A psalm of praise and pain and hope. A prayer we can pray, too

By Dean Collins

There are just four verses in the fourth psalm of ascent, yet these verses give us a beautiful and powerful prayer we can pray, too. In some psalms, the author begins by pouring out his complaint before God. The pain, the need, and the grief are so strong, the psalmist begins without restraint. Psalm 13 is a good example: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” And even though the psalmist begins in agony, he ends the psalm with songs of praise to God for his bountiful answer.

Looking to Heaven

Here in Psalm 123, we see the opposite. The psalmist opens with eyes lifted to the God who is enthroned in the heavens, indicating full confidence that God would meet every need. In the first psalm of ascent we see the psalmist looking up toward the hills; this time the eyes look toward Heaven. Many scholars believe this psalm was written after the exile as God’s beloved looked past the destruction of the city and the temple and straight to the God who is above all, the only one who could bring restoration of all that was destroyed.

Twice the psalmist asks the Lord to have mercy on us. It is also interesting to note that the psalm begins with an individual declaration, “To you I lift up my eyes,” but in the next verse the psalmist indicates he is praying on behalf of the community in need: “So our eyes look to the Lord our God.” The pilgrimage to Jerusalem was done together and not alone. This is a good reminder to us that our pilgrimage is not to be a Lone Ranger ride but one that we do together as we extend God’s kingdom to those around us. It is also a reminder that even on the days our hearts our full, we very well have brothers and sisters around us who are operating in a deficit.

Dealing with pain

This psalm ends with the expression of pain. “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, the contempt of the proud.” And there are days when we certainly feel we have had more than our share of trouble and pain at the hands of those who look down on us and treat us with indignity.

Sometimes it may appear that leaders don’t respect or care about our needs. Other times I suspect we think it is our politicians or government authorities. Sometimes it may well be nonbelievers who scorn those of us who profess faith. And our ancestors of faith knew well the struggle of trying to live as people of faith in Babylon. And even in those situations, the saints of old were called to work for the welfare of the cities where they lived under foreign authority.

Ultimately, this is a psalm that expresses praise to God and acknowledges confidently that God will indeed meet every need.

Father, today we lift our eyes up to you. We lift our eyes together, knowing that you are enough not only for our individual needs but for all of humanity. We praise your name. We ask that you show us mercy in our time of grief and suffering regardless of its source. We know you will meet us today and provide the hope and the help we need to live the life of community you have called us to. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭123‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
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