Psa 123:2 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.

Psalm 123 is a prayer of the Psalmist to God asking for mercy. How did he pray? First, Adoration: “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens” (v.1). It reminds me of the teachings of our Lord Jesus about praying. He said the first sentence when we pray is to adore the name of God: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9). We should never dive straight to our requests when we pray but honour the One whom we are praying to. The reason being when we honour God and speak of His great work and love that He has done for mankind, we are telling the world about God. When we say, Our Father who art in heaven, we are telling the world that the God we worship is not made on earth, but is eternal in the heavenly realm. Next, Humility: “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” (v.2). He looks expectantly to God as a servant waits on his master or a female slave on her mistress. The faithful servant’s eyes are on the master, always at His service, and at His call. When we pray to God with our requests, let us not think of God as our servant who must be at our bidding at all times. The role should be the other way: We are the servants and He the Master. Only the humble prayers are heard: “LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear” (Psalm 10:17). Finally, Petition: “Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud” (v.3, 4). The psalmist is being mocked and scorned by arrogant people who have no concern for God, and so he looks to the LORD for mercy (v.4). He says those people “are at ease”. They abound in the things of this world and are carefree about the things of God. They don’t have the same kind of trouble as the saints have. They are at ease when they commit sin. Those who are rich ridicule the poor saints. The people of this world place their trust in themselves and in the material things of this world. Some will ridicule the children of God for denying themselves the pleasures of this world. Let us not be affected by their words. They will regret it when they meet God on the Day of Judgment. God comforts us: “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches…. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names……Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him… He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light” (Psalm 49:6, 11, 16, 17, 19). Their eternal destiny is a miserable one – they shall never see light. Christ says they “shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12). Therefore, brethren, let us not look into the world but lift up our eyes to the One who dwells in heaven (v.1).