Psalm 123 — Eyes Lifted Above Contempt…

When contempt wounds a community, how can lifting our eyes to God restore hope?

Overview

The fourth Song of Ascents: a community wounded by contempt looks toward the One enthroned in heaven

Key text — Psalm 123:1–3 (study rendering): “To you I lift my eyes, to you who are enthroned in heaven. As servants look to the hand of their master, as a maid looks to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he shows us mercy. Have mercy on us, LORD; have mercy on us, for we have endured more than enough contempt.”

Sometimes suffering comes through an event that everyone can see: an illness, a lost job, a ruined harvest, a family crisis. At other times, suffering comes through the way people look at us. A dismissive laugh, a label that follows someone for years, or an influential person's casual contempt can convince a whole community that its voice does not matter. People may still have food and shelter, yet their dignity is being steadily worn down.

Psalm 123 speaks into this second kind of pain. Its worshipers have had enough of being despised. They do not describe an impressive victory. They do not even report that the situation has changed. Instead, they raise their eyes and repeat one request: “Have mercy on us.”

This short psalm offers neither a quick technique for overcoming humiliation nor an excuse for passive acceptance of abuse. Its central act is relational: a community refuses to let the judgments of powerful people become the final judgment on its worth. It turns toward the LORD who reigns above every human hierarchy and waits for his merciful attention.

Psalm 122 rejoiced that the pilgrims had reached Jerusalem and urged them to seek the city's peace. Psalm 123 reminds us that arriving among God's people does not remove every wound. A congregation can be gathered for worship while its members are still burdened by mockery or marginalization. What does faithful prayer sound like when we are tired of being looked down upon, and God has not yet answered?

1.0 Introduction

Psalm 123 belongs to the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120–134). It is only four verses long, yet its poetry moves with precision. In verse 1, one voice raises its eyes toward the One enthroned in heaven. In verse 2, the singular “I” becomes the plural “our” as the community describes its patient attention to the LORD. In verses 3–4, that attention becomes an urgent, repeated plea for mercy because the people are saturated with contempt.

The structure is simple but powerful:

Eyes lifted toward the heavenly King (v. 1).
Eyes waiting on the LORD's merciful action (v. 2).
Voices pleading for mercy because humiliation has become unbearable (vv. 3–4).

The central image is the eye. It appears repeatedly before the psalm tells us what the community needs. We are invited to notice not merely what people say in prayer, but where they direct their attention. The psalm begins with God's throne and ends with the scorn of people who think themselves secure. The contrast is intentional: those who seem high in the social order are not higher than the LORD.

The prayer does not conclude with a declaration of rescue. We are left waiting alongside the people who pray it. That incompleteness is part of its spiritual honesty. Some psalms testify to a deliverance already received; Psalm 123 makes room for the worshiper who can truthfully say, “We still need mercy.”

2.0 Historical and Literary Context

The fourth Song of Ascents

In the present arrangement of the Psalter, Psalm 123 follows a developing series. Psalm 120 begins amid deceitful and hostile speech. Psalm 121 raises the eyes toward the hills and confesses that help comes from the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 122 rejoices in Jerusalem and prays for peace within its walls. Psalm 123 again lifts the eyes—but this time explicitly to the LORD enthroned in heaven—because contempt persists even among people who seek peace.

These relationships are literary connections within the collection, not evidence that all the poems were written by one pilgrim on successive days. John Goldingay observes that Psalm 123 has no obvious reference to a literal journey. Its experience of being looked down upon may nevertheless explain why it fitted a collection sung by worshipers whose lives were shaped by vulnerability and longing.

Unlike some neighboring psalms, Psalm 123 names no author, king, battle, or date. Proposals involving the Assyrian or Babylonian periods, the exile, or the community after the return to Jerusalem remain possibilities rather than established facts. The ridicule directed toward those rebuilding Jerusalem in Nehemiah 2:19 and 4:1–4 offers a particularly vivid analogy, but the psalm does not identify that episode as its original setting.

Goldingay treats the poem as a communal prayer even though it begins in the first-person singular. A worship leader could speak on behalf of the gathered people, or one worshiper could lead the congregation into a shared declaration. We should therefore avoid imagining that verse 1 must belong to a private sufferer and verses 2–4 to a completely different group.

