A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
1 I lift my eyes to you,
O God, enthroned in heaven.
2 We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy,
just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
3 Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy,
for we have had our fill of contempt.
4 We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud
and the contempt of the arrogant.
Psalm 123:1-4
If you are here because you love Jesus and you want to serve Him, you've come to the right place. I’m one of those people too. But maybe you feel like you’ve reached your limit because friends, family, a partner, your colleagues are not supportive of your faith in and love for Jesus. Or you are acutely aware that in this world, society does not share your world view and they think you are nuts for believing the Bible. They are offended at your moral stance and they feel threatened that you would consider anything they approve as unacceptable to God.
You serve God. They don’t even think there is a God. You recognise and fear the righteous, all-powerful ruler Whom you know is awesome and holy. But they disrespect God’s throne and all those who follow God’s ways.
Your Saviour whom you serve understands.
MAIN POINT: No matter what others may say, we keep our focus on Jesus who sits on the throne.
You have faith so you look to the one in whom your faith rests. You anticipate that Jesus Christ will deliver you.
BUT it is not easy. People oppose your faith in your King.You are misunderstood. You are laughed at. You are mocked. You are left out. You are threatened. You feel it. And it feels like it is too much. I have lived in Belgium for 10 years. I have had friends in Belgium for more than 28 years. One reason I am here far from my home, my parents, my 4 children and my 9 grandchildren is because God let me see how hard it is for Belgian followers of Jesus who feel all alone. Maybe you are the only one with faith in our King Jesus at your workplace. Maybe you are the only one in your family who is serious about following God’s commands.
Listen, brothers and sisters, this Psalm recognises you will feel like it is all too much. You will not always feel triumphant. It may seem like a grind. It may seem unsafe and unbearable. You may fear the reactions of the world around you. You sense that they would eat you alive for your faith in God and your views of what is holy, righteous, good, and true.
You believe that God is your creator. They find that utter nonsense.
You believe God has rules and commands and expectations concerning telling the truth, living a holy life, being sexually pure, accepting and helping the poor, the foreigner, the widow and the orphan. They find your faith to be hate speech. You might fear even admitting that you cannot agree to the filth of sexual promiscuity, the deception, thievery, and the never-satisfied over indulgence.
You refuse to laugh at that joke, you refuse to pass that filthy meme along, you refuse to support getting paid in cash to avoid paying taxes, you refuse to cheat on your partner, you refuse to support escalating divisions of racism, ethnocentrism and nationalism.
And so you are mocked. Mocked for believing in God. Mocked for saying there is no other God. Laughed at for reading the Bible or giving money to church or helping refugees, or the homeless.
You are in good company. You are not the first to suffer for doing what’s right, to be slandered because you wouldn't compromise. Think of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, think of Daniel and his praying every day or not eating the king's food. Think of the apostles who were commanded not to talk about Jesus, who were beaten, jailed and threatened. And still they went right back to talking about Jesus.
You only have one place to turn when it all feels dangerous, emotionally draining and potentially threatening for your family. You look to Jesus on the throne. Why is Jesus on the throne? Because He suffered, He was mocked, He was killed. He died on the cross for you. He knows. And so we serve Him. We look to Him for our help. We will be like Stephen, who when they were picking up stones to kill him, when their eyes bulged out of their sockets with hate and their faces were red from yelling threats, Stephen spoke about the God who exalted Jesus.
We know they can’t take our eternal life. We know that the enemy can’t steal our reward. We know that though they can try to silence, harm or kill us, they cannot win against God.
But it is hard. So we cry out for mercy to God. We look for mercy. And we know He is merciful. He will save. He is coming. He never will leave us. We are straining but we are not giving up. We might be fed up, used up, knocked down, fearful, weary, and past the limit of our anxiety. But we still look to the throne of Jesus. We still wait for the mercy of our God. We have nowhere else to turn. We will serve no one else. We are His.
Listen to these truths dear Christian family.
God reigns on the throne. That God is the man Christ Jesus, who has suffered like you.
God is listening. That is why you look to Him and ask Him for mercy. You know He is listening.
We of obedience and faith are not alone. God has placed you in a family of faith. You are not alone. It is a “we” thing. The Psalms starts with an I but continues and ends with WE.
God is merciful.
We will suffer.
We wait on Jesus our King regardless of the mockers.
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| Handwritten Psalm 123 |
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