Word of Salvation – January 2026
HAVE MERCY UPON US, O LORD!
Sermon by John Haverland
Text: Psalm 123
Readings: Psalm 73:1-5, 16-18, 23-28; Heb 11:32-12:3
Theme: An earnest and humble prayer for God’s mercy because of the ridicule and contempt of the proud.
Purpose: In times of trial and persecution we must earnestly pray for God’s mercy.
Many of us have times when we felt despondent and dejected, worried and weary, persecuted and pressured. We have felt a bit like Asaph, who wrote Psalm 73. We look at the unbelievers around us, at school and at work and in our neighbourhoods, and as far as we can tell they are prosperous and doing well.
They aren’t in trouble like we are, and they are better off financially, and they are in good health and strength – everything seems to be going well for them. These are the people who ignore God in their lives, who blaspheme him with their mouths, who are always at ease and increase in riches (v 15)! We envy them: “Why are they doing so well when we are are struggling?! It seems unfair, unjust! What’s more, they mock us as Christians and ridicule our faith in God.”
This is the situation of Psalm 123. The people of Israel were treated with contempt and were scorned by their unbelieving neighbours. In their distress they looked to the Lord for his help. This psalm is an earnest prayer for God’s mercy because of the ridicule and contempt of the proud.
It begins in the first person with “I”, but quickly moves to the plural of “our” and “us” and “we”. It is helpful for us to consider this in our situation, but also to use this as a prayer for many of our fellow Christians who are in very difficult situations.
As with most of these Psalms of Ascent we don’t know who wrote it, or the original situation. It would fit well in the period after the Babylonian exile when many of the people of Israel had returned and settled back into their land.
Life was not easy at that time. The people of Israel were small in number and lived among hostile neighbours who mocked and ridiculed them. They had to build their homes out of the rubble of Jerusalem, and rebuild the walls of the city, and begin planting their crops all over again.
This psalm fits that situation, and many other similar situations in the history of Israel; and it applies to the Christians in the 1st century AD, and to the Protestants in the time of the Reformation, and to many Christians in persecuted countries today, and it applies to the circumstances of our own lives.
The people of God have always been praying, as did the people of Israel who prayed the words of this psalm. They looked to God and pleaded with him for mercy. We’ll consider these two points and apply them to our own lives and world.
- LOOK TO GOD FOR MERCY, v 1-2
a) The psalm begins with words similar to Psalm 121, which began, “I lift up my eyes to the hills”.
This psalm begins “I lift up my eyes to you…”
By nature we are inclined to look down, or to look inside of us, to be introspective. We focus on ourselves and the troubles we are going through and how we feel about them. Or we look around us at what is going on in our own country and in the other nations of the world, the trade tariffs, and the war in Europe and in the Middle East, we worry about these things and how they might affect us.
But the person who wrote this psalm did not look down or around him; rather he looked up to God – “I lift up my eyes to you”. He looked up to God with trust, hope, expectation and confidence. He looked up to “you who are enthroned in the heavens.”
In the Old Testament the people of Israel thought of God’s throne as being in Jerusalem, in the temple, represented by the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place. But God’s real throne is in heaven. He is there as our almighty and all powerful God. He rules and reigns over this world and the entire universe.
One commentator wrote; there is an “immense length of focus in verse 1”: “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”
We too need to look up, far into the heavens! Spurgeon wrote, “That height represents power, glory and excellence.” This is how we begin the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed by your name…”
God is almighty, all powerful, majestic and mighty! Look up to him.
b) Verse 2 compares our relationship with God, with how slaves related to their masters.
Slavery was very common in the ancient world, and this practice continued on after Christ for another 1800 years in many countries. Slavery was not abolished in England until 1833 after many years of campaigning by William Wilberforce and others.
The writer of this psalm is using the relationship of slaves to their master as a comparison,
“As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress.” Slaves owed their masters unquestioning obedience, but this is not the emphasis here.
Rather the focus here is on dependence. These slaves are not waiting for orders, but for mercy, for kindness. Their attitude is that of submission, patience and humility. They look to their masters for help and provision.
Think of a child looking at his mother with pleading eyes, or a grandchild looking at her grandfather with longing eyes – there are no words, but the message is clear: “Please help me; please may I have this?!”
There is a lesson here for us:
V 2b – “…so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us”! This is the point of the comparison.
We look to the Lord as a slave looks to his master, or a child to his mother – with pleading eyes. We look to the Lord with faith, and we continue to look to him by faith. We know that God does not owe us anything; we do not deserve his help or his gifts. Whatever he gives to us comes from his mercy, his grace, his kindness, from the goodness of his heart.
