Today’s Scripture: Psalm 123
I lift my eyes to you,
O God, enthroned in heaven.
2 We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy,
just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
for we have had our fill of contempt.
4 We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud
and the contempt of the arrogant.
Today’s Devotional
I’ve felt the need to leave I Corinthians on this Friday for some reason. We may go back to it next week, but I feel the Spirit pulling me in a different direction with these devotionals. I wonder if my mental state just cannot take Paul right now. (Haha!) Stay tuned.
Today, I wanted us to look at this very short Psalm – 123. There is a phrase in it that I think fits my mood and maybe yours as well: “we have had our fill”.
The Psalmist is talking about having his fill of the contempt of the proud and the arrogant – those who would make fun of him for his devotion to God and his way of life. But when I read it this morning I found myself saying to God that I’ve had my fill – of everything! Not just the contempt of the proud.
I’ve had my fill of this virus. I’ve had my fill of politics. I’ve had my fill of cable news. I’ve had my fill of natural disasters and climate change. I’ve had my fill of racial injustice and racial unrest. I’ve had my fill of grief. I’ve had my fill of it all.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Obviously the Psalmist felt that way. But notice that he has two answers to when we have had our fill.
First – we need to lift up our eyes and keep them on God. When we have had our fill of everything we might have the tendency to put God in with those things we’ve had enough of. This is the wrong move. Instead, we should lift our eyes up – away from what has overwhelmed us – and keep them on God. I don’t know about you but I needed to be reminded to keep my eyes on God this week.
Second, notice the Psalmist’s prayer in verse 3: Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. When we have had our fill THIS should be our simple prayer. We are reminded here that God cares about what we are going through – and God cares that we have reached our limit.
So on this day when a lot of us have had our fill – lift your eyes to the Lord and pray for the Lord’s mercy. It’s so simple – but so effective.
Today’s Prayer
God we admit to you that we have had our fill. And yet you remind us that you are here with us no matter what. Help us to keep our eyes on you this day. And have mercy on us.
Amen
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