To you who dwell in heaven I have lifted up my eyes. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of a handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so our eyes are on the Lord our God, until he has mercy on us.”
And if we must also show more clearly for whom it is now proper to imitate Jesus by lifting up his eyes, in that he also lifts up his eyes, and for whom this is not proper, but who, like the tax collector, should not only stand far away from the temple but also not wish to lift up his eyes, we will quote the words of Daniel about the lawless elders who lusted after Susanna. The words are as follows: “And they perverted their own mind and turned their eyes away that they might not look to heaven or remember just judgments.” These words should be taken along with the following remarks made about Susanna, “But she, weeping, looked up to heaven, for her heart trusted in the Lord.” Notice in these words that those who perverted their own mind turned their eyes away that they might not look to heaven, but she who trusted in the Lord looked up to heaven as a result of her trust in the Lord.
“Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear him.” Elsewhere, it says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the just,” but here, “on those that fear him.” When we look upon the Lord and our eyes are on him, so that we say, “Behold as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God,” then, we, as it were, draw the he eye of the Lord to watch over us.
What does he mean then by saying, “for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet”? Is the Lord to reign only until his enemies begin to be under his feet, and once they are under his feet will he cease to reign? Of course his reign will then commence in its fullness when his enemies begin to be under his feet. David also in the fourth Song of Ascents speaks thus, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy on us.” Will the prophet, then, look to the Lord until he obtains mercy, and when mercy is obtained will he turn his eyes down to the ground, although elsewhere he says, “My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, and for your righteous promise”? I could accumulate countless instances of this usage and cover the verbosity of our assailant with a cloud of proofs; I shall, however, add only a few and leave the reader to find similar ones for himself.
...Let this singer ascend; and let this man sing from the heart of each of you, and let each of you be this man, for when each of you says this, since you are all one in Christ, one man says this; and says not, "Unto You, O Lord, have" we "lift up" our "eyes;" but, "Unto You, O Lord, have I lift up my eyes" [Psalm 123:1]. You ought indeed to imagine that every one of you is speaking; but that One in a special sense speaks, who is also spread abroad over the whole world...
What makes the heart of a Christian heavy? Because he is a pilgrim, and longs for his country. If your heart be heavy on this score, although you have been prosperous in the world, still thou dost groan: and if all things combine to render you prosperous, and this world smile upon you on every side, thou nevertheless groanest, because you see that you are set in a pilgrimage; and feelest that you have indeed happiness in the eyes of fools, but not as yet after the promise of Christ: this you seek with groans, this you seek with longings, and by longing ascendest, and while you ascend dost sing the Song of Degrees.
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Summary
Psalms 123:1 serves as a poignant opening to a "Song of Ascents," immediately establishing a posture of profound humility and absolute dependence on God. The psalmist, representing a community facing scorn and contempt, directs their gaze and earnest supplication exclusively toward the transcendent Lord, acknowledging Him as the sovereign ruler who "dwellest in the heavens" and is the ultimate, unchallengeable source of mercy, help, and deliverance amidst earthly trials. This verse sets the tone for a psalm that articulates a deep, unwavering trust in divine authority and a fervent plea for grace from the one true God.
Context
Literary Context
Psalms 123:1 inaugurates one of the fifteen "Songs of Ascents" (Hebrew: Shir Hama'alot), a distinctive collection spanning Psalms 120 through Psalms 134. These psalms are traditionally understood as pilgrim hymns, sung by Jewish worshippers as they "ascended" to Jerusalem for the three annual pilgrimage festivals. The collection often traces a spiritual journey, moving from expressions of distress and longing (as seen in Psalm 120) to declarations of trust, prayers for protection, and ultimately, praise for God's blessings upon His people and city (e.g., Psalm 125). Psalm 123, specifically, follows a pattern of seeking divine intervention from a position of vulnerability, echoing the communal prayers for help found elsewhere in the collection, such as the cry for help in Psalm 121:1-2.
