Psalms 123

Psalms 123125THEME: The pilgrims see the temple, then Mount Zion, and finally stand in the security of JerusalemThese are also a part of the pilgrim psalms and form a little cluster of three psalms that tell a story. Psalms 123 has been called “the eye of hope” because the temple comes into view, and the children of Israel turn their eyes to God in hope. The temple was a means of approach to God.

Psalms 123:1

The psalmist is making it very clear that God is not confined to the temple; He is not in a “box” in Jerusalem. The critic is wrong when he says that Israel considered Jehovah God a local deity who lived in their little temple in Jerusalem. The psalmist makes it abundantly clear that Israel did not believe any such thing. He addresses Him: “O thou that dwellest in the heavens.” The pilgrim comes within sight of the temple, but it causes him to lift his eyes to heaven, knowing that God dwelt in the heavens. The temple was only a means of approach to God.

Psalms 123:2

When you are working for someone, you watch the clock and you watch the boss. You are sure to be working when he is watching you. How many of us live as though God is looking at us all the time? Well, He is. We are always under His eye.

Psalms 123:3

The children of Israel have been despised in the world, and now they are coming to Jerusalem. They are asking for mercy, knowing they are sinners and need God’s mercy. They have not come to Jerusalem to pat themselves on the back.

Psalms 123:4

Israel has now come to Jerusalemthe eye of hope. They are looking to the One who dwells in the heavens. I wonder if we are looking in that direction today? Psalms 124 is a historical psalm. As Psalms 123 is the “eye of hope” looking to the future, so Psalms 124 is the eye of the past, reviewing the history of God’s mercy to them in the past.