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Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God
A Song of Ascents.
123 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
(ESV)
Psalm 123 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
What do we do when there is no move from God?
Our God is a useful God. He provides us with an abundance of blessings. But, His usefulness to us is not our primary means of relationship with Him. God’s presence does not change based on our suffering. He is present in prosperity and He is present in suffering. We can’t assume that He’s only present when He’s useful because many times, His glory and His love and His closeness are amplified in times of suffering.
Daniel Henderson sums up beautifully what it means to seek God even when we see no move from Him.
“Worship-based prayer seeks the face of God before the hand of God. God’s face is the essence of who He is. God’s hand is the blessing of what He does. God’s face represents His person and presence. God’s hand expresses His provision for needs in our lives. I have learned that if all we ever do is seek God’s hand, we may miss His face; but if we seek His face, He will be glad to open His hand and satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.”
Daniel Henderson, Transforming Prayer
Like a servant’s eyes on his master’s hand, like a servant girl’s eyes on her mistress’s hand, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us favor.
Psalms 123:2 HCSB
Our eyes must remain on the Lord until He shows us favor. That favor may not come exactly as we thought, but it will come in His timing. Seek His face, and wait on His hand.