Psalm 123:3
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
Sermons
The Devout Suffering SoulHomilistPsalm 123:1-4
The Habit of Looking UpwardJ. S. Poulton.Psalm 123:1-4
The Prayer of the EyesR. Corlett Cowell.Psalm 123:1-4
The Ultimate RefugeC. Short Psalm 123:1-4
Unto Thee Lift I Up Mine EyesS. Conway Psalm 123:1-4
Contempt a Sore TrialR. Tuck Psalm 123:3, 4














The returned exiles found the contemptuous treatment of their neighbors the hardest thing to bear. Contempt is always hard to bear; but it is hardest to bear when we have an inward and painful conviction that we are so weak and poor that the contempt is in no way unreasonable. Those are just the times when we want a kindly word and a sign of confidence and hope, and then we feel most deeply if, instead, we are scorned, made a laughing-stock, and disheartened. That was the case with our Divine Lord. On the cross he needed the sign of love and word of sympathy; instead he had to bear the scorn and contempt which the psalmist suggestively anticipated for him (Psalm 22:6-8). The returned exiles had a similar experience. In their time of frailty a little neighborly help would have been so much to them. It would have given them quietness, security, and the cheer of sympathy. Instead of this, contempt humbled them, made them anxious, plucked out hopefulness, and filled them with fear. Contempt is a moral atmosphere in which nothing good or beautiful ever grew yet, or ever will grow. Hope the best of men, and you help them. Despise them and expect failure for them, and you crush them.

I. CONTEMPT, WHEN IT IS UNREASONABLE, CAN BE BORNE. It is sometimes a mere product of malice and envy. There is no real ground for it, and we may know that there is no ground. We may properly cherish the consciousness of our power and worth; and then we can appraise the contempt of the envious at its true value, it cannot hurt us. The contempt is weak, it is not we who are weak. And the contempt will fail, not we. "What can harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?" The world despises the godly. It is no matter; the future is with the godly.

II. CONTEMPT, WHEN IT IS REASONABLE, IS PAINFULLY DEPRESSING. Because it exaggerates our own sense of weakness, and so still further weakens us. Our sense of disability and insufficiency is oftentimes a great distress to us, and makes the struggle of life too hard for us. Precisely what we need is some sign of confidence, some kindly encouraging word, the cheer of some one who can see things more hopefully than we can. Consequently, we feel all the more deeply when our weakness is only despised; we hear loud and confident prophecies of our speedy failure, and men raise the laugh which crushes hearts more than open scorn. Then what can we do but turn from man to God? - R.T.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters.
The man of God, who wrote this psalm, had been taught to look to God in a very remarkable manner, and I call your attention to it, in the hope that many of you will do likewise.

1. His eyes were reverentially fixed upon the Lord. He looked to God's hand, wherever it was, with deep reverence: "as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters." Travellers tell us that, when they go into the house of a wealthy person in the East, the master will give certain signs to his slaves, and refreshments are brought in; but, except when they are called, the servants stand at a distance, watching for the slightest motion of their master's hands; they do not have the liberties that we happily accord to our servants; but they are just nothing and nobody, mere tools for their master to use as he pleases. And, as to the maidens, I have heard that the women in the East have a harder time of it with their mistresses than the men do with their masters, and that the lady of the house is a more severe taskmaster than her husband is. So the maidens watch their mistresses very carefully, for they are sorely afraid of them, and they look with great care and fear to see what "Madam" would have them do. Now, casting aside everything of human fear out of the figure, this is the way in which we ought to look to God.

2. The truly sanctified man looks to God's hands with obedience as well as with reverence. Orientals, as a general rule, speak far less than we do, except when they sit around the fire, at eventide, and tell their tales. But an Eastern master seldom speaks. A gentleman went, some time ago, into an Eastern house, and as soon as ever he entered, the master waved his hand, and the servants brought in sherbet. He waved his hand again, and they brought dried fruits; then he moved his hands in a different way, and they begun to spread the table; and, all the time, not a word was spoken, but they perfectly understood the motion of his hand. They had to look sharply to see how the master moved his hand, so that they might do what that meson meant. We have not very much of that dumb action amongst us; but, on board a steamboat, you may see the captain moving his hands this way or that, and the call-boy is ready at once to pass the word down to those who are in charge of the engine. That is just how the child of God should watch the hand of God, in the Bible, and in providence, so as to do at once whatever he plainly perceives to be his Lord's will.

