PSALM 123

¹ To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
² As the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    until 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 its fill
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

Mercy. If we found ourselves on trial, we might crave mercy more than justice. If all of our thoughts and motives were published for the world to see, we might want mercy for those who would be offended. In Psalm 123, the psalmist speaks of our role as servants of a heavenly master, and of being one who has suffered contempt by others, and the request is for mercy.

Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy, is what we often say or sing after we confess our sins. And God is merciful.

One of my favorite stories of Jesus is when he is confronted by the experts in religious law about his caring approach to “sinner.” Matthew records that encounter as such:

Matthew 9:10-13

¹⁰ And as He sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.

God desires mercy, and so do we. And God provides mercy. Thanks be to God.

Prayer

Thank you, God, for not treating us as we could be treated, but instead approaching us with steadfast love and mercy. Amen.