Psalm 123

Again in this psalm, we are lifting our eyes. But this time, we aren’t stopping at the mountains: “I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned 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 our God, till he shows us his mercy.” (vs 1-2)

I think it must be one of the paradoxes of the Christian life that the more we become “enslaved” to God, the freer we are. And the opposite is also true: The more we attempt to gain our “freedom” from God, the more enslaved we become to sin.

Usually, most of us operate (even unconsciously) on the idea that it’s the other way around. Independence is written so deeply into our hearts that it almost seems to go against our very nature to think that anyone—even God—is our “master”. But this psalm doesn’t leave us much choice in dealing with that imagery.

As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master… so our eyes look to the Lord.

This is predicated more on oriental culture—where the masters seldom speak to their servants, at least on public occasions. Instead, they convey their wishes by a hand gesture, a glance, or other slight movements that would wholly escape attention if their servants weren’t “waiting with their eyes” for instruction. Thus, the psalmist pictures himself waiting on God in that manner—eager to discern His wishes and to carry them out.

Yet, the psalmist surprises us by revealing something out of the ordinary about the Master God. Verse 2 again: “Our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.” When servants wait on their masters for instructions, they are waiting to receive instructions about what they are supposed to do for their masters. But when servants of the Lord wait on Him, they are simply waiting to receive.

God doesn’t give commands like a master to a slave (although He will graciously give us His divine guidance and direction). When we wait on Him, we receive. He doesn’t want us to wait on Him so we can wait on Him.

He wants us to wait on Him so He can bless us.

God is not a demanding Master. God is a giving Master. Those who wait on Him will receive an abundance of blessing.