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+
Song Spotlight
"Arise, Shine, for Your Light Has Come"
If you’ve ever thumbed through the Book of Common Prayer, you may have come across some songs with familiar words under a funny name. These “canticles” are songs from the Bible or from other texts written between the Old and New Testaments. They are among the oldest songs that God’s people have sung together, and they have a rich history in the musical history of Anglicanism.
On Sunday, we are going to sing a song based on one of these canticles—the 3rd Song of Isaiah (Isaiah 60). It starts with a wake up call: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of God is on you.” The light breaks through a heavy darkness that covers the whole earth. In other places, Isaiah has used “darkness” to refer to ignorance and idolatry. It ought to have been confined to the world outside Israel’s borders. The light of God’s presence, reflected by Israel’s obedience to God’s law, should have kept it at bay. It should even have penetrated it like a beacon of hope to the world. Instead, Israel welcomed the darkness into itself, and Isaiah warned that the consequence would be exile from the light of God’s presence into the darkness of the surrounding nations.
Still, God promises to right their failure and re-gather Israel’s scattered children. The restoration of Israel and the joyful submission of the nations to God will take place together. The unleashed glory of God has a gravity that will draw the exiled and their neighbors toward Zion, like water running uphill. “Arise, come to the open gates, for the Father is welcoming you.” This hope isn’t just for the ones who stuck it out in the city. It’s for the lost and wandering too. If you find yourself there, may this song turn your heart toward the Father who has already opened the door for you.
God will turn this ragged crowd into a new people. He will feed and shelter them, and he will dwell with them. In his presence even the sun won’t shine, because the Lamb will be all the light that we need (Rev. 21:23). The fact that we are here shows that he has been keeping this promise. I hope this song will help your heart long for the rest of its fulfillment!
-Justin
Psalm 92
Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
People: It is right to give him thanks and praise
This call and response that we participate in every Sunday echoes the words of Psalm 92. Fittingly, this psalm is titled “A Song for the Sabbath,” yet interestingly it entreats the hearer to give thanks and sing praises to Yahweh for the WORKS he has done. We can rest in peace on the Sabbath because he is the one whose work is complete!
At the beginning of this psalm, the Psalmist highlights two attributes of God’s character which are deserving of praise: “to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (v. 2). By declaring that he abounds in steadfast love we remind ourselves and one another that he will cling to us even when we stray away. He remains our God even when we struggle to remain his people. Similarly, by being faithful the Lord is true to us even when we fail. His works always make up for our deficits. While steadfast love and faithfulness are only a portion of the characteristics that God announced about himself to Moses in Exodus 34, they are meant to remind us of his whole gracious character. The entirety of his works should create such joy in our hearts that we cannot help but praise!
In verses 5-9, the Psalmist critiques the foolishness of rejecting the Lord’s work. All fools, evildoers, and wicked people try to take matters into their own hands for their gain. Though they may succeed for a little while, the Psalmist reminds his audience that their prosperity is nothing more than a fleeting illusion that the Lord will unravel when he sees fit. To the contrary, the best wisdom is to be planted in the praises of God. By taking root in the worship of our God, by gathering weekly to hear his Word and proclaim his praise, we are constantly fed and grown through the witness of his provision. Our faith is made strong through encountering his loving faithfulness until we are held firm and secure like flourishing trees (vv. 12-15).
The Israelites had plenty to praise God for: his creation and preservation of all things, his calling of Abraham to be a father to the nations and to bring salvation to the broken world, his love and care for Israel throughout the reign of David. We have all of this as the backdrop of our praises, but we also have the blessing of knowing the completion of God’s promise to Abraham. We see how Abraham is the father of the nations because he is the ancestor of Jesus, the one true savior who took on the sins of all the world. We see how the love that Yahweh had for Israel extends to all of humanity and that God is a God of reconciliation and redemption. This is why we boldly say “it is right to give him thanks and praise” in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. We are proclaiming Jesus Christ as the fulfilment of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, as the one who defeated the powers of sin and death and offered us new life. And as such, we come to the table to receive the body and the blood of Christ, expectantly seeking to be firmly rooted and planted in his body, the Church, that we might bear his fruit! Praise God!
-Michael and Tori Davis