A communal lament that begins with trust

Lament psalms often move from distress toward confidence or praise. Psalm 123 is unusual in its movement: it starts with concentrated trust and ends with the community's unresolved complaint. The first two verses tell us where the people are looking; the final two reveal what has made their gaze so urgent.

There is no named human enemy, no narrated rescue, and no answer placed in God's mouth. That restraint opens the poem to many communities: people dismissed because of poverty, minorities mocked by the powerful, believers ridiculed for their convictions, or households whose suffering is made worse by others' indifference. These are applications of the psalm's language, not claims about the exact social group that first sang it.

The repeated expressions hold the poem together: eyes (vv. 1–2), hand (v. 2), mercy (vv. 2–3), and more than enough / filled (vv. 3–4). The repetitions make the reader feel the persistence of both prayer and injury.

The world behind the servant image

Verse 2 draws on household relationships familiar to the ancient world: male and female servants attentive to a master or mistress. Such relationships involved real inequalities of status and power. We should not romanticize them. Neither should we read the image as an endorsement of slavery or exploitative labor structures.

The comparison is limited and purposeful. Those dependent on another's provision and protection watch for a response from the person who has the resources or authority to help. Kidner notes that the worshipers are looking for relief rather than merely waiting for instructions. Goldingay likewise stresses the expectation of a master or mistress who has responsibilities toward those under their care. God's authority is not depicted as indifference: the people address him because they believe he can attend to them in mercy.

3.0 Walking Through the Text

3.1 Psalm 123:1 — “To you I lift my eyes”

The opening is direct: “To you” comes first. The psalmist does not begin by analyzing the mockers or rehearsing every insult. The first act is to identify the One being addressed. The lifted eyes resemble the opening of Psalm 121, but the focus is more explicit. Psalm 121 asks where help comes from; Psalm 123 names the person to whom the whole community's attention will be directed.

The LORD is described as “the one enthroned in the heavens.” This does not mean that God is too remote to notice earthly troubles. In royal language, enthronement expresses authority. Goldingay explicitly observes that God's heavenly seat conveys sovereignty and the capacity to intervene, not withdrawal from human affairs (compare Ps. 115:3; 103:19).

A striking vertical contrast emerges. People below may look down on others, but the One who truly occupies the highest position is the LORD. Social superiority is a fragile human judgment; God's sovereignty is the enduring reality before which all such judgments must be weighed.

Nor is looking upward a refusal to see reality. The worshipers know exactly what is happening to them. They simply decline to let that experience become the whole horizon of their lives. To look toward God is to remember that the contempt of others is not the final truth about us.

For a person who has been humiliated in a workplace, school, congregation, or family, this opening offers a truthful beginning to prayer: LORD, before I respond to them, I turn toward you. It does not magically remove the harm. It gives the injured person a different center from which to face it.

3.2 Psalm 123:2 — “As the eyes of servants look to the hand”

The comparison unfolds slowly. A servant watches a master's hand; a maid watches her mistress's hand; so our eyes look to the LORD our God. The parallel mentions women and men rather than restricting the prayer to one part of the community. Their common feature is need, not social prestige.

What does the hand signify? The text does not identify one exact gesture. In ordinary household life, a hand could signal an instruction, extend food, give assistance, or authorize protection. In this prayer, the climactic phrase “until he has mercy on us” directs the meaning toward needed help. The image therefore should not be reduced to servile obedience, still less used to justify a person inflicting pain upon a dependent worker.

Goldingay considers older interpretations in which servants fear the hand that strikes them but regards an expectant, positive reading as better suited to the psalm. He compares passages where living creatures look toward God for provision (Pss. 104:27–28; 145:15–16). Kidner emphasizes close attention and continuing loyalty: the worshipers do not abandon the LORD simply because his response has not yet arrived.

The transition from “my eyes” to “our eyes” is crucial. Prayer becomes communal. When humiliation isolates people, shared prayer allows them to name their need without pretending that each individual must carry it alone. A community can say together what a frightened member may struggle to say in solitude.

