Psalm 123

Bible Reading - Psalm 123

Psalm 123 is a psalm of waiting on the Lord, waiting on His mercy and deliverance. This song envisions a scenario in which the pilgrim worshippers are enduring the scorn and contempt of the proud, those who are at ease. Whether these references are meant towards the unfaithful in Israel itself or the unbelieving Gentiles is unclear, but throughout history God’s people have, more often than not, been objects of ridicule and scorn from those in power.

This psalm is simultaneously a plea for God’s mercy to be demonstrated towards His people and a confident declaration of faith that it will. The psalmist writes in verse 2 “so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy on us” (emphasis mine). There is no question as to whether or not God is going to show mercy on His people; it is only a matter of time!

This is a great comfort and joy to all God’s people who feel the weight of injustice, oppression, ridicule and scorn against them. We can and should cry out to God for His mercy and vindication to be poured out on us as we face the opposition of the world, but as we do so we must do it with absolute confidence that He will indeed do it!

We may not be able to see the mercy of our Lord coming, and our circumstances may tempt us to believe that it won’t ever come, but the nature of faith is to believe that God will come through in spite of the supposed evidence to the contrary which surrounds us. We can have hope that God’s mercy will come, that in the end He will vindicate His people and deliver them from oppression and scorn forever!

Until that day, we wait with confident faith.

ON THE COUCH WITH GOD

What does it mean to “wait for the Lord”? How can God use seasons of waiting on Him to grow and deepen our faith?