Psalms · psalm 123 of 150
Updated on
Psalm 123 is a short communal prayer of the pilgrims. The psalmist lifts his eyes to the Lord, enthroned in the heavens, as a servant watches his master's hand, and asks for mercy. He explains his plea: the people are filled with the contempt and mockery of the proud and those at ease.
Psalm 123 is the fourth of the Songs of Ascents and one of the shortest, with only four verses. After the joy of Psalm 122, the tone changes to a plea: the people going up to Jerusalem are weary of being despised. The psalm begins in the singular and ends in the plural, as if a personal voice joined the prayer of the whole community.
The psalm opens with a gesture of dependence: the psalmist lifts his eyes to the Lord, who is enthroned in the heavens. He does not look to the hills or to human allies; he looks to God as king.
The second picture explains how he looks. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, and the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy on us. A servant watches for his master's signal to know what to do and from whom to receive support and protection.
In verses 3 and 4 the plea becomes explicit: have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have had more than enough of contempt. The soul of his people is filled with the scorn of those who are at ease and the contempt of the proud. The poem ends without an answer; it stays as a prayer of waiting.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The psalmist lifts his eyes to the Lord, who dwells in the heavens. In the midst of pressure, the first response is to look up, toward the King, and not toward the problems.
The people's eyes are fixed on the Lord like a servant's on his master's hand, until he shows mercy. It is a picture of dependence and attentive waiting, not of fear.
The people ask for mercy because they are weary of the contempt and scorn of the proud. The complaint is honest and specific, and it is brought to God in prayer, not in revenge.
5 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: To the Lord, who is enthroned in the heavens. — Psalm 123:1
Answer: The eyes of servants on their master's hand and the eyes of a maidservant on her mistress's hand. — Psalm 123:2
Answer: Until he has mercy on them. — Psalm 123:2
Answer: That the Lord have mercy on them. — Psalm 123:3
Answer: The scorn of those at ease and the contempt of the proud. — Psalm 123:4
Psalm 123 teaches us to pray when we are looked down on or ridiculed for our faith, our condition or our convictions. Instead of answering with bitterness, the psalmist lifts his eyes to the Lord and waits. In a small group you can ask in what situations we feel belittled, and write a short prayer of this kind.
The picture of the servant frees us from a false independence: we do not need to have everything under control, only to look to God and wait for his answer. Jesus was also despised and rejected, and he understands what we feel. Whoever looks to Christ learns to wait with confidence for the mercy God gives in his time.
Psalm 123 ends without an answer, with the people still looking to the Lord. Psalm 124 answers with gratitude: the Lord was on the people's side and rescued them from those who wanted to swallow them up.
In an ancient household, the servant watched his master's hand for a signal, a portion of food or an order. The picture expresses attention, dependence and trust that the master will provide. Here the people present themselves as servants of the Lord, whom they ask for mercy.
The psalm does not name them, so no period can be assigned with certainty. They may be neighboring peoples or powerful groups within the same society who looked down on those who depended on God. Because they are not named, the psalm fits any time of mockery or pressure.
It begins with I lift up my eyes and moves to us, have mercy on us. It shows that personal prayer joins the prayer of the community. Pilgrims sang these psalms together, and each person's faith is strengthened in the prayer of the people.