The Psalms of Ascent

July 12^th, 2026

Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

1. Who or what are you looking to?

Psalm 120: The Psalmist looks to their surroundings

Psalm 121: The Psalmist looks to the hills

Psalm 122: The Psalmist looks to Jerusalem

Psalm 123: The Psalmist looks to the heavens

We should start out by looking to the one who is enthroned in the heavens!

Self-examine the order in which you find yourself most frequently praying. It is often a reflection of where our eyes are looking most.

Jesus gave us the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6 to be a model of how to pray

• Praise
• Submission
• Request
• Praise

When we start off with a recognition of who God is, we are reminding ourselves that His character and His power supersede whatever need we are facing.

When we look to our problems first, we are then coming to God only after giving attention to our needs, when we should instead give that attention to the one who meets our needs.

1. Do you wait for the Lord to move?

The Psalmist was not aware of the Lord’s timing, and neither are we.

To wait is to submit our will to God’s will.

Psalm 123: 2c

• …so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.

Jesus declared many times that He was sent to Earth to do the Father’s will.

• John 4:34
• John 5:30
• John 6:38
• John 8:29

When we wait on God, we are acknowledging that His will is more important than our will.

• How can I endure while I wait?

Look to Jesus     

We need look no further than the cross. If anyone deserved mercy, if anyone deserved justice, if anyone deserved relief, it was Jesus, and yet, it was withheld from Him. Not out of cruelty or malice, but because His Father had deemed His Son’s suffering unto death to be better than for Christ to have those things.

Hebrews 12:2

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”