Psalm 123

If you have a Bible, can you turn with me to Psalm 123? Psalm 123. I don’t know if you’re using the Bibles in the chairs. I’ve looked quickly, that’s page 596 if you’re using that one. Hopefully I got that page number correct if you’re using that Bible. And we’ll read Psalm 123.

Psalm 123, this is the word of the Lord.

A Song of Ascents.

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! 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, till he has mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had 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.

So reads the word of the Lord.

Well, I want you to imagine with me now that you have been stranded on an uninhabited island. And so you’ve been stranded on an uninhabited island and the only thing you have with you is a satellite phone and you are allowed three phone numbers, any three phone numbers. What are the three phone numbers that you would ask for? I’ll give you a second to think about that in your mind.

I’ve been thinking about it all week, so let me tell you what my three phone numbers would be. If I was stranded on an uninhabited island and I could have three phone numbers to use on my satellite phone, phone number one would be Bear Grylls’ phone number. I think he could help me a lot. So I think I would want to be talking to Bear Grylls. How do I build a shelter? What can I eat? What can I not eat? Any tips on different things? I think phone number two might be David Attenborough, for two reasons. One, it’s just a very soothing voice. I think that might be helpful to listen to. But two, he knows a lot about wildlife and he might be able to tell me what lives on that island, what I should avoid, what I can’t avoid. Phone number three, I think I would like to have the phone number of a scientist, John Lennox, Brian Cox, someone who could help me desalinate water or do something like that. But I think more important than that, I should probably have Tracy’s phone number. I’m not sure I’d get away with not having that phone number. So what phone numbers would you want if you find yourself in that kind of trouble?

So we turn to Psalm 123, we find that the psalmist is in trouble. The exact nature of the trouble is unclear. I doubt he’s stranded on an uninhabited island, but the nature of the trouble is unclear. Although there are some indicators later in the psalm, and we’ll come to those in due course. But in his trouble, the psalmist calls out to God. He doesn’t merely tell us that he calls to God in this psalm, though. He tells us both how he calls to God and why he calls to God.

And I think the entire psalm can be summarised in one sentence, one sentence that’s hopefully going to come up on the screen for us. I think this entire psalm can be summarised in this sentence: We look to the one enthroned with patient expectancy because of righteous exasperation. We look to the one enthroned with patient expectancy because of righteous exasperation.

And so our exploration of the psalm this morning will be governed by this sentence.

1 We look to the one enthroned

After the psalm’s title (the psalm has a title, A Song of Ascents, it’s part of a collection), after this title, the first words are, “To you I lift up my eyes.” This echoes Psalm 121, just a couple of psalms earlier:

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

And in Psalm 123, the lifting up of the eyes in verse 1 is singular. I lift up my eyes. But in verse 2, it’s plural. If you look at the end of verse 2, “so our eyes look.” And so what the psalmist is doing is he’s lifting his eyes to look for help, and he’s inviting his readers and hearers to lift their eyes with him. Look with me.

To whom, however, does the psalmist look? Who does he lift his eyes to? Well, he lifts his eyes to God. The second line of the psalm explains that. “O you who are enthroned in the heavens.” The Hebrew is very simple. A literal translation is “the one seated in the heavens.” But obviously, to be seated in the heavens is to be enthroned, to be lifted high. And so our English translations attempt to capture this, being enthroned in the heavens. The phrase is similar to the declaration in Psalm 2:4, which describes God as “he who sits in the heavens.” And to be seated in the heavens is to be the one who is enthroned over all. It’s the one who is enthroned over all.

And so this simple phrase in line 2, “O you who are enthroned in the heavens,” this simple phrase is asserting God’s sovereignty. God is not clambering to control all that happens. He sits in the heavens. The phrase affirms God’s power. He’s not seated in some earthly locale, hoping to influence something here and there. He is sitting in the heavenly realms. The phrase crowns God as King. He is not subservient to anyone. He rules and he reigns in his own right. The picture here is a picture of a God of authority. Authority. So much authority, in fact, that he doesn’t even need to fight to assert that authority. He simply sits and exercises his authority.

Now, we may be in danger of thinking, well, this one enthroned is some distant and disinterested deity. But far from it. Now, if we sneak back into verse 2, we see that this one enthroned is the Lord our God. Look at the end of verse 2. “So our eyes look to the Lord our God.” This is the covenant name of God. This is his personal revelation, in Hebrew, Yahweh. And what it’s telling us is that he is in intimate relationship with his people. They know him and he knows them. This name tells us that this eternal being has revealed himself to his people. He is in relationship with temporal creatures. And that’s the beauty of Hebrew poetry. In only two lines in verse 1, it’s only six words in Hebrew, the psalmist communicates all of this and more. God is the one enthroned in the heavens. God is the only one enthroned in the heavens.