The small word “until” gives this verse its time frame. The people are not claiming to control when or how God will act. Their dependence is sustained, but it is not empty. They have a particular hope: the LORD's gracious response. Waiting means continuing to direct trust toward God while remaining attentive to the responsibilities that faithful living still requires.

That final qualification matters. Waiting on God is not a command to remain in danger, suppress testimony, or refuse practical help. The biblical God who hears oppressed people also calls his people to act justly, protect the vulnerable, and challenge wrongdoing (Exod. 3:7–10; Isa. 1:17). Prayerful dependence and appropriate action can belong together.

3.3 Psalm 123:3 — “Have mercy on us, LORD; have mercy on us”

The prayer reaches its emotional center through repetition. After looking for God's mercy in verse 2, the community now names its request twice: “Have mercy on us, LORD; have mercy on us.” In Hebrew, the appeal derives from the verb ḥānan, to be gracious or show favor. This is not a demand grounded in the worshipers' superiority over their enemies. It is an appeal to the generosity of the God with whom they have a covenant relationship.

The repetition is neither ornamental nor a sign of failed faith. When harm lasts a long time, people sometimes need to repeat the simplest request. Have mercy. They may not have a polished explanation or an impressive argument. The psalm tells them that prayer can be both short and urgent.

Why is mercy needed? “For we have had more than enough contempt.” The Hebrew image is one of being filled or sated. Normally fullness suggests food, rest, or blessing. Here the community is filled with something that destroys its well-being. Contempt has become an unwelcome daily portion.

The word translated “contempt” refers to being treated with scorn or disdain. It is not the same as an honest disagreement or a fair correction. Contempt says, often without words, You are beneath serious consideration. It aims at dignity as well as reputation. Kidner draws attention to its particularly deep sting: mockery can wound even when no physical blow is struck.

Notice what the people do not ask for. They do not call themselves righteous because they are poor or declare every comfortable person wicked. Neither do they offer a plan for revenge. They name the injury and appeal to the One whose mercy can challenge the judgments imposed upon them.

The plea also challenges religious communities. If someone tells a person who has been humiliated merely to “be strong” or “ignore the words,” that counsel may overlook a real injury. Psalm 123 authorizes the community to say the hurt out loud before God. Mercy must not be made into a polite word that silences complaints about injustice.

3.4 Psalm 123:4 — “Our soul has had more than enough”

Verse 4 intensifies the imagery: our very life, our whole being, has become saturated with the sneering of those who live at ease and the contempt of the proud. The Hebrew word often rendered “soul” (nephesh) speaks here of the living person, not necessarily an immaterial part separable from the body. The insult reaches the whole person—thoughts, relationships, confidence, and sense of belonging.

Two descriptions of the mockers occur: those who are at ease and the proud. Some translations stress their complacency or arrogance; Goldingay notes that the underlying words can also describe objective security or elevated status. This matters: the community seems to suffer disdain from people protected by their position, resources, or power. Their comfort gives them the opportunity to look down on those who cannot easily answer back.

That does not mean all prosperous or secure people are contemptuous. Nor does it mean that poverty always produces moral virtue. The criticism falls on security turned into superiority and status turned into scorn. A well-provided person can use influence to shield the vulnerable; the people criticized here have used their advantage to humiliate them.

The psalm's final line brings the conflict into sharp focus. The LORD is exalted in heaven (v. 1); the arrogant seem exalted in the human order (v. 4). Which elevation will define reality? The worshipers' lifted eyes confess that earthly pride cannot displace divine authority.

Yet the psalm stops without recording God's answer. The community still feels the full weight of contempt. Scripture permits the prayer to remain open. Faith is sometimes the act of continuing to ask for mercy without pretending the humiliation has ended.

4.0 Theological Reflection

4.1 God's transcendence makes his compassion possible, not irrelevant

Some hear the words “enthroned in heaven” as though God must be distant. In Psalm 123, they mean the opposite. The God who rules beyond earthly power arrangements is the One to whom a powerless community can appeal. If God were merely another participant in the existing hierarchy, those at the bottom would have little reason to hope.

The prophets and the Psalter repeatedly hold heavenly majesty and concern for the humble together. Psalm 113 praises the One enthroned on high who stoops to lift the poor. Isaiah 57:15 speaks of the exalted and holy God who also dwells with the contrite. Theologically, Psalm 123 does not ask us to choose between God's greatness and his mercy. His greatness means the proud do not have the last word; his mercy means the lowly are not forgotten.

