When man’s eyes are toward God, he will always see God’s mercy coming toward him.
He who dwells in heaven beholds all the calamities of His people and thence will send to save all trusting ones.
Psalm 1
1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 123 – Joy in God’s House
The life of the pilgrim is full of sharp contrasts. Yesterday he was rejoicing in Jerusalem and sharing her peace; today he is grieved with the contempt of her foes. Hence this tiny psalm, which has been compared to “a sigh, an upward look, a sigh.” The oriental servant is an adept at reading the meaning of his master’s slightest gesture, Psalm 123:2. Let us live, as our Savior did, with our eye fixed on the least indication of God’s will. See Acts 16:1-10. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 123:1—Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens.
These exquisite Songs of Ascents, prepared for the bands of worshippers as they went up from distant parts of the land to the greet annual festivals, are very precious to pilgrim-souls, as from many lands and ages they are gathering home to the throne of the exalted Lamb, who sits at the right hand of God the Father in the highest heavens. And as we journey, we lift up our eyes to his dear face—the face that once was wet with tears and dewed with bloody sweat, but which ere long will shine as the morning when He is anointed with the oil of joy above his fellows. Here is the Old Testament counterpart of the New Testament attitude—looking off unto Jesus.
The slave at the table kept the eye steadfastly fixed on the hand of master or mistress, to obey its least sign and to make it needless to speak. Keep your eye on the pierced hand, child of God; watch its smallest indication; wait patiently until it give some sign. We have too long acted on our own initiative; let us wait on our exalted Lord for the Indication of his will. Let us not look askance at the proud, with their contempt, or on the heaving billows of the world’s restless strife; but away to those azure depths and beyond, far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, where God hath exalted Him to be a Prince and a Savior. Let his least gesture be our law.
One day we shall follow the direction of our eyes. we gaze, we shall be changed; and as we are changed we shall arise to sit with Him on his throne.
“Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far
Through all yon starlight keen,
Draw me, thy bride—a glittering star
In raiment white and clean!” —Our Daily Homily