3. Then, also, our eyes should be absolutely fixed upon our Lord. The eyes of servants ought to be so directed to their masters that they not only see the sign, but obey it, whatever it means. It may be a very little thing, but yet the little thing should not be neglected. The smaller the matter is, the more careful we should be to attend to it, if it would please the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be so clever, you servants who fancy that you know better than your Master, for perhaps He may find somebody else to be His servant if you behave like that. Suppose I was starting on a journey, early in the morning, and I said to my servant, "I should like a cup of coffee before I start," and suppose that, when I came down, she brought me a glass of cold water, I should ask her, "Why did you do that?" If she should reply, "Oh, sir, I thought that the water would be better for you than coffee!" I should say, "Well, I am very much obliged to you for thinking of me in that considerate way; but I shall have to engage another servant who does what she is told." So I advise you not to alter or judge God's Word, but obey it.

4. Our eyes are to be turned to the Lord solely. The Eastern servant is not allowed to think; it is no business of his to have his eyes upon his master's guests; they are to be fixed upon his master. And the maiden does not think it to be her business to watch the movements of the hand of the lady who calls to see her mistress; her eyes are to be on the hands of her mistress. She does not dare to take them off, for, perhaps, just when she is looking out of the window, or gazing in curiosity at some object, her mistress may be waving her hand, and she may not see it; and then there will be a serious scolding and possibly something worse when the mistress gets her alone. So you and I must not take our eyes off our God at any time; but His way, and His will must be our sole law; and for this we must live, that we may please Him whose servants we are, for has He not bought us with His precious blood? So we are not our own, we are "bought with a price."

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

Until that He have mercy upon us.
A single glance will sometimes gain the blessing, as a single stroke will sometimes gain the battle. But this cannot always be calculated upon. The blessing sought for is sometimes delayed, as a trial of our faith. The blessing itself, much as we prize it, may be of less importance than the discipline, through which alone it is to be obtained. And hence a test is sometimes applied to believers, whether they can cling to God, and continue instant in prayer, even when lie seems to turn His back upon them, and pay no heed to the voice of their supplication. This appears almost an invariable principle in the Divine government. At times the Church is reduced to a very low condition, and religion has lost its vitality and power. A feeling of utter helplessness is produced, and fervent prayers are offered up, that the Lord would arise and have mercy upon Zion. And He regards the prayer of the destitute, and does not despise their prayer. He is raised up out of His holy habitation; He appears in his glory; the mountains tremble before Him; and large numbers are brought to a knowledge of the truth. Is not this the history of the Church, as recorded in the Sacred Volume? Is not this the history of the Church, since the canon of Scripture was completed? Is not this the history of modern missions? Bring the Church to a thorough conviction that none but the Holy Ghost can convince, subdue, and save the human soul, and revivals of religion take place as a necessary consequence.

(N. McMichael.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Contempt, Endured, Exceedingly, Favour, Filled, Full, Gracious, Greatly, Mercy, O, Sated
Outline
1. The godly profess their confidence in God
3. And pray to be delivered from contempt

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 123:3

     1055   God, grace and mercy
     5775   abuse

Psalm 123:3-4

     5961   superiority
     8418   endurance
     8817   ridicule, objects of

Library
But Concerning True Patience, Worthy of the Name of this virtue...
12. But concerning true patience, worthy of the name of this virtue, whence it is to be had, must now be inquired. For there are some [2650] who attribute it to the strength of the human will, not which it hath by Divine assistance, but which it hath of free-will. Now this error is a proud one: for it is the error of them which abound, of whom it is said in the Psalm, "A scornful reproof to them which abound, and a despising to the proud." [2651] It is not therefore that "patience of the poor" which
St. Augustine—On Patience

Parable of the Pharisee and Publican.
^C Luke XVIII. 9-14. ^c 9 And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought [It is commonly said that this parable teaches humility in prayer, but the preface and conclusion (see verse 14) show that it is indeed to set forth generally the difference between self-righteousness and humility, and that an occasion of prayer is chosen because it best illustrates the point which the Lord desired to teach. The parable shows that
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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