Psalms 123:1

1 Unto thee I lift 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 I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves 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 he shall have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly weary of being held in contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly weary of the scorning of those that are at ease and of the contempt of the proud.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010