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Psalm 123[a]

Reliance on the Lord

A song of ascents.

To you I raise my eyes,
    to you enthroned in heaven.(A)
Yes, like the eyes of servants
    on the hand of their masters,
Like the eyes of a maid
    on the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes are on the Lord our God,
    till we are shown favor.
Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
    for we have our fill of contempt.(B)
Our souls are more than sated
    with mockery from the insolent,
    with contempt from the arrogant.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 123 A lament that begins as a prayer of an individual (Ps 123:1), who expresses by a touching comparison exemplary confidence in God (Ps 123:2). The Psalm ends in prayer that God relieve the people’s humiliation at the hands of the arrogant (Ps 123:3–4).

Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to you,
    to you who sit enthroned(A) in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
    as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord(B) our God,
    till he shows us his mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
    for we have endured no end of contempt.
We have endured no end
    of ridicule from the arrogant,
    of contempt from the proud.