I wonder how you are with decision-making. Whenever I asked you at the beginning to think about those three phone numbers that you would pick, did you just go into a blind panic, or did you know exactly what phone numbers you would pick? Some of us are really good at making decisions. Now, that doesn’t mean we make good decisions, just means we can make decisions. Give us a couple of options and we’ll pick one and go with it. Some of us are bad at making decisions. Again, that doesn’t mean we make bad decisions, but you give us two options and that’s one option too many, and we find ourselves paralysed with indecision.

I don’t know what you’re like, but the good news is that no matter what trouble we are in, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, no matter what our days and our weeks hold for us, there is only one option. We lift our eyes to the one enthroned. We look to the one enthroned. And God is not the only option, like you’re backed into a corner. He is also the best option. The psalmist’s opening lines tell us this. “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens.”

And so these opening lines, they demand at least three things of us as God’s people. First, these lines demand that we acknowledge God. We must acknowledge God. The sad reality is that many of us live our lives with little reference to God. Yes, we might be Christians. Yes, we may even be members of the church. Yes, we might serve in ministries in the church. We might even be employed in Christian ministry itself. And yet we live our lives rarely acknowledging God. Yeah, we have a brief scan of our Bibles in the morning. We have a perfunctory prayer before eating sometimes. Maybe we have a quick foray onto a Christian website or a blog post or something in the evening. But essentially we operate as if we are the ones enthroned. We make the decisions. We bear the responsibility. But we aren’t. God is the one enthroned, and it is God alone.

And so, we need to recapture this grander vision of who God is. When you find yourself in trouble, in circumstances where you don’t know where to turn, don’t look to yourself, look to the one enthroned. The reality is that he should be filling the horizon of our lives. Every day and every minute should be lived in relation to God.

But to be able to do that, the second thing is necessary. We must know God. And in the Bible, to know God is not a reference to intellectual knowledge alone. It is more frequently a reference to experiential knowledge. It isn’t about knowing about it, it’s to actually know, to be intimately acquainted with, to be in relationship with. And the use of the divine name, LORD in all capitals, Yahweh, that highlights this significance. It’s a relational knowledge. How is that possible? Well, it’s possible in Jesus. This is what the Scriptures tell us about Jesus. Colossians 1:19, for in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Philippians 2:6, he is the form of God. John 1, Jesus is the Word who was with God and was God, who became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus brings God close to us. But there’s more, because Jesus does not just bring God close to us, Jesus brings us close to God. 2 Corinthians 5:21, Jesus became sin even though he knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus brings God close to us and he brings us close to God. We can have a relationship with God. It is possible to know relationally the one enthroned, because the one enthroned became flesh and dwelt among us, to redeem us from our trouble of sin. This is gloriously good news.

And all of this means, thirdly, that we must trust God. If God would go to these lengths to help us, then we have no reason to doubt that he desires our best. And because he is the all-powerful King enthroned in the heavenly realms, sovereignly ruling over all, we know that he can deliver what he promises. So, there should be this exclusive dependence on the one enthroned. He is the one and the only and the best option for us to turn to in our circumstances. This is what James Montgomery Boice says in his commentary: “In the pilgrimage of this life, it is always to God and to God alone we go, and to whom we look for help and guidance.” That’s what the psalmist is saying. We look to the one enthroned.

But he says more. He proceeds to tell us how and why we look to the one enthroned.

2 We look with patient expectancy

How we look to God is as important as the fact that we look to God. Posture is everything. And here, the psalmist helps us with a vivid illustration. Look at verse 2 again with me.

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, till he has mercy upon us.

The three lines of this verse mirror each other. They all begin with eyes looking to or watching someone. The servant to his master, the maid to her mistress, the people of God to their God. And notice that the eyes of the servant and the maid are trained on the hand of their master or mistress. It seems that in the ancient Near East, the masters and mistresses used their hands to signal for their servants and maids to do things or to get things. So the hand is symbolic of power and action. I give you a signal and you heed it, you obey it. But it’s also symbolic of provision and protection for the servant. Because it is from the master or the mistress’s hand that sustenance comes for the servants and the maids. So not just instruction, but also provision.

