Psalms 123:1-4

Psalm 123 ¹ 

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.

[123:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.

[123:1]  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.

[123:1]  ³ tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

[123:1]  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).

[123:2]  ⁵ sn Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs.

[123:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.”

[123:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”