Psalm123 is another pilgrim psalm. Like all the pilgrim psalms, it was suitable foruse by the Jews as they ascended Jerusalem for their annual feasts. But it isespecially fitting for Christians to use as we continue on in our journeytowards the Celestial City.

TheChristian life is like the journey of the Jewish pilgrims as they ascendedJerusalem. It is an upward journey. Hope increases as we near our destination,but at the same time, there can be much weariness and discouragement along theway.

Partof these discouragements will come from those who observe us in our journeyingwith skepticism and contempt.

Judereminds us that there will be “mockers in the last time, who should walk aftertheir own ungodly lusts” (Jude 18). Peter reminds us of the same: “there shallcome in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying,Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Pet 3:3-4).

Whoare these scoffers and mockers? I think if you read the book of Jude, you willrealise that he is not referring so much to unbelievers outside the church, butactually to professing Christians. “For there are certain men crept inunawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men,turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness…” says Jude (v. 4).

Thisis not a popular subject to talk about. Anyone who highlights them is going tobe isolated and regarded as bigoted and judgmental. But it is a biblical factthat this will be so. There is a narrow way also known as the Old Paths thatleads to life. There is a broad way that leads to damnation. And as the Lordputs it through Jeremiah, there will be false teachers who want a more relaxedand easy walk. “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my peopleslightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer 6:14).

The saints of the Lord who are seeking to walk in thatold path and the narrow way will find themselves increasingly viewed with disdainas our Lord was viewed with contempt. Thank God therefore for this psalm whichno doubt would have afforded our Lord encouragement as He journeyed on to theCross.

Wemay entitle this psalm “The Lord’s pilgrim looking upwards in the midst ofcontempt.”

Ithas two main parts. The first part, verses 1-2, is an expression of dependenceand anticipation upon the Lord. The second part, verses 3-4, is a plea for theLord’s mercy.

1.An Expression of Dependence & Anticipation

The pilgrim journey, as we mentioned,can be hard. It can be hard not because the way of the Lord is hard. No,no; as the apostle John puts it: “this is the love of God, that we keep hiscommandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 Jn 5:3). So, no, forthe true child of God, the way is difficult not because of the Law of God or ofany biblical requirements.

No, no; the way is difficult, rather because of fellowtravelers. They may or may not all be walking on the same road, but they sharethe same living space. And so they can often hurt one another with their wordsand actions. Nothing in this world can hurt a human being more than a fellowhuman being.

Whatshall the children of God do when they feel themselves hurt and grieved intheir heart?

Theycan only look to the LORD. No one, but the LORD can fully understand. Thus ourpsalms begin:

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

The LORD is in heaven. He knows all things and He isabove all things. And yet, He is also immanent in His Son and thereforeunderstands all our sorrows. Therefore, we can always have the confidence thatHe understands and that He is able to comfort us in all our trials.

For this reason, in times of grief for the sake of theGospel we need not hang down our head and cast our eyes on the ground. Rather,we may lift up our heads and look to Him.

We may look to the Father as servants who love theirmaster and are dependant upon their master. We must look to Him with eyes ofanticipation, waiting upon Him for his mercy and demonstration of love.

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

Servants who revere their master will look withattentive eyes unto their master. Maidens who love their mistress will lookconstantly upon their mistress. And so we must look to the Lord whom we love.Why do we look to the Lord? The servant and the maiden look to their master andmistress not only for direction and instruction but for comfort and redress.

Yes, when a servant trusts his master and he feelsthat he is being unfairly treated or unfairly criticised, where does he turn tofor vindication and solace? Especially when he knows he is being misunderstoodbecause he is doing what pleases the master, he will no doubt turn to hismaster. He will look to his master and wait upon him to deal fairly andmercifully, or even to dismiss the charges and to right the wrong.

So it will be with us. We have One to turn to when weare mocked or misunderstood because we desire to please our Lord. We do nothave to fight for our own name. We can and must look unto our heavenly Father:Let, therefore, “our eyes wait upon theLORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.”

But let us not remain silent when we look to Him. Theservants and maidens may not be able to cry unto their master or mistressespecially in public. But we have a heavenly Father who hears the petitions ofour heart. We can plead with Him at all times. So let us plead with Him as weare taught to do in the second part of this psalm.

2. A Plea for Mercy

³ Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: forwe are exceedingly filled with contempt. ⁴ Our soul is exceedinglyfilled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt ofthe proud.

Itis said that “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurtme.” I am not sure who invented this proverb. But one thing I know: It is nottrue. I don’t know anyone who really thinks that it is true. In fact, I thinkthat words can often hurt much more than sticks and stones.

Now,our bones are broken, we can go see a doctor. But where do we go to if ourheart is broken because of contempt, scorning and ridicule?

Ridicule,scorning or contempt can hurt the most. They can hurt regardless of whether thespeakers intend for them to be meant as constructive criticisms or as mockery.

Why should it hurt if what is said is true andconstructive? Well, it will hurt though what is said is true for variousreasons. It will hurt because it is always painful to have our pride  humbled. This is actually good for us. But itcan also hurt though what is spoken is true because we are made to realise howwe have failed the Lord. Disappointment with oneself can be extremely painful.

What can we do if we are criticised for our failures,and the criticism is true? Where can we get encouragement? We can and must goto the Lord to find encouragement in Him. We can and must go to the Lord toseek His forgiveness and ask for His grace to apologise for our failures, andto do better next time.

But what if the criticisms were malicious andcontemptuous? Well, such criticisms will hurt greatly too especially when theychallenge our integrity unjustly. What do we do when our integrity ischallenged? We know that we can’t defend ourselves, because once our integrityis questioned we can no longer speak with moral authority about ourselves—regardlessof whether what is said is true or false. And you can’t turn to your friendstoo for if your friends do not take the initiative to defend you, then it maybe that your friends think that the attack is to some degree justified. What doyou do in such a case?

Well, if you think about it, you will realise that you have no one toturn to, but to the Lord.

Andso it will be the case with the church too. We have no one to turn to when weare maligned or when the world pours scorn and contempt against us. We can’tdefend ourselves. How could we defend ourselves if contempt is poured upon usbecause we are serving the Lord whom the world does not believe nor submit to?How do we vindicate ourselves against people who do not believe in the authorityof the Lord our God?

Likethe Lord Jesus, the church would do well to turn our eyes unto the Father thanto try to find help and relief from man. Like the psalmist we must learn to cryin union with our Saviour:

³ Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: forwe are exceedingly filled with contempt. ⁴ Our soul is exceedinglyfilled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt ofthe proud.

Whatevermay be the reason for our suffering in the hands of the world, the Lord is incontrol and the Lord alone can alleviate our pains. Therefore we must learn tocry out to Him for mercy.

Moreover,our Lord who searches our hearts knows the depth of our heart even though manmay not see it or may misunderstand us.

Andthe Lord can see the heart of those who pour contempt upon us. He alone candeal with them with perfect justice. He alone can vindicate us. Vengeancebelongs to Him. In Him we must rest. In Him we must put our trust. In Him wemust put our hope.

Conclusion

This, beloved brethren and children, is why the Lord gave us Psalm 123.He wants us to know that He understands. And He has given us word by which wemay express our hope and anticipation and desire of mercy in Him. We do notneed to wait in silence. We can wait with our heart filled with song. May theLord help us. Amen. Ω