4.2 Mercy is a relationship, not a technique for controlling God

The recurring request “have mercy” rests on the identity of “the LORD our God.” The worshipers do not offer a ritual formula that forces a result. They rely on the character of the One they address. The priestly blessing asks the LORD to make his face shine upon his people and be gracious to them (Num. 6:24–26). Psalm 123 is what such covenant language sounds like when people feel the opposite of blessing.

Prayer here is truthful dependence. God is able to act, and the community is free to ask. But the psalm does not say when mercy will be experienced or insist that faith always produces immediate social vindication. The prayer is confident in its addressee while remaining open about its outcome.

4.3 Contempt is a moral wrong, not merely an unpleasant feeling

Contempt can become a system. It appears in schoolrooms where some children are always ridiculed, in neighborhoods where people are dismissed because of their work or origins, in institutions where complaints from the poor are ignored, and even in religious gatherings where those without influence are shamed. These examples help us hear the psalm; none identifies its precise original setting.

The biblical defense of human dignity begins with people made in God's image (Gen. 1:26–27), and it continues in commands to protect the vulnerable (Deut. 10:17–19; Prov. 14:31; Jas. 2:1–9). When influence is used to degrade another person, the wrong is not simply that the victim feels sad. A neighbor whom God values is being treated as though that worth were disposable.

4.4 Waiting is not consent to mistreatment

The servants' attentive eyes have sometimes been misread as a religious command to tolerate domination. That is not what Psalm 123 says. The worshipers protest their treatment; they do not praise their mockers' conduct. They seek intervention from the authority they trust.

Faithful waiting may include documenting mistreatment, seeking counsel, asking leaders to act fairly, reporting threats through appropriate channels, or leaving an unsafe environment. Such choices require prudence, and situations differ. The psalm provides a posture of prayer rather than a substitute for safeguarding, accountability, or justice.

4.5 The psalm offers solidarity, not merely individual endurance

The shift from “I” to “we” moves humiliation from isolation into shared care. A congregation should not ask wounded members to solve every injury privately. Christians are instructed to bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:2), to mourn with those who mourn (Rom. 12:15), and to remember those who are mistreated (Heb. 13:3).

To pray Psalm 123 together is to accept a public responsibility: If one of us has been despised, we will not treat that contempt as a private inconvenience. A community's prayers for mercy become credible when it also practices attentive listening, truthful witness, and protection for vulnerable members.

4.6 An unfinished prayer can still be a faithful prayer

Goldingay notes the absence of any explicit response at the end. Kidner similarly emphasizes the unresolved cry. This is an important corrective to the assumption that every biblical prayer must finish with cheerful certainty that circumstances will immediately improve.

The Bible includes lament because believers sometimes live between the promise of God's faithfulness and the experience of unanswered distress. Lamentations 3:21–33 holds grief and hope together without denying either. Romans 8:23–25 describes God's people as groaning while waiting for redemption. Psalm 123 belongs to that larger grammar of patient, honest hope.

5.0 Canonical and Christological Horizon

From the pilgrimage songs to Israel's larger hope

The Psalms of Ascents do not move in a straight line from trouble to permanent comfort. Psalm 120 seeks rescue from hostile speech; Psalm 121 celebrates the LORD's care; Psalm 122 rejoices in Jerusalem; Psalm 123 pleads for mercy despite continuing scorn. The arrangement reflects the real rhythm of discipleship: arrival at a place of worship does not mean all enemies or wounds disappear.

The psalm also recalls Israel's repeated experience of being mocked in weakness. Nehemiah's opponents ridiculed the restoration of Jerusalem's walls (Neh. 2:19; 4:1–4). The exiles knew how it felt to hear their faith and future dismissed (Ps. 137; Ezek. 36:4). Those texts illustrate a recognizable biblical pattern, without establishing exactly when Psalm 123 was first composed.

At the same time, Psalm 123 stands near Psalm 113, where the high God raises the lowly, and Psalm 115, where the LORD enthroned in heaven is distinguished from lifeless idols. The God to whom the oppressed look is not one more source of social scorn. His living rule offers grounds for their appeal.

