Text -- Psalms 123:1-4 (NET)

Psalm 123

123:1 A song of ascents. I look up toward you, the one enthroned 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, 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. 123:4 We have had our fill of the taunts of the self-assured, of the contempt of the proud.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 123:1

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).

NET Notes: Psa 123:2

¹ sn Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs.

NET Notes: Psa 123:3

¹ tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

NET Notes: Psa 123:4

¹ tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”