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Illustration for Psalm 123: Eyes on the LORD

Psalm 123

Eyes on the LORD

Wisdom

Like a servant watching their master's hand for any signal, or a maid watching her mistress, the writer keeps their eyes fixed on God waiting for His mercy. They have been mocked and treated with contempt, but they keep looking to God.

  1. 1I lift my eyes to You, to You who are enthroned in heaven.
  2. 2As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.
  3. 3Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
  4. 4We have endured much ridicule from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

What it means

The picture here is a servant watching their master's hands, waiting for the smallest signal. It is what waiting on God actually looks like: paying close attention, ready to move. These people had been laughed at, and they kept their eyes up anyway.

A little prayer

God, I lift my eyes to You and I am watching and waiting. When people laugh at me, help me keep looking to You instead of looking down. Please be kind to me. Amen.

Memory verse

“As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.”

Psalm 123:2 (BSB)

It describes attention rather than words — waiting with your eyes rather than your mouth.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. The psalm compares waiting on God to a servant watching a master's hand for a signal. How closely is that?
  2. What is the difference between watching someone and staring at them?
  3. The psalm says they have had more than enough contempt. What does being looked down on feel like?
  4. Who do you watch to know what to do?

Try this

Watch the hand

One person gives instructions using only hand signals, no words, while the others follow. Swap. Talk about how carefully you had to watch.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)