Today’s Psalm is short but it says a lot. In society we are slow to trust one another and quick to, as the psalm days, scorn and contempt. We see our faults and the faults of others but don’t as readily see the gifts that we or others have to offer.
For those who would have sung this psalm, the one that they did trust was God, for it was to God that they looked for their help and support. They saw within their own society some of the same issues that we have seen: disunity, strife, competition and contempt. So, they prayed for guidance to move beyond their current state, and it is in the same way that we come before God today.
Let us pray.
Psalm 123
To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
In you, O God, we trust, and so it is to you that we turn for help. As a community, help us to be strong and unified. Show us how we might support our neighbours, cheering their successes. Remove contempt and scorn from our hearts leaving room only for love and trust. Guide us to be one in you, celebrating our differences rather than vilifying them. We ask this and all our prayers in the name of Christ our brother. AMEN