Psalm 123

Thank you for coming to this little blog that has been sadly neglected for far too long! I brought you over here today for many reasons.

Mainly, I want to share and glorify Jesus with you. That’s always the goal of every little post I share on Jars of Joy! But, it is a very limited format. And people on social media, by and large, don’t want to spend too much time reading. A verse. A picture. And off they go! Today, I just want us to go deeper. To ponder a little longer. And to get your feedback. I’d like to write more. I’d like to offer a blog as an option to what I share on Jars of Joy. And this might be the season in my life where I have the time to do that. So, I’ll share here today, and I welcome your feedback as well, ok?

The other day, I shared verse one from Psalm 123 - a psalm of Ascent. Today, let’s look at a few more verses.  Here is the whole Psalm:

To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.

3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

Netflix has a wonderful series that I love. It’s “The Crown” and it’s all about Queen Elizabeth. One of the royal rules viewers learn about is that once the queen is done eating, everyone is done eating. Even if you’re only half way thru your own meal, if the queen is done, you’re done! The servers often are lined up against the wall. All servers eyes are on the Queen and the head server. Once the head server gives a hand signal, the rest of the servers go into action to clear the table. I see a little bit of that image in this psalm. The psalmist will turn his eyes to the Lord, waiting for the signal - the gesture from God. Why? For how long? “...so our eyes look to the Lord our God, til he has mercy upon us.”

Did you notice that key word? MERCY! The psalmist is telling God that he is in need of God’s mercy. In fact, he needs it so badly that he will keep his eyes fixed upon God until that mercy is received. Every Israelite associated that word mercy with what God taught them about mercy when He gave them instructions on how to worship. Meeting with God involved a sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood. This was all a picture of what the promised Messiah would someday do for believers. God knew His children needed His mercy and so, in Exodus 25, Moses received orderes on how to make a mercy seat. It was a top of pure gold that was to be placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant. It was to have two angels on it - one at the head and the other at the foot. It was here at the Mercy Seat that God would meet with the High Priest.

So what does all this have to do with us in 2018?? Well, just like the psalmist of long ago, we are in need of God’s mercy. Because of our daily sins that separate us from a holy God, we are in desperate need of His forgiveness and mercy - as well as the peace that comes from having our broken relationship with God restored. But how?

Enter Jesus. Remember after the crucifixtion, Mary Magdalene went to visit the tomb to look for Jesus? In John 19, it says she looked in the tomb but instead of finding Jesus, she found two angels. One was where Jesus head had been and the other one was where His feet had been!! ”She saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the  feet”. Can you what God is trying to teach us here?? Jesus is our Mercy Seat!! He is our sacrifice that restores our broken relationship with God. And because of Christ, we have daily access to God.

Just like the psalmist, may we acknowledge our need of mercy and may our eyes look to God Who has made a way for us to access that mercy every day! May that fill our hearts with JOY! ❤️