Psalm 123

“Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens.” Psalm 123:1 (KNJV)

Sunday mornings can be some of the most stressful times for Christian families.  At least it is for mine.  It never ceases to amaze me how we can awaken children five days in a row throughout the week, get them dressed, fed, and safely to school on time by 8 am without a hitch.  Yet it’s like WW III to get to church by 11 am on Sunday!  There can be no excuse other than spiritual warfare.

But a few blocks away from church, you spy the steeple peering out from the neighborhood trees or city billboards, and your heart begins to soften.  You pull into the parking lot and begin to see familiar faces, and you soften a little more.  Drop off the kids and walk with friends to a life group or the sanctuary, the music starts playing, and the burdens start dropping all around you.  Transcendence.  You are becoming aware that you are in the presence of the ever-present God.

I love how the psalmist, on his ascent to meet with the Lord in His temple, acknowledges that God does not live in the temple, per se.  He dwells in the heavens.  So, no matter where you wander (or are driven), just look up.  The God Who dwells in the heavens is with you, your ever-present help in time of need. (Psalm 46:1)

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us.” Psalm 123:2 (NKJV)

Perhaps, you have heard the phrase, “beckon call”?  That phrase has been modernized from its original “beck and call.”  Of course, we all know that a call is a verbal command, but the ancient word “beck” refers to a very slight motion of the hand, almost a secret signal.  The ultimate sign of discipline and respect would be when a ruler’s servants knew him so well that even the slightest twitch of the finger could fulfill his wishes without a word.  That is how intently we should seek the Lord and His Word daily so that we could rightly discern the times in which we live and how we should serve Him at any moment, recalling His Word stored in our hearts.  We should learn to love what He loves and disdain what He hates in the moment, sensing and knowing the Spirit’s desire without having to ask.  

“Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For, we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.” Psalm 123:3-4 (NKJV)

The “beck” of the Lord could signal either blessing or rebuke.  That is the concern of the psalmist, who is among the devout remnant in Israel.  Will the Lord’s rebuke of the national downward moral trend (toward idolatry) produce collateral damage to those who have repented? God presides over and preserves His faithful children, but His desire (thus, ours should be) is for all to repent. (2 Peter 3:9)