Historical & Cultural Context
The practice of pilgrimage to Jerusalem was a cornerstone of ancient Israelite religious life, explicitly commanded by the Torah (e.g., Deuteronomy 16:16). This journey involved a literal "ascent" to the elevated city, particularly to the Temple Mount. Culturally, the "lifting of eyes" was a common and deeply symbolic posture of prayer, supplication, and seeking help, especially from a superior authority or divine power. It conveyed a sense of humility, earnest expectation, and an acknowledgment that human efforts or earthly powers were insufficient. Addressing God as "thou that dwellest in the heavens" was a standard theological descriptor, emphasizing His transcendence, omnipresence, and ultimate authority above all earthly rulers and circumstances, a concept deeply ingrained in Israelite monotheism in contrast to surrounding polytheistic cultures.
Key Themes
This opening verse immediately establishes several pivotal themes that resonate throughout the psalm and the broader collection. Firstly, it underscores Absolute Dependence on God, portraying a posture of complete reliance where the psalmist looks away from all earthly sources of help and fixes their gaze solely on the divine. This is a profound admission of human weakness and a firm belief in God's omnipotent strength, a theme also powerfully articulated in Psalm 121:1-2. Secondly, the verse highlights God's Transcendence and Sovereignty, emphasizing His supreme position and authority by referring to Him as dwelling "in the heavens." This affirms His control over all creation and human affairs, making Him the ultimate and only reliable source of salvation and mercy, a truth consistently affirmed in passages like Psalm 115:3. Finally, the act of "lifting up mine eyes" embodies Humble Supplication, reflecting an earnest, reverent plea for divine intervention, acknowledging that true help originates from beyond human capabilities, from the one who governs the universe.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
Meaning "elevation," specifically referring to a climactic progression or steps. In the context of the "Songs of Ascents," it denotes both the literal ascent of pilgrims to Jerusalem and a spiritual ascent in faith and hope towards God.
A primitive root meaning "to lift" in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative. Here, it signifies a deliberate act of raising one's eyes, conveying an earnest and intentional posture of seeking, prayer, or expectation, turning away from earthly distractions.
A primitive root meaning "to sit down," by implication "to dwell" or "to remain." When applied to God, it emphasizes His settled, eternal presence and sovereign authority in His heavenly abode, signifying His permanent and unchallengeable reign.
Verse Breakdown
"¶ A Song of degrees."
This superscription sets the stage for the psalm, identifying it as one of the "Songs of Ascents." It signals its purpose within the pilgrim collection, likely indicating a hymn sung during the journey to Jerusalem, embodying both physical ascent and spiritual elevation towards God. The paragraph marker (¶) indicates a new section or thought within the KJV text.
"Unto thee lift I up mine eyes,"
This clause immediately establishes the psalmist's posture of prayer and profound dependence. The act of "lifting eyes" is a deliberate, conscious turning away from earthly circumstances and directing one's entire focus and hope towards God. It signifies a humble yet earnest appeal for divine attention and intervention, highlighting a singular focus on the divine.
"O thou that dwellest in the heavens."
This direct address identifies the recipient of the psalmist's gaze and prayer. By referring to God as dwelling "in the heavens," the psalmist acknowledges His transcendence, supreme authority, and omnipotence. This emphasizes that the help sought is from the highest possible source, beyond all earthly limitations and powers, reinforcing His ultimate sovereignty and unassailable position.
