Monday, June 2, 2014

Reflections on Psalms 123

 Psalms 123(Contemporary English Version)
  1. (A song for worship.) Our LORD and our God, I turn my eyes to you, on your throne in heaven.
  2. Servants look to their master, but we will look to you, until you have mercy on us.
  3. Please have mercy, LORD! We have been insulted more than we can stand,
  4. and we can't take more abuse from those proud, conceited people.

In the singing of this psalm, the worshiper is drawn to lift his eyes heavenward looking for divine mercy and favor. Verse two depicts the worshiper as a servant with eyes on his/her master's hand looking for signs of his favor. It is an attitude of submission to the Lord's mercy rather than anger with the Lord for their plight.
As exiles in a foreign land, the psalmist and his countrymen had had more than enough of the scorn and contempt directed at them by their captors. They pleaded for God's favor that He might deliver them from this treatment.

Under such circumstances we find we have nowhere else to turn than to the Lord. Previous to their exile, the Israelites had often turned to idols and the gods of the neighboring nations. But they knew this was what sent them into exile and not by their foreign gods, but by the Lord God. It was He and no other god who was their hope.

It is our best thinking that often gets us into circumstances from which we need deliverance. And our only hope is to turn to God for deliverance.

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