Psalm 123

Read Psalm 123

“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” The Old Testament people of God needed to keep their eyes focused upon the Lord as they traveled toward the place of holy assembly in Jerusalem. They needed to remember that their God was not merely a local deity like the gods of the nations. He was “enthroned in the heavens.”

The Almighty One of Israel was not only the Redeemer of His people, He was also their Master. Were they ready to attend to His Word as “the eyes of servants look to the hand” of a superior? The followers of the great I-Am needed to trust that it was God's intention to seek their good. They could obey Him with confidence knowing that He would have mercy upon them.

The Lord's pilgrims could not trust in the compassion of those who were “at ease” in their communities. The local rulers of the Gentiles were not looking out for the good of the followers of Yahweh. The dispersed people of the Almighty were well aware of “the contempt of the proud.”

Many followers of the Lord assumed that with the arrival of the Messiah their enemies would be immediately subdued. This was not the case. Our King Himself faced the hatred of religious and civil leaders, even dying at the hands of powerful authorities who showed Him great disrespect. During the course of the centuries that followed His cross, the prophetic warnings of Jesus to His church have been fulfilled, “They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.” (Matthew 24:9)

How are we to respond to the contempt of the proud today? We need to lift up our eyes to Jesus, resolve again to follow His Word, and look for the fulfillment of all His sure promises to us.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

O God, we look to You. We need You day by day. There is no other place that we can go to for the mercy that we need. We need relief, O Lord. A proud foe is hard against us. We resist the devil and look to You for deliverance.