Scripture Read: Psalm 123, 124
Key Verse: Psalm 123:1
“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”
Observation:
This psalm writes about where our eyes should go to. Quite simply, our eyes should look to our God, our master. But at the same time, we don’t deserve to look upon the Lord. We are sinful beings, ones that do not deserve what God has given to us, but yet He still chooses to. Jesus taught us to look unto God in our prayers, and that we should lift things up to Him when in need. In the same manner of a servant, we should look towards God not only for our needs, but also for direction, for everything that a servant needs of his master.
Application:
When I read this Psalm, one big thing jumps out at me. Vision. Not so much that God is giving me some kind of vision for the future, or for my life, but more along the lines of what our focus is on. Is our focus on God? Or is it on something else. Too many times in my life, I’ve focused on the other things besides God. My vision is already skewed enough, it doesn’t need to be skewed by other things, but it still happens. How often is God not the focus of your life? Isn’t it easy to lose focus on Him, and to not look towards Him? One thing that I’ve been learning throughout my walk with Christ is that my focus should be on Him 24/7. When you constantly look upon the Lord for everything, such as a servant looks upon his master, you will be taken care of. But even with that, we can lose sight and focus for a second, and it’s all downhill from there.
Vision. Sight. What is yours? 20/20? God/God? It isn’t easy, we’re so easily distracted. When’s the last time you had to focus upon something and you weren’t distracted. His call for us is to look upon Him constantly. Not just for 5 minutes of a day, but all day, at all times. Usually, what that focus is during the day is what feeds into everything else. That focus towards that single goal, or single unit, that drives us. I need to make my focus my Lord and Saviour. That center and focus should through everything else. It’s never easy, but being immersed in His Word, prayer, serving, and accountability from the body of Christ help me keep my focus.
Prayer:
Lord, so many times in the span of the day, I take my eyes off of you. Too many times I look towards other things during the day that hinder me from You. Lord, renew the focus in my life, help me sharpen my metal against another that I may be one to sharpen my focus, my energy, my passion. We want You to be the center of our lives.
By Tim 217staff team
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.
Psalm 123:3,4
Has the contempt of another ever left you broken and laid out? What can you do when you are laid bare face down on the ground? Whose contempt stings most leaving you stunned? An overbearing boss or co-worker that just seems to have it in for you? An emotionally distant parent that you have never been able to gain their approval? A hardhearted or abusive spouse? Maybe your unemployed to no fault of your own while the CEO of your company is making extravagant bonuses while bringing in record profits? Have you reached your breaking point? Have you cried out, “Enough is enough!” Can anyone hear you? Does anyone care? From your laid out position on the ground who are you looking up to? I am looking up to my God and King. I look up to my merciful Father. He will not scorn me. He alone has the power to comfort and save. I look up to him in desperation unable to go on, no longer able to bear the contempt of the proud, crying out with my pleading eyes for mercy. mercy. God looks down into my pleading eyes from his throne with love and mercy hearing my cry. He brings peace to my troubled soul, healing to my wounded heart, rescues me from my low estate and raises me up as a son. He alone is mighty to save.