Psalm 123 Devotional

Watching the Master's Hand

“As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.”Psalm 123:2 (BSB)

This short prayer looks up. The psalmist lifts his eyes to the LORD enthroned in heaven (123:1), and then pictures how. Servants watch their master's hand, and a maidservant watches her mistress's hand; in the same way, God's people keep their eyes on him until he shows mercy (123:2). A servant watching a hand waits for direction, provision, and a sign of favor. The posture is dependent and patient.

The people are worn down by contempt, having endured more than enough scorn from the arrogant and the proud (123:3-4). The psalm does not ask God to make them impressive or to silence every critic. It simply asks, twice in one breath, for mercy (123:3). Peter says that when Jesus was abused he did not retaliate, but left his case with God, the righteous judge (1 Peter 2:23). When you have absorbed more contempt than you can carry, you need not answer with scorn of your own. You can look up and keep watching for his mercy.

To think about: When others treat you with contempt, what would it look like to fix your eyes on God's hand instead of on their opinion?