A song of ascents. 2
123:1 I look up 3 toward you,
the one enthroned 4 in heaven.
123:2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, 5
so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
123:3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some. 6
123:4 We have had our fill 7
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
1 sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.
2 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.
3 tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”
4 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).
5 sn Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs.
6 tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”
7 tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”