This is another song of the pil­grims as they ascended to Jerusa­lem for worship. Each of these psalms reminds us that we too are pilgrims, that ‘this world is not our home’. We too are marching to­ward Zion. We too, like the psalm­ist, may also experience the pain of this world’s contempt. The psalmist (whoever he was) tells us, ‘We have more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud’ (3-4).

We don’t know the historical background. Many of the com­mentators place the psalm after the exile in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, when Sanballat the Samaritan and his mates made the rebuilding of the temple very difficult. Whether this is the setting or not we don’t know; but it doesn’t really matter. Being undated em­phasises the psalm’s timeless­ness. There are always saints in trouble — who are persecuted for righteousness sake — who will certainly value a psalm like this. You may be in trouble yourself — you may know something of the scorn and contempt of the world — or one day you will. This is a psalm for such a time.

The Christian life is not about health and wealth and happiness — as some would have us believe. No. There are times of loneliness and sickness and difficulty and discouragement and persecution and bereavement. What can we sing at such times? Carl Trueman replies, ‘In the Psalms God has given the church a language which allows it to express even the deepest agonies of the hu­man soul in the context of wor­ship’. This is a song that ‘miserable Christians’ can sing.

Let’s see what this man did dur­ing his time of misery. He didn’t become resentful or withdrawn. Neither did he focus on his trouble — and become a hypochondriac. Rather he lifted his eyes to God. Note:

1. The Exercise of Faith (verse 1)⤒🔗

He begins, not by saying what his trouble is: indeed, he doesn’t mention it until his song is almost over. He begins by looking to God. ‘To you I will lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens’! (ESV). He looks up with faith and confidence to God. It’s something we can all do.

No matter what our trouble or trials are we can always look up to the Lord. When we are on the flat of our back on a bed of sickness — we can still look up. We can look up at any time — day or night. We can look up in any and every cir­cumstance. Cf. Isa. 40:26 and Heb. 12:2.

• It was an exclusive look — ‘To  you I lift up my eyes.’ Where else can we look? ‘Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth’ (Ps. 124:8). ‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’ (Jn. 6:67-69).
   
• It was a personal look — ‘To you I lift up my eyes.’ The psalm begins in the singular in verse 1, but changes to the third person ‘our’ for the rest of the psalm (2­-4). He speaks first for himself; and then for others. ‘He sets the pitch by his own faith and example.’
   
• It was a continual look — not a mere glance — but a steady re­flective gaze — filled with longing and desire. (‘I lift’ is a Hebrew perfect, i.e. ‘I stand with eyes lifted.’) He looked and kept on looking to God for help. It was his spiritual reflex; his fixed atti­tude. He says in the next verse, ‘our eyes look to the Lord our God till he has mercy upon us.’ G. Scroggie states, ‘Let us see to it that our devotion is not a vapour of good inten­tion.’
   
• It was a confident look — though he couldn’t see God he looked up with the eye of faith. God is the God of might. He is the One who is ‘enthroned in the heaven.’ There is nothing too hard for the Lord (Gen. 18:14). He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20). His sovereignty knows no limitation. Scroggie aptly remarks, ‘If we see our God through our enemies, we’ll have a little God; but if we see our enemies through Him, they will be as grasshop­pers. Read the story of the twelve spies’ (Numbers 13-14).
   
• It was a reverent look — he ad­dressed the LORD as the One who ‘is enthroned in the heavens.’ We also read in Ps. 11:4, ‘The LORD is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.’ Jesus taught his disciples to pray saying, ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ The Catechism tells us that because God is our Father in heaven we should draw near to Him, ‘with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father.’ When we come to pray there can be no room for flip­pancy or disrespect.

2. The Examples of Faith (verse 2)←⤒🔗

‘Behold, as the eyes of ser­vants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid­servant to the hand of her mis­tress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God.’ It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Here we have two pic­tures — worth at least 2,000 words! The psalmist was a master illus­trator. It’s a beautiful picture of what faith is.

It illustrates the relationship be­tween the Lord and His people. It’s not one of equals. It’s a master-servant relationship. He is the Creator; we are the creatures. He is the potter; we are the clay. It illustrates the characteristics required of a servant (because that is what we are — domestic servants). It is required of a ser­vant that we be obedient; submis­sive; humble; eager; dependant and expectant.

The illustration is also wonder­fully comprehensive — women are mentioned as well as men. The individual is mentioned as well as the company. All who look to the Lord are His servants.