So we are looking to the Lord, our covenant God, who is the almighty Creator God, “till he shows us his mercy.” All of us need to pray in this way because every one of us is in this position. We all deserve God’s just punishment. Our only hope is God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness.
The good news is that God has shown us mercy in and through the Lord Jesus. Jesus was and is the Son of God, but he came into this world as a man, as a human being like us. God laid our sin on his One and Only Son, and Jesus died in our place, in the place of all who believe in him.
If you look to the Lord for mercy, and pray for this, and confess your sins, then he will forgive you. He will show you mercy because he is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Ps 103:8).
Look to God for mercy.
- PLEAD WITH GOD FOR MERCY, v 3-4
This theme of mercy continues:
“Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.” It can also be translated, “Mercy, Lord, mercy!”
What was expressed in looks is now expressed in words. It is an urgent request – the word mercy is repeated three times!
a) We can read this as a general request for mercy that applies to all of us.
Every human being, every one of us here, has sinned against God’s law, we have broken his commands, we have offended against his holiness. God has every right to punish us because we have ignored him and turned away from him. But we pray that he won’t give us what we deserve, that he will not exercise his just punishment, but rather that he will have mercy on us.
b) But in this psalm the request for mercy is more specific; it arose out the particular situation of the people of God at that time. Look at v 3b & 4: “…for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.” Again this is not the prayer of an individual but of the people of God.
c) They had “endured much contempt”.
The Hebrew could be expressed in stronger language as, “no end of contempt”, or “more than enough”. These words could apply to many periods of Israel’s history, and certainly to their situation after the exile.
“Contempt”, says one commentator, “is cold steel. It goes deeper into the spirit than any other form of rejection.” (Kidner). Spurgeon wrote that contempt is a horrible blight that can break great hearts and wither brave spirits.
The Christians in the 1st century were treated like this. But in Acts we read that they “left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name” of Jesus (5:41).
Jesus himself was treated with contempt by the religious leaders of his day, and by many of the Jewish people, and by King Herod and his court, and by the Roman Soldiers. He was despised and rejected by men, but he remained obedient and faithful to his Father.
Christians all through history have been held in contempt by non Christians and by those of other religions. The same may happen to you and me. This will be par for the course; this is to be expected. Forewarned is forearmed.
d) Not only had God’s people endured much contempt, but also “had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease” (v 4).
This could also be translated as “no end of ridicule”. This ridicule, scorn, mockery, and derision had been going on for a long time.
The people of Israel were weary of it. They were getting worn down and discouraged. When would this end? Lord, have mercy on us! The scorn came from the proud, or arrogant. Literally it refers to “those who are at ease” (ESV).
The people mocking them were well off, they were comfortable, and were prospering in their wickedness. This made their scorn all the more hard to take. The people of Israel went through situations like this when they were in Egypt for 400 years, and under the domination of the Philistines, and the Assyrians, and the Babylonians.
David in Psalm 37 and Asaph in Psalm 73 expressed the same frustration.
Christians in the New Testament times were persecuted under the Roman Empire, and also during the time of the Reformation in the 16th century by the Roman Catholic Church, and in the 20th century in the USSR, China, and Nazi Germany, and in this century there is much persecution going on in many countries of the world.
We are not being persecuted as they were. But you might feel the same way when you are mocked and ridiculed by non Christians who are well off. These people are not in any distress themselves but are causing you a lot of anxiety!
Christians are a minority in New Zealand, and our society is becoming more and more pagan and more non-Christian, and laws are being passed that are against the laws of God in the Bible. We see this in how easy it is for a woman to get an abortion, and in the legislation that allows for elderly people to end their own life.
Thankfully we still have freedom of religion in NZ. We are able to meet for worship; we are free to speak about our faith to anyone we meet; we are able to write and preach and teach about the Lord Jesus to everyone and anyone who is willing to listen.
We don’t know what the future will bring, but it may bring persecution and opposition. To prepare us for this we need to know and remember the words of this psalm.
But we also need to pray this psalm for our Christian brothers and sisters in the world who are enduring much contempt and ridicule from the proud and arrogant.
All of us who confess to be Christians must keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered much ridicule and mockery and torture from the Jews and from the Romans.
Earlier we read from Hebrews 12: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3)
The contempt and ridicule of non-Christians shows that we do not belong to this world – this is not our permanent home. Rather we are Christians, members of the church of Jesus, and citizens of heaven.
At present we may have to endure the contempt of the people of this world, but one day, if we are faithful, we will receive the praise and honour of God.
So, lift up your eyes to the Lord God who is in heaven! In the suffering and trouble of this world look to the Lord, confident that he will show you his mercy.
Amen