Looking to the Lord

This Psalm continues the Songs of Ascent. It was sung by the pilgrims who made their way to worship in Jerusalem. It reveals the oppression that Jews have experienced through the years. I want to point out the emphasis on the eyes in this Psalm.

“I lift up my eyes” (1)

“as the eyes of the servants” (2)

“as the eyes of the maidservants” (2)

“our eyes” (2)

In addition we see the word “look” twice in verse 2. My outline reflects the idea of looking to the Lord.

The look of wonder (1)

The look of dependance (2)

The look for mercy (3-4)

1. The look of wonder (1).

A. It is a look of faith. The Jews did not have any images of God. It could be they were looking toward Jerusalem where the temple was. Even there they had no image of God to look upon. This was unique for any religion in those days. Pagans had images. They had statues. They had carvings. The Jews had nothing like that at all.

The Psalmist lifted his eyes in faith.

This is true for the Christian too. 1 Peter 1:8 says:

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

Not knowing what God looks like adds to the wonder. We should not even try and imagine God. By that I mean that we should not try and picture Him in our mind. Any picture we dream up of God will fall short of His glory.

We will see God someday. Unti then we look in faith and that adds to the wonder.

B. It is a look up. God is not below us. He is not beside us. He is exalted far above us. While we cannot imagine what God will look like we know that He is unlike anything below or beside us. The look up symbolizes the greatness of God. God looks down upon us. We look up to God.

C. It is a look into the throne room of God.

“you who are enthroned in the heavens!”

It is true that God is everywhere. But his presence in heaven is different than anywhere else. God reveals Himself in His throne room. As much as is humanly possible we will see God in His heaven.

When Jesus taught us to pray He said we should begin with “Our Father who art in heaven…”

Every time we pray, we should think of God as in heaven. It is good when we pray to voice the difference between ourselves and God.

You are holy, I am a sinner.

You see all, I see very little.

You are all wise, I am foolish.

You are in heaven, I am on earth.

God is altogether different than we are. The good news is God invites us to His heaven. We will not be enthroned there, but we will gather round the throne there.

It may be sometime before we go to heaven. Each time we pray we should lift ourselves there.

We should look up in faith to our God who sits upon His throne. We should look in wonder.

2. The look of dependance (2).

A. We humbly depend on the Lord.

The Psalmist says we are like servants who depend upon their master. He mentions both men and women servants. We live in an age of chauvinism and feminism. Both are trying to show that they are greater than the other. Both would like the other to believe they can make it alone. Neither can.

Men and women must depend on the Lord.

“as the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their master”

A lot of the old commentators say that verse 2 references the custom of slaves in the east who would watch their master for signals. It is said that the master did not often talk with the slaves but would communicate with them through signals. For that reason, the servant had to keep a constant eye on the master.

Others believe the “look to the hand” refers to a dependance on God for food. Both interpretations give us Biblical principles.

1) The Christian is to always be looking to the Lord. We are to desire to know His will. We should look to His hand fur guidance through this world., That is done by an attendance to God’s Word.

“Lord speak, your servant is listening.”

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

2) The Christian is to depend on the Lord for the most basic of things: food and water.

B. We patiently depend on the Lord.

“til” God has mercy on us.

Nothing reveals our dependence on the Lord like time does. It is easy to depend on Him for a few days, weeks, or months. But will we depend on Him when the years start passing by?

Notice he says “Our eyes look to the Lord our God till…”

This reveals humility. God doesn’t jump when we snap our fingers. He doesn’t move when we say move.

We ask for mercy, and we look to Him. We keep looking to Him. He is the Master; we are the servants.

What does it mean that we look to Him until?

It means that we continue to:

Live for the Lord

Trust in the Lord

Worship the Lord

Read the Word

If we’re not living for the Lord, we are not waiting on the Lord.

Depending on the Lord will require patience. Very few prayers are answered immediately. Some are not even answered on this side of eternity.

God knows what we need.

God knows when we need it.

He is always on time.

What are you depending on the Lord for?

Whatever it is, don’t abandon the Lord before the need is met.

Don’t be like Sara.

I think this is a great reminder for those who are looking to be married. Depend on the Lord. Be patient. Don’t take your eyes off the Lord and become unequally yoked.

3. The look for mercy (3-4).

A. Everyone needs mercy.

Notice how many times mercy is mentioned. Once at the end of verse 2 and twice in verse 3. The Psalmist began the Psalm in a personal way “I lift up my eyes”. Now he is inclusive of all, “have mercy upon us”. We all need mercy and we need a lot of it.

Mercy= compassion. What do we need mercy for?

Sins committed

Trials to be shortened

Diseases to be healed

Relationships to be restored

Notice he repeats the request for mercy. How often should we pray for mercy? Until we receive it.

When we ask God for mercy, we are asking Him to remove the misery from our life. We are asking him to bring an end to whatever is causing that misery.

B. We need mercy when we are overwhelmed.

At the end of verse three and the beginning of verse four he says the same thing. He says, “we have had more than enough”.

We like to say that our cup runneth over, but sometimes it is run over with sorrow.

Have you ever had more than enough?

Maybe it is from a trial that won’t end.

Maybe it’s from a trial that is especially difficult.

Maybe it is from trials that run back to back to back.

You say “I’ve had enough!”

The sad part is saying that doesn’t help. When my mama said that to me as a kid, she got some relief. That doesn’t work with God, does it?

We can’t just say we’ve had enough, and God fixes everything. The key is to tell the Lord humbly that you are overwhelmed. Be honest with Him.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane He said “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death;”.

After He said that He went and prayed. I’m sure He told the Father that. It’s ok to tell the Lord how overwhelmed you are.

C. We need mercy when we are treated badly.

The Psalmist tells us why he was overwhelmed. People were treating him badly.

He has had more than enough contempt (3).

He has had more than enough scorn (4).

Contempt is disrespect, attacking with words.

Scorn is ridicule, mocking.

Look at who is doing this.

“those who are at ease”

“the proud”

It is a shame that those the Lord has blessed will choose to curse others. It is true nonetheless.

Two things I want to mention:

1) We should consider the power of our words.

Our words can make someone’s life miserable. We can shove people into suffering with what we say.

2) When we are the object of scorn, we should speak to the Lord about it. We are not called to fuss and fight. We are not called to name call. We should leave it in the Lord’s hands.

It’s easy to say sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. But that isn’t true. Words hurt. They echo in our ears for years.

There are adults who can still hear things children said to them on the playground.

There are husbands/wives that can still hear things that were said early in their marriage.

Much of what we say is not remembered. When we hurt someone with our words it is hard to forget. When we are attacked with words we need the Lord’s mercy.

Ask God to remove our anger/hurt/sorrow.

Ask God to help us forgive the offender.

Ask God to work on the heart of the offender.

We should ask for mercy for ourselves and the other person.

In this Psalm we see a beautiful song that reminds us to look to the Lord in wonder, in dependence and for mercy.