Songs from the Heart Day 11 Psalm 123

Read the Psalm

Looking for God’s Favor

A song of ascents.

1 I lift my eyes to you,

the one enthroned in heaven.

2 Like a servant’s eyes on his master’s hand,

like a servant girl’s eyes on her mistress’s hand,

so our eyes are on the Lord our God

until he shows us favor.

3 Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,

for we’ve had more than enough contempt.

4 We’ve had more than enough

scorn from the arrogant

and contempt from the proud.

—Christian Standard Bible

Meditate on what you’ve read. Use these journal prompts to help you get started:

What does this psalm teach you about God’s character? About the psalmist’s posture toward or relationship with God?
Psalm 120 focused on repentance and rescue, 121 on trust and 122 on worship. If you were trying to describe the theme of Psalm 123, what would you say?
In many ways, Psalm 123 is about having a right position before God. What do you learn about who God is in this passage?
What do you learn about who we are and how we relate to him?
When you pray, do you pray as someone who knows that God is righteous, powerful, holy and almighty and you are not?
Mull over your attitude toward God and your own recognition of your lowliness and need for him. How would your prayer or your relationship with God change if you had a deeper understanding of his holiness and power?
Consider verse 3-4. Here, the psalmist prayed for God’s favor on the community with an understanding that evil surrounds them. In many ways, that describes our community of faith today. What would it look like for you to pray for God’s favor on your community? On your church? For your workplace, your country or your family?