The illustration focuses on the contact between the eye of the servant and the hand of the master. What is significant about the hand? The hand is very ex­pressive. It can call, threaten, accuse, command, encourage, give, defy, exclaim and much more. In Eastern countries ser­vants had to watch their Master’s hand to know what to do, when to do it, and where to go. The psalmist too watches the hand of God to know how to respond to His will. The context would sug­gest he was waiting — not for a command — but for assistance; not for an order, but for mercy. He is the Lord who is able to help us in time of need. The hand of the LORD is strong, caring, kind and protective.

3. The Endurance of Faith (verses 2c-3)←⤒🔗

‘Our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us.’ This is persevering faith. He was deter­mined not to give up until mercy came down. It’s a lesson for us. As long as we continue living, we must continue praying. Prayer is not for the casual or the careless, but for the committed. Jesus en­courages us to, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you’ (Luke 11:9). Re­member the example of the per­sistent widow (Luke 18:1-7). Paul exhorts us; ‘continue stead­fastly in prayer’ (Col. 4:2).

4. The Enemies of Faith (verse 4)←⤒🔗

‘For we have had our fill of con­tempt. We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant’ (NLT). Mockery and ridicule is surely one of Satan’s most effective weapons. Sticks and stones may break my bones; but the words of the proud can really hurt. They are hard to en­dure. All the saints of God through the ages have experi­enced scorn and ridicule. I’m sure Noah got his share of it as he conscientiously built the ark.

Abraham must have been scoffed at as he set out for an unknown destination. David was surrounded by enemies whose tongues were as sharp as a serpent. The prophets knew all about it. Hezekiah ex­perienced it (Isa. 37:14-20). The exiles were mocked and taunted in Babylon — e.g. ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion’ (Psalm 137:3). Nehe­miah was mocked and scorned (Neh. 2:19-20 and 4:1-3). And, of course, our Saviour en­dured much hostility from sin­ners against himself. He was mocked, scorned, vilified and ridiculed — especially on the cross.

It seems nowadays that there is no better or easier target for the mocker than the Bible be­lieving Christian. Moslems or Jews must not be offended. But Christians are apparently fair game. Among other things we are called: ‘narrow minded: fundamentalists: Bible bash­ers: homophobic: loveless: judgemental: bigoted: hypo­crites; holier than thou.’ We are often accused of believing in myths and fairy tales. We believe in a man who was God. We believe in the physi­cal resurrection. We believe in heaven and hell. We be­lieve in the personal return of the Lord Jesus. These pre­cious doctrines are held up to ridicule. Besides; being mem­bers of a small denomination invites its own jibes: ‘we haven’t caught up with the times.’ ‘We are stuck in the past.’ ‘We are a dying breed.’ ‘We think we’re better than the ordinary Presby­terians!’ etc. It hurts. Psalm 123 comforts us. Alex Motyer comments, ‘The scornful still scorn, the mocker mocks, the intellectual snobs dismiss, and the self confident go their self satisfied way.’ C’est la vie!

5. The Enigma of Faith (verse 5)←⤒🔗

But there is no verse 5! That’s the point. The psalm doesn’t end the way we would like it. We might like to add a verse — to ensure a happy and successful ending. There’s no punishment for the proud. There’s no equivalent of Ps. 120:3-4. We’re left ‘up in the air’. But this is how it often is. Life is not fair. ‘The proud’ and ‘those at ease’ often seem to prosper. What are we to do? (Psalm 73 helps give us perspective.) Meanwhile, the psalmist prayed for mercy. Did he receive it? We believe he did, but we don’t know exactly how. Sometimes mercy comes when the Lord removes the problem from us: or it comes when he gives us strength to endure the problem; or it comes when he changes the heart of our enemies; or it may come in some other way. We, however, can be assured that the Lord has been (and is) merciful to us in Christ Jesus. We read about Jesus that: ‘He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might be­come a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people’ (Heb. 2:17).

Meanwhile we continue to lift up our eyes steadily to the LORD who is enthroned in the heavens.

Prayer: O gracious Father, the only refuge and support of the afflicted poor, You see the rage of our enemies who use all means to destroy us; You know how we are disdained and lightly esteemed by the proud and mighty of the world. Therefore, having this only remedy, we lift up our eyes to You, beseeching You to have pity and compas­sion on us, and that for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen. Adapted from the 1595 Scottish Psalter