Psalms 123:1

1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

Psalms 123:1 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 123:1

Unto thee lift I up mine eyes
Not only the eyes of his body, this being a prayer gesture; see ( Matthew 14:19 ) ( John 11:41 ) ( 17:1 ) ; but the eyes of his mind and understanding, opened by the Spirit of God; particularly the eye of faith, by which he looked for and expected help and salvation from the Lord. The phrase is expressive of holy confidence in God, and a comfortable hope of receiving good things from him; as, on the contrary, when persons are ashamed and confounded with a sense of their sins, and the aggravations of them, and of their own unworthiness and vileness; and, on account of the same, almost out of all hope, cannot lift up their eyes to heaven, or their face before God, ( Ezra 9:6 ) ( Psalms 40:12 ) ( Luke 18:13 ) ;

O thou that dwellest in the heavens;
the heaven of heavens, the third heaven, the seat of angels and glorified saints; and though the Lord is everywhere, and fills heaven and earth with his presence, and cannot be contained any where; yet here is the more visible display of his glory; here he keeps his court; this is his palace, and here his throne is prepared, and on it he sits F4; so some render the word here; as the Judge of the whole earth, and takes a view of all men and their actions; and, as the God of nature and providence, governs and orders all things after his own will; and, as the God of grace, sits on a throne of grace, kindly inviting and encouraging his people to come unto him: and therefore the psalmist addresses him as such; see ( Ecclesiastes 5:2 ) ( Matthew 6:9 ) . The Targum is,

``O thou that sittest on a throne of glory in heaven!''


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (ybvyh) "sedens", Montanus, Gejerus; "qui sedes", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Psalms 123:1 In-Context

1 Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud .
The King James Version is in the public domain.