Psalm 123

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.
Psalm 123

We usually think of mercy only in terms of what God shows us when we sin. His mercy, in those moments, is defined as “not getting what we deserve.” This definition accurately summarizes what it means for God to have mercy on us in our sinfulness, but it does not exhaust the Biblical conception of the mercy of God.

The psalm from last Sunday is a cry for mercy, but it has nothing to do with our sinfulness. Instead, it is plea that God would have mercy on people who are suffering the contempt and scorn of the proud. In this context, mercy is better defined as “relieve my suffering,” or “give me fair treatment.” This prayer springs from the heart of the down-trodden, who are subjected to hostile treatment from “those who are at ease”—wealthy and powerful people who persecute the people of God. God’s people cry, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord,” longing that God would show up and deliver them from this contemptuous cruelty.

Most of us won’t immediately identify with this psalm, and the dozens of others that express a similar prayer. We might experience the scorn of the proud from time to time, but it isn’t our ordinary experience. But whenever we are confronted with a psalm that doesn’t immediately apply to us, we should ask, “About whom should I pray this?”

There are, after all, Christians all over the world suffering the scorn of the proud. From those in Nigeria to those in North Korea, from China to the Middle East or India, we have brothers and sisters suffering under the oppression of hostile tribes and governments. For them, we can cry out to God for mercy, for alleviation of suffering and for fair treatment, looking to God as his eager servants. He is enthroned upon the heavens, yet he hears the prayer of his people, so let us plead for his mercy for these brothers and sisters!

Steven+