Psalm 123 – Humbly Relying on God
To determine what Psalm to post this week, I decided to actually open up my NIV Study Bible and read a few until one seemed right. I settled on Psalm 123 because it fit with the ideas of humility and reliance on God that I have been pondering lately, and sometimes writing about.
Because I was reading in my Study Bible, I thought I would check out what the study notes had to say about this Psalm. I found this interesting footnote on verse 4:
the proud . . . the arrogant. Those who live by their own wits and strength . . . pour contempt on those who humbly rely on God, especially when those who rely on God suffer or do not prosper.
It seems nothing has changed in the thousands of years since this Psalm was written. The proud still ridicule the children of God for believing in Him. But our God is greater than all the arrogant people in the world put together, and His love and mercy will endure forever.
Psalm 123
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you whose throne is in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured much contempt.
4 We have endured much ridicule from the proud,
much contempt from the arrogant.
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Thank you, Linda, for looking at this Psalm . I am so weird. I remember it finally dawning on me, after believing for a little while, that others didn’t think my faith was such a great thing. I sure did! ha!
Theresa, I loved the love , mercy and understanding in your comment. Thank you, as someone who has lost loved ones.
God bless you and your Psalm Sundays!
p.s. Love that song by Chris Tomlin. Linda, if you get a chance, check out his stuff sometime. Don’t think I’ve heard a song of his I didn’t like. 🙂
Deb, I’m glad you liked this one. I haven’t known a lot of people personally who ridiculed my faith, at least not to my face. I did have a boss once who was an atheist and would always try to convince me that my faith was unfounded. Peace, Linda
When I became a Christian I suffered the barbs of ridicule and contempt from my own parents. At first, I kept my new-found faith to myself because I was afraid of their criticism, but as my love of the Lord grew, they couldn’t help but realize I was a strong Christian woman. My mother died many years ago and she never accepted my being a Christian. My father recently passed away–we had not spoken to each other in over five years.
I know all I can do is pray for their souls, and trust that God is merciful.
I had no idea this would come up while reading your post!
Thanks for your wonderful blog, Linda…and thanks for letting me comment, too 🙂
Bee well and God bless you…
Thank you, Linda
I’m so thankful that He looks out for us! I am reminded of ‘Our God’ by Chris Tomlin. The entire song speaks volumes but the vamp is a great reminder that our salvation is in Him.
“And if our God is for us then who could ever stop us,
And if our God is with us then what could stand against?
And if our God is for us then who could ever stop us,
And if our God is with us then what could stand against?
Then what could stand against?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-6YdT1DEO8&feature=related
Blessings,
ann
Ann, Thank you for sharing this beautiful song! I haven’t heard much Chris Tomlin and had not heard this song before. Peace, Linda
I just got done reading about pride at Ben’s blog (Justified Freely)!
I am glad you chose this Psalm. Sometimes the ones that ridicule us are ones we deeply love. Sometimes they are only trying to be playful, and I know that. In those cases I am not hurt just deeply concerned for them…it can be so painful to have lost loved ones.
It is true, though that there are those who ridicule just to be mean. I am so thankful the Lord is merciful. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this post.
Blessings,
Theresa
Theresa, I know what you mean about lost loved ones. I am thankful for the Lord’s mercy, too! Peace, Linda