☰ Psalms 123
123
1  A song of ascents.1
I look up2 toward you,
the one enthroned3 in heaven.
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,4
so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
3  Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.5
4  We have had our fill6
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud. 7
1 123:1 sn: Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis. 2 123:1 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. 3 123:1 tn: Heb “I lift my eyes.” 4 123:2 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). 5 123:3 sn: Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs. 6 123:4 tn: Heb “for greatly we are filled [with] humiliation.” 7 123:4 tn: Heb “greatly our soul is full to it.”
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