Psalm 123
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
to you enthroned in the heavens.
2 As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to you, O Lord our God, until you show us your mercy.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy,
for we have had more than enough of contempt,
4 too much of the scorn of the indolent rich,
and of the derision of the proud.
If there isn’t an old proverb to the effect, there should be: “If you’re not tripping repeatedly on your hike in a beautiful place, you aren’t doing it right.” Growing up in the Rockies of Northwest Montana, I remember being mentored as a young hiker that if you are staring at the ground the whole time, supposedly watching our footing, then we were missing the beauty of God’s creation all around.
This Psalm reminds us to lift our eyes to God enthroned in the heavens, not just when we need to, but at all times. Because even when we stumble, because we will, God’s mercy will be upon us. So, why not keep our eyes lifted to God, trust that God will not abandon us no matter how treacherous the road.
The other thing about the beginning verses of this Psalm, is the bitterness of verses 3b through 4. The sour taste of all the judgement and persecution of the unjust is being called upon to be met by God’s justice. A justice that brings mercy for the victims of such injustice, contempt, scorn and derision from the indolent rich and proud.
As we enter our second week of the third theme, “In Mission” of our fall series In Sioux Falls as in Heaven, join us in discerning how God is calling you in the mission work of God’s justice in this world.
- Pr. Kyle
God of our deepest longing, keep our eyes fixed on you as we continually and prayerfully discern how we serve your mission here in Sioux Falls, as in heaven. Amen.