Showing posts with label Psalm 123. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalm 123. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Psalm Meditation 1239
¶Fifth Sunday in Lent
¶March 14, 2024
¶Psalm 123
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+123&version=NRSVUE
(NRSV)
¶‘Puppy eyes’ is an expression that means something to those who have dogs as well as those who have children. It is the look of total innocence, begging to be noticed, and probably rewarded for having done something that may or may not actually warrant the kind of reward being sought. In both cases, dogs and children, it is likely that once the reward is received the puppy dog eyes, and the one who wields them disappear to enjoy the fruits of their labors. It is not that we are no longer loved so much as our attention is no longer sought.
¶We may not use the puppy dog eyes with God, however our intent is the same. We schmooze up to God in order to get something that we may or may not actually have a need for, but desire just the same. We believe our pleading and groveling will achieve our desired outcome. Luke 12:32 says, in part, “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” as a reminder that God is not an ogre or a slave master who must be flattered and appeased before we can receive anything worthwhile.
¶That doesn’t mean that God automatically gives us what we want. In the same way that God is not an ogre, God is not a pushover who caves to every demand and whim we may have. Somethings are left for us to do on our own, some are not possible for us at a given time. God is always full of love and mercy for us, and those around us. While we may have to put up with those who look down on us with contempt, and others may have to put up with us as we look on them with contempt, we do each come to an end in this world and receive full measure of God’s judgment and mercy.
¶March 12, 2024
¶LCM
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Psalm Meditation 1116
¶Proper 27
¶November 7, 2021
¶Psalm 123
1To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
(NRSV)
¶It has become normal to look down on those who are not like us. All of ‘those’ people are stupid and need to start walking in the same light in which we walk. Our contempt for ‘otherness’ seems to know no bounds or limits, except face to face contact. While we may think a group of people who believe differently than us are stupid and worthless, we may have friends who fit into that set. We grant them an exemption because we were friends before we knew they were among those ‘wrong-headed’ folk.
¶There are folks who stir the pot of our disagreements so that as we fight and argue they can continue to plunder the resources around them, including the human ones. We are encouraged to blame ‘those’ people for the state of the world, having been encouraged to a game of ‘Let’s you and them fight.’ While we are busy blaming each other for the state of the world, the power brokers are busy amassing more and more at our expense.
¶The psalmist encourages us to turn to God’s mercy as a way to step back and see that we are being treated with contempt, not by those we see as other, but by those who pointed us toward those others for their own gain. When someone points us to an enemy we had not previously noticed, we do well to look to what they have to gain if we turn toward this new enemy. Eventually, we will grow weary of the animosity toward each other and turn it in the direction it needs to go, “Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.”
¶November 2, 2021
¶LCM
Monday, November 27, 2017
Psalm Meditation 911
First Sunday of Advent
December 3, 2017
Psalm 123
1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
(NRSV)
The image that comes to mind is of someone desperate to be included in a group of ‘cool kids’ in school. We willingly do things to humiliate ourselves because we were asked or told to do this thing. We may feel as if we have been included even as friends see that we are being treated as a court jester or a well trained pet. Because we are so desperate to be a part of the group we don’t notice that we are being treated more as a possession than as an equal in the group.
When we see that we are being treated badly we long for release from the contempt we have been experiencing and a return to the group of which we were a genuine part. For the psalmist this means turning to God for release from oppression and contempt. The situation is likely more involved and just as traumatic as the above treatment by the ‘cool kids.’ God does not pluck us out of trouble and set us back on the firm footing of a different group. God gives us the courage and wherewithal to see what we have become and to take the steps to leave one group in order to move into a group that includes us as an equal.
Having turned to God with the realization that the priorities of the world are not finally fulfilling we engage in building relationships with those we value and who value us in return. These new relationships, based in mutual love and respect, show us that much of what gives meaning to our lives cannot be held in our hands or stored in boxes. In the realm of God we are able to see others as unique children of God without considering social status or economic standing. As people of God we are able to give and receive the gifts each of us has to offer.