Whenever I read this verse, I can’t help but think of Downton Abbey. I don’t know if we have any Downton Abbey fans here. I can’t help but think of the servants who are lining the rooms and the corridors. They’re awaiting a nod or a signal from the Earl of Grantham indicating what they do. They’re awaiting their instruction. But downstairs, the servants also look to the Earl of Grantham. They look to the Earl of Grantham for their boarding, for somewhere to sleep, for food to eat. They look for both instruction and provision. That’s the image being created by this verse.

Now, clearly, masters and servants have unequal relationships, but they do possess a relationship, a reciprocal relationship. Servants and maids look expectantly to their masters and mistresses, awaiting both instruction and benefit. And then the masters and mistresses, well, they benefit as people are obedient to them. And yet they need to give a little to keep them. And that’s how this verse ends. Just as servants and maids look to their masters and mistresses, so we look to the Lord our God till he has mercy on us. We look to him for instruction and for provision. We await benefit from the hand of our God.

And the posture of this waiting is patient expectancy. Patient expectancy. First of all, this waiting is patient. It is not eager. It is not finger tapping. It is not clock-watching. No servant or maid who wishes to keep their situation taps their watch at their master or mistress. “Here, any chance? Wrap this up, let me away.” No. And likewise, we do not look to God with folded arms, pacing back and forward, saying, “Come on, I’ve asked you nicely, can you give it to me now?” It’s not how we engage God.

But second, our patient waiting should be characterised by expectancy. The servant and the maid, they keep their eyes on their master and their mistress because they know at some point they will act. At some point they will instruct them. At some point they will call or signal. And likewise, we look to God with expectancy, expecting him to act. This verse is an edge-of-your-seat kind of verse. Like parents at a school play straining to see their child taking part, or like grandparents at a BB or GB display stretching their necks to get a glimpse of their grandchild. It’s expectancy, edge of your seat, dying to see what happens.

And perhaps I’m just speaking for myself at this point, but I’d imagine not. I think as Christians we need to learn to live more expectantly. So when you pray, do you actually expect an answer, or do you just do it because that’s what you’re supposed to do? Often we don’t expect to see an answer to our prayers. When you share the gospel with someone, do you actually expect repentance and faith? Normally, no. We’re happy if we escape the situation without any damage being done. I think Psalm 123:2 challenges our common response. We need to learn to live and to pray expectantly.

The vitally important element of this is where our eyes are focused. They must be focused on the Lord. We must look to him to instruct and to bless, for he is our master. And so we owe him our allegiance, but not only our allegiance and our obedience, but we can anticipate that he will provide for us. He will bless us. He will give to us. And yet, that expectancy must be tempered with patience. We dare not drum our fingers waiting on God to give us what we have demanded. We dare not tell him what he should do. We dare not try to force his arm. No servant strides across Downton Abbey to tell the Earl of Grantham what he must do. Nor we with God.

But because we look to the one enthroned, we look with patient expectancy. We live leaning forward, knowing that his power and his majesty is exercised for good. We live with patient expectancy that he will lead and guide and protect us. We live with confidence to press on in life with huge gospel and eternal ambitions. And we should do so because we look to the one enthroned with patient expectancy.

But the psalmist strikes one final note in this psalm.

3 Because of righteous exasperation

These final verses open with a desperate plea for God to be merciful. Look at the beginning of verse 3, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us.” This is a plea for favour, for compassion, for graciousness. The psalmist acknowledges the one enthroned, and he lives with patient expectancy, all in quiet confidence that God will be merciful to him eventually. But this is not a tranquil scene in which this plea is made. Look at verses 3 and 4.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had 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.

The psalmist desires God’s intervention because of the contempt and scorn that he’s experiencing at the hands of the proud and complacent. This is the danger that the psalmist is in, and commentators are divided on who these opponents are. Some favour the conclusion that they’re Gentiles, people from the nations who are pouring contempt and scorn on faithful Israelites as they make their pilgrimage back to Jerusalem. Others think that it’s probably faithless Israelites, so their own fellow countrymen, mocking them for doing their pilgrimage back to Jerusalem. It could be that it’s a mixture of both. I don’t know. But either way, the significant implication is that there are people causing the psalmist hardship. There are people in their prideful complacency pouring contempt and scorn on the faithful. There are people that despise God’s people.

