Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word
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⚙ Annotations & References ▾
Themes 2 ▾
Prayer 1 Heaven 1
Historic voices 4 ▾
City of God 1× 2 John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible 1× 1-4 Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament 1× 1, 3 Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary 1× 1
Manuscript witnesses 5 ▾
Codex Sinaiticus Aleph c. AD 330-360 Codex Vaticanus B c. AD 300-325 Codex Alexandrinus A c. AD 400-440 Aleppo Codex (Crown of Aleppo) c. AD 930 Leningrad Codex (Codex Leningradensis) AD 1008
Cross-references 47 ▾
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What is Psalms 123 about?

Standing now within the city yet still despised by the nations, the pilgrims lift their eyes higher still — to the LORD enthroned in the heavens. As the eyes of servants look to their master's hand, so their eyes wait on the LORD until He has mercy, for they are filled to the full with the contempt of the proud and the scorn of those at ease. The brief prayer asks simply, "Have mercy upon us, O LORD." Dependence like a servant's marks the posture of faith while God's people bear the world's derision.

Historical backdrop

These are the songbook of a nation, sung across a thousand years of Israel's worship, from Moses in the wilderness to the exiles returned from Babylon. They were carried from the tabernacle to Solomon's temple to the second temple rebuilt under Persia, set to the lyre and the harp and the clash of cymbals in the courts of the LORD.

Matthew Henry on Psalms 123
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Psalms 123
The Church Fathers on Psalms 123
Cited by the confessions

Psalms 123

Psalms Chapter 123
123
1Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that sittest in the heavens.
2Behold, as the eyes of servantslook unto the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyeslook unto Jehovah our God, Until he have mercy upon us.
3Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us; For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scoffing of those that are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.
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What is Psalms 123 about?

Standing now within the city yet still despised by the nations, the pilgrims lift their eyes higher still — to the LORD enthroned in the heavens. As the eyes of servants look to their master's hand, so their eyes wait on the LORD until He has mercy, for they are filled to the full with the contempt of the proud and the scorn of those at ease. The brief prayer asks simply, "Have mercy upon us, O LORD." Dependence like a servant's marks the posture of faith while God's people bear the world's derision.