November 27, 2017
LCM
First Sunday of Advent
December 3, 2017
Psalm 123
1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
(NRSV)
The image that comes to mind is of someone desperate to be included in a group of ‘cool kids’ in school. We willingly do things to humiliate ourselves because we were asked or told to do this thing. We may feel as if we have been included even as friends see that we are being treated as a court jester or a well trained pet. Because we are so desperate to be a part of the group we don’t notice that we are being treated more as a possession than as an equal in the group.
When we see that we are being treated badly we long for release from the contempt we have been experiencing and a return to the group of which we were a genuine part. For the psalmist this means turning to God for release from oppression and contempt. The situation is likely more involved and just as traumatic as the above treatment by the ‘cool kids.’ God does not pluck us out of trouble and set us back on the firm footing of a different group. God gives us the courage and wherewithal to see what we have become and to take the steps to leave one group in order to move into a group that includes us as an equal.
Having turned to God with the realization that the priorities of the world are not finally fulfilling we engage in building relationships with those we value and who value us in return. These new relationships, based in mutual love and respect, show us that much of what gives meaning to our lives cannot be held in our hands or stored in boxes. In the realm of God we are able to see others as unique children of God without considering social status or economic standing. As people of God we are able to give and receive the gifts each of us has to offer.
November 27, 2017
LCM
Monday, February 8, 2016
Psalm Meditation 817
First Sunday in Lent
February 14, 2016
Psalm 123
1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
(NRSV)
The hand of the master and mistress are where servants receive both praise and punishment. My guess is that servants were more likely to be the recipients of punishment than praise. A servant or slave was likely treated as invisible until a mistake was made or a fault was found. At those moments that servant was going to be on the receiving end of a backhand slap across the face. It was a good idea to keep an eye on the hand of one’s master or mistress in order to anticipate the punishment.
The psalmist’s request for mercy for God is recognition that God is much more willing to be merciful than any other master or mistress. It is also an opportunity to lament to God the treatment received at the hands of all the others in authority. Then, as now, there are those who, if they see them at all, will look with disgust or pity on those they see as beneath them. While there are always those willing to give themselves over to those who offer the remotest chance to rise above those around them, the psalmist and others are weary of being treated as invisible pets and property.
When we find our worth in God we discover that we no longer need to bind ourselves to those who take advantage of our effort on their behalf and give us little to no acknowledgement of our contribution. In God we discover that we are each of infinite worth as we are. In God we discover that all of us together are of infinite worth as well. The individuals are bound into communities of sacred worth and loved by God beyond measure no matter what.
February 8, 2016
LCM
First Sunday in Lent
February 14, 2016
Psalm 123
1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
(NRSV)
The hand of the master and mistress are where servants receive both praise and punishment. My guess is that servants were more likely to be the recipients of punishment than praise. A servant or slave was likely treated as invisible until a mistake was made or a fault was found. At those moments that servant was going to be on the receiving end of a backhand slap across the face. It was a good idea to keep an eye on the hand of one’s master or mistress in order to anticipate the punishment.
The psalmist’s request for mercy for God is recognition that God is much more willing to be merciful than any other master or mistress. It is also an opportunity to lament to God the treatment received at the hands of all the others in authority. Then, as now, there are those who, if they see them at all, will look with disgust or pity on those they see as beneath them. While there are always those willing to give themselves over to those who offer the remotest chance to rise above those around them, the psalmist and others are weary of being treated as invisible pets and property.
When we find our worth in God we discover that we no longer need to bind ourselves to those who take advantage of our effort on their behalf and give us little to no acknowledgement of our contribution. In God we discover that we are each of infinite worth as we are. In God we discover that all of us together are of infinite worth as well. The individuals are bound into communities of sacred worth and loved by God beyond measure no matter what.
February 8, 2016
LCM
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