Literary Devices
Psalms 123:1 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message of profound dependence. The most prominent is Metaphor, as the physical act of "lifting up mine eyes" serves as a metaphor for spiritual focus, earnest prayer, and unwavering trust in God. It is not merely a physical gesture but represents the soul's upward gaze and hope, a deliberate shift from earthly concerns to divine reliance. Apostrophe is also evident, as the psalmist directly addresses God ("O thou that dwellest in the heavens"), creating an intimate and personal tone of supplication, making the prayer immediate and direct. Furthermore, the verse utilizes vivid Imagery, painting a picture of a supplicant looking heavenward, contrasting the finite earthly realm with the infinite, transcendent dwelling place of God. This imagery underscores God's supreme position and the vastness of His power compared to human frailty, reinforcing the reason for the psalmist's upward gaze.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Psalms 123:1 profoundly articulates the biblical theme of God's transcendence and humanity's absolute dependence on Him. It underscores that true help and ultimate deliverance do not come from human strength, political alliances, or earthly resources, but solely from the sovereign Creator who resides "in the heavens." This perspective aligns with the broader biblical narrative where God is consistently portrayed as distinct from His creation, yet intimately involved in the affairs of His people. The act of lifting one's eyes is a theological statement of faith, acknowledging God's ultimate authority and His capacity to intervene in human suffering. It is a model of prayer that prioritizes God's majesty and mercy above all else, especially when facing overwhelming opposition or contempt, as the subsequent verses of the psalm reveal.
Reflection and Application
In a world that often encourages self-reliance, human ingenuity, or looking to earthly powers for solutions, Psalms 123:1 offers a radical counter-cultural call: to deliberately and intentionally "lift our eyes" to God. This verse serves as a timeless reminder that our ultimate help, hope, and salvation reside not in our circumstances, our abilities, or the opinions of others, but in the transcendent God who reigns from the heavens. When faced with overwhelming challenges, scorn, or seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the spiritual discipline of turning our gaze upward is an act of profound faith. It acknowledges our limitations and God's limitless power, fostering a spirit of humility and absolute dependence. This posture invites us to trust that the One who dwells in the heavens sees, hears, and is capable of responding with mercy and deliverance, transforming our perspective from one of despair to one of hopeful expectation in divine intervention.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why is this psalm called a "Song of degrees" or "Song of Ascents"?
The term "Song of degrees" (KJV) or "Song of Ascents" (modern translations) translates the Hebrew Shir Hama'alot. While its precise musical or liturgical meaning is debated, the most widely accepted interpretation is that these psalms (Psalms 120-134) were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they "ascended" to Jerusalem for the three annual pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Weeks, Booths). Jerusalem is geographically elevated, so pilgrims literally ascended to the city. The term also carries a spiritual connotation, representing an ascent in faith, a journey towards God, or a progression through spiritual stages, often from distress to deliverance and praise.
What is the significance of "lifting up mine eyes" in this verse?
The phrase "lifting up mine eyes" is a powerful biblical idiom that signifies a posture of earnest prayer, supplication, and seeking divine help. It implies turning one's focus away from earthly distractions, problems, or human sources of aid, and deliberately directing one's hope and expectation towards God. It is an act of humble dependence, acknowledging that true help comes from a higher power, as seen in other psalms like Psalm 121:1. It conveys a sense of anticipation and trust that God, who is in heaven, will hear and respond to the cries of His people.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Psalms 123:1, with its profound declaration of looking to the God who "dwellest in the heavens," finds its ultimate fulfillment and deepest meaning in Jesus Christ. While the psalmist looked to a transcendent God for help amidst earthly scorn, believers now lift their eyes to the ascended Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places. Jesus Himself, during His earthly ministry, consistently modeled this posture of dependence, frequently withdrawing to pray and lift His eyes to His Father in heaven (e.g., John 17:1). His ascension to heaven, described in Acts 1:9-11, signifies His supreme authority and His role as our great High Priest, interceding for us before the Father (e.g., Hebrews 7:25). Thus, when we, like the psalmist, "lift up mine eyes," we are not merely looking to a distant deity, but to the living Lord Jesus, who embodies God's mercy and power, and through whom we have direct access to the One who dwells in the heavens (e.g., Ephesians 2:18). He is the ultimate source of our help, the one who truly takes away the sin of the world and offers eternal deliverance (e.g., John 1:29), and to Him we direct our gaze in faith and hope.