And so, there’s a very real sense of danger in these final few verses. One commentator suggests that that makes this psalm a fitting psalm to adopt and to pray for the persecuted church. Sometimes we’re at a loss to know what to pray for the persecuted church. My recommendation is, the next time you do pray for them, pray Psalm 123.

But I think what the psalmist is suffering here in Psalm 123 is righteous exasperation. He is exasperated by the world in which he lives. He’s longing rather to be with the one enthroned, and so he’s pilgrimaging to him. He’s exasperated with what’s going on. He realises and recognises the danger.

My sister used to live in Templepatrick, and when she lived in Templepatrick, her house backed onto the railway line. I don’t know if you’ve ever lived in a house or been in a house near a railway line whenever the train passes by, but if you have, you’ll know that it feels like the whole house is going to disintegrate. The walls are going to crumble. Everything is shaking. And so my first few visits to my sister’s house whenever she moved there, every time a train would come, I would stall in my conversation. My kind of panic senses were going off. The house is going to collapse. There’s no point talking about whether I want tea or coffee. Let’s just hunker down and wait and see what happens. But if you’ve lived in a house or been there enough, you’ll realise that eventually you become acclimatised to the noise of the train. And eventually, you don’t even hear it coming. And eventually, that danger that you were hiding from, well, passes by and you haven’t even realised.

So let me ask you a question this morning. Are you exasperated with our world? Do you feel the danger of this world? Or have you become acclimatised to it? Are you exasperated with this world? If your answer is no, you are in danger. You’ve become comfortable and complacent with the arrogant. You feel at home among those who breathe contempt and scorn. Now, this might be because you’re a Christian and you’ve compromised. It might be because you’re not a Christian and you haven’t realised that the world is an exasperating place. Or at least not yet.

If your answer is yes, yes, I’m exasperated with this world, you should be encouraged. Because while it is tiresome when living righteously exasperated, such a feeling helps us remember that this world is not our home, at least not as it is presently. This hardship that we face as Christians for being faithful as Christians is not permanent. We should be exasperated with our world and with its priorities. Such a response might be the fact that we are strong Christians and how we live is at odds with the world. Equally, you might not be a Christian, but you’ve seen what the world has to offer, you’ve seen the vanity of it, and you’re exasperated that that’s your only option.

Here’s my plea. Don’t become immune to the injustice of this world. Don’t become comfortable so that you forget about the danger that’s all around you. Seek the world to come. Desire the new heavens and the new earth. Long for an era of perfect harmony. Crave the place where righteousness dwells. Seek life eternal, but you’re not gonna find it deep down inside yourself. You’re not gonna find it in some religious observance. You’re not gonna find it in some humanitarian cause. Eternal life is found in Jesus, the fullness of God, who dwelt among us and became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. And that is the answer to the psalmist’s prayer and plea in Psalm 123. Eternal life is the answer, and eternal life is found in Jesus.

One of the most famous Bible verses tells us:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The same author who wrote that summary tells us in another of his letters:

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

If you’re fed up, turn to Jesus. I’m not promising you that he’s going to remove all of the contempt and scorn that you’re facing. But he will grant you eternal life, which will bring you into relationship with the one enthroned, and that eternal life will aid you to live with patient expectancy because you’ve recognised the righteous exasperation that you’re living. We need to seek eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth with righteousness. That’s the only place where there will never be any trouble from which we need rescue. Andrew Wilson writes this: “Even when our present is bitter, and in this age it often is, our future is sweet.” And this is so because of Jesus.

So Psalm 123 can be summarised in this way with this sentence: We look to the one enthroned with patient expectancy because of righteous exasperation. The psalmist wants us to capture anew who God is in all of his majesty, how we should live in light of that, and why that brings comfort no matter our circumstances. God is enough for us, and God alone. And the only way to fully embrace this message is to fully embrace Jesus, for he is the one who endured righteous exasperation on the cross with patient expectancy to become the one enthroned in his ascension. And so because of Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, we are now enthroned with him, which enables us to live like him, even amid righteous exasperation.

Listen to how the Apostle Paul puts it, and with these verses we’ll finish. Listen carefully for the language of mercy that Paul uses here. Famous passage, Ephesians 2:4–9. The Apostle Paul writes:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Let’s pray together.

We recognise the danger of this world. We confess that we have had 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. And so we take the advice and the instruction of the psalmist. We lift our eyes to you, to you who are enthroned in the heavens. Just like servants look to their masters, just like maidservants to their mistresses, so we, your people, look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord. Have mercy upon us. Amen.