Psalm 123
I raise my eyes to you, * who are enthroned in heaven.
Yes, like the eyes of slaves * on the hand of their master,
like the eyes of a maid * on the hand of her mistress,so our eyes * are on Yahweh our God, * till he have mercy on us. Have mercy on us, Yahweh; * have mercy on us, Master;
we have suffered too much contempt. * Too long has our throat been stuffed
with the scorn of the complacent, * with the contempt of the arrogant.
A gradual canticle.
123:0 This is Psalm 123 in the whole Psalter, the 23rd of the third part, and the fourth of the Gradual Psalms. The first of these (120) was a cry for deliverance from present misery, the second (121) expressed hope of deliverance, the third (122) expressed joy at the termination of misery and tribulation. The present Psalm continues to beg for deliverance from evil and present worries. The title has been explained in Psalm 120.
The Psalm has two parts: (1) The first shows the vehemence of his desire; (2) the second expresses his petition: "Have mercy on us". The vehemence of his desire is shown from (1) the rightness of his intention, (2) his continued concern to look: "Yes, like the eyes".
1. To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven.
I raise my eyes to you, who are enthroned in heaven.123:1.1 The idea is: I am happy for nearing the end of my struggle and for moving up further. This I say to you who are enthroned in heaven, (1) the material heaven which is a greater manifestation of you —Is 66:1 Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool. —Ps 115:24 The high heavens belong to Yahweh, but he has entrusted the earth to men. (2) the spiritual heaven, which are (a) the angels who enjoy God —Jer 23:24 Do I not fill heaven, angelic creatures, and earth, the lower world? (b) holy men, in whom you dwell by love. —Ps 11:5 Yahweh's throne is in heaven. For the soul of the just man is a seat of wisdom —Wis 7:27 She passes into holy souls. —Mt 6:9 Our Father, who are in heaven.
I raise my eyes, my whole interior intention, to you, not for earthly riches, which cannot be possessed —Prov 23:5 Do not raise your eyes to wealth which you cannot possess (Vul). —Prov 17:24 The eyes of the full are on the ends of the earth. But —Qoheleth 2:14 The eyes of the wise man are in his head. As for heaven —Dan 4:31 I raised my eyes to heaven, and my reason was restored to me.
Our eyes are to be lifted to him (1) as a mirror, so that we can more certainly know our filth —Wis 7:26 She is a reflection of the eternal light, a spotless mirror. (2) as a book, in which we read how to wash away our filth. This book has writing on the inside, which is the divinity, for angels to read, and on the outside, which is the humanity, for men to read. (Ez 2:10). (3) as an exemplar, where we see what we must do after our cleansing —Ex 25:40 And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. (4) as a helper in all these things, so that we attribute everything to him —Acts 7:55 Stephen looked to the sky above and saw Jesus standing. (5) as our goal and our love, so that we may cleave to him. For where there is love, there is the eye —Mt 6:21 Where your treasure is, there will your heart be.
2. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.
Yes, like the eyes of slaves on the hand of their master, like the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on Yahweh our God, till he have mercy on us.123:1.2 Here he shows the vehemence of his desire from his continuous, eager looking, and he gives two examples: (1) that of a servant looking to his master to be spared a beating, (2) that of a maid looking for a reward from her mistress for her service: "like the eyes of a maid". The idea is: I lifted my eyes, directing my attention to you intensely, because as the eyes of slaves are on the hand of their master to avoid punishment, and the eyes of a maid are humbly on the hand of her mistress to get payment for her labor, so our interior eyes are on Yahweh our God, till he have mercy on us.
Observe that a man can be a slave according to his body, and a maid according to his soul —Wis 9:4—5 Do not reject me from among your servants, for I am your servant, with regard to my bodily misery. —Prov 31:15 She gave food to her household, the angels, and their dues to her maids, holy souls. The hand of God is his power —2 Sam 24:14 Let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, for his mercy is great, but let me not fall into the hand of man. —1 Chron 29:12 You rule over everything. In your hand are power and might. Your hand makes great and gives power to all. Our interior eye is our intention and will, and can be either right or left. —Mt 6:22 If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. These eyes absolutely must be directed to God —Ps 25:15 My eyes are always toward Yahweh, for he will release my feet from the net. —2 Chron 20:12 We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
And that, till he have mercy on us. It is not that after he shows mercy we no longer lift our eyes to him, but the verse is like Ps 110:1 Sit at my right, until I make your enemies your footstool. The word "until" can sometimes be (1) exclusive, as John 21:22 if I want him to remain until I come, because when I come I do not want him to remain as he is. Or it can be (2) inclusive, as "He was impenitent until he came to die", which does not mean that he repented while dying. This can apply to the present verse. Or it can mean "in order that", especially in this verse, with the idea: Our eyes are on Yahweh our God in order that he have mercy on us. That is why our eyes must be raised, in expectation of his mercy. —Joel 1:20 Even wild beasts cry to you, because the water holes are dried up. —Sir 35:24 Welcome is his mercy in time of distress, as rain clouds in time of drought.
3. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are greatly filled with contempt. 4. For our soul is greatly filled: we are a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud.
Have mercy on us, Yahweh; have mercy on us, Master; we have suffered too much contempt. Too long has our throat been stuffed with the scorn of the complacent, with the contempt of the arrogant.123:2 After showing the vehemence of his desire, he adds a petition stemming from this desire, stating (1) the petition, (2) its necessity: "we have suffered too much". The idea is: I lifted my eyes to you, saying Have mercy on us, removing our bodily miseries, have mercy on us, annulling the miseries of our soul. —Sir 36:1 Come to our aid, O God of the universe. —Is 33:2 Yahweh, have mercy. We wait for you. —Is 30:19 He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.
Then comes the necessity of the petition, (1) on the part of the miseries, (2) on the part of those inflicting these miseries: "with the scorn". In the first, he touches on (1) the miseries in general, (2) especially those of the soul: "Too long has our throat". The idea is: Have mercy! I need to cry, because we have suffered too much contempt for our many great miseries. —Neh 4:4 (Vul) Hear us, our God, because we have become a disgrace. —Job 12:21 He pours contempt on princes, on the saints and just. But that only crowns their merits —Is 60:15 because you were forsaken and hated. We are truly full of all contempt. —Bernard: We are conceived in filth, develop in menstrual blood, delivered in pain, before coming out we burden our miserable mothers, while coming out we wound her like a viper, and it is a wonder that we ourselves are not wounded. We are often born leprous, blind, dumb, mutilated, deformed, monstrous. A mother conceives in uncleanliness and smell, gives birth with sadness and pain, nurses with anxiety and labor, and guards the child with worry and fear. The entry into this life is miserable, its progress is culpable, its exit is damnable.
Too long has our throat been stuffed: I cry because we have suffered too much contempt, but not only our body, but our soul too is full of misery. —Lam 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness. —Ps 88:3 My soul is full of troubles.
Then comes the second reason for the petition, which is on the part of those inflicting these miseries. The idea is: My soul is full of miseries, having become the scorn of the complacent, who are the rich of this world, and the object of contempt for the arrogant. —Job 12:4 The just, the perfect man is a laughing stock. He is a lamp of contempt in the thought of the comfortable. —Prov 19:27 He whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. —1 Cor 4:13 We have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things. Michal despised the humble David (2 Sam 6:16), and Herod despised Christ. But their contempt turned back on their heads. —Is 33:1 When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously. —Neh 4:4 (Vul) Hear, our God, because we have become a disgrace. Turn their contempt on their heads.