Psalms 123:1

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

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Psalms 123:1 in Other Translations

KJV

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

ESV

1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

NLT

1 I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven.

MSG

1 I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help.

CSB

1 I lift my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Psalms 123:1 In-Context

1 I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.

3 Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt.

4 We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud.