I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven. We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, for we have had our fill of contempt. We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant. Psalm 123:1-4 (New Living Translation, NLT)

Psalm 123 has just four verses, but it is rich. Let’s look at it verse-by-verse. I used the New Living Translation above, but let’s break it down in the King James Version.

1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

Lift your eyes to the Lord, who is enthroned in the heavens. His majesty and rule are over all of creation.

2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.

As a servant girl watches her mistress for direction, for the slightest signal, we are to focus on the Lord God.

3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

Cry out to the Lord for mercy, for His covenant love and compassion to work on your behalf. Regardless of what you face in life, you have to endure and look up to God. As we call on God, who is enthroned in heaven, will act on the earth for us. This makes us partners with God to bring change. He will lift us above the contempt of others when we’ve had our fill.

4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

There are times when we believe we cannot take any more from those who come against us. As we turn to God, He will strengthen us to endure and will bring vindication to us.

So, we see that as we lift our eyes to see God, we are focusing on God and not the problems. God is the problem solver. God, who is enthroned in heaven, high above everything on the earth, will act as we call out and cry out to Him. Like a dedicated servant whose eyes are continually looking to the master, our eyes look expectantly until God’s mercy is released. In response to our cries, He changes things.

In every situation, cry out to God, wait on Him, and He will turn things around for your good. Great is the Lord. Give glory to Him!