Jesus and the dignity of those treated with contempt

Jesus knew public mockery. During his suffering he was ridiculed, dressed in humiliating ways, and mocked as a false king (Luke 22:63–65; 23:35–39; Mark 15:16–20). The psalm does not name Jesus at its original historical horizon, but Christians can hear its language alongside the story of the Messiah who entered the humiliation of those he came to save.

Jesus' response to contempt was not to declare that humiliation is harmless. He confronted hypocrisy and dehumanizing judgment (Matt. 5:21–22; 23:23). At his trial and crucifixion he refused to make retaliation the definition of his mission (1 Pet. 2:21–23). The cross exposes what powerful people can do to a vulnerable person; the resurrection declares that their verdict is not ultimate (Acts 2:23–24, 32–36).

The Gospels also show a striking reversal of ordinary ideas of mastery. Jesus washes his disciples' feet and teaches that greatness takes the form of service (John 13:1–17; Mark 10:42–45). This does not erase the difference between Creator and creature. It reveals the kind of Lord to whom Psalm 123's worshipers can lift their eyes: power directed toward love, protection, and restoration rather than domination.

Prayer, mercy, and the hope of the coming kingdom

Jesus teaches his disciples to begin prayer by addressing the Father in heaven, echoing the upward orientation of Psalm 123 (Matt. 6:9–10). He also commends the persistence of those who cry for justice (Luke 18:1–8). The tax collector's plea, “God, be merciful to me,” resembles the psalm's humble, unadorned request (Luke 18:13). These are theological resonances, not claims that each passage explicitly quotes Psalm 123.

Hebrews invites believers to approach God's throne of grace to receive mercy and timely help through Jesus, their compassionate high priest (Heb. 4:14–16). Here the theological movement becomes especially clear: the throne that signifies authority is also the place where mercy may be sought.

Christian hope ultimately looks toward God's renewed creation, where mourning, death, and everything that degrades his creatures will not have the final word (Rev. 21:1–5). That future does not make today's injuries unreal or excuse a community from seeking justice. It gives courage to pray, resist contempt, and honor people who are presently dismissed.

6.0 Life Application

Name the contempt truthfully. Ask whether the pain you carry comes from an ordinary disagreement, needed correction, or genuine humiliation. These are not the same. Psalm 123 speaks particularly to repeated treatment that denies a person's dignity.
Begin prayer with the One you are addressing. Before rehearsing the mocker's words again, speak the psalm's opening: “To you I lift my eyes.” Turn your attention toward God's character without pretending that the injury has disappeared.
Do not measure your worth by another person's social position. The influential can be wrong, and the overlooked can speak truth. Assess criticism honestly, but do not turn someone's sneer into a verdict on the value God gives you.
Use short prayers when exhaustion leaves you without words. The repeated words “Have mercy on us” are sufficient. Elaborate language is not a condition of being heard.
Do not endure dangerous mistreatment in silence. Seek trustworthy assistance, safe boundaries, institutional accountability, or professional help where necessary. Praying for mercy and taking protective action are not opposing duties.
Make prayer a shared responsibility. If someone in your congregation is shamed for poverty, disability, background, or lack of influence, resist the temptation to call the problem “their personal struggle.” Listen and respond as a community.
Examine how your own security affects your treatment of others. Does a salary, office, education, title, or ministry position make you inattentive to people without those advantages? The psalm challenges contempt precisely where comfort has become superiority.
Teach children and young people that ridicule has moral weight. A joke that isolates a classmate is not harmless merely because a group laughs. Create spaces where the targets of mockery are believed and protected.
Practice active patience. Where a situation cannot be immediately resolved, continue to seek just and wise steps. Waiting on God need not mean doing nothing; it means refusing to let bitterness or vengeance become your guide.
Allow some prayers to remain unfinished. When an answer has not come, resist manufacturing a cheerful ending. Keep lament, trust, and honest uncertainty together before the LORD.
Read the psalm aloud with people whose dignity is at risk. Its repeated pronouns allow a group to say “our eyes” and “have mercy on us.” Follow the reading by asking what practical care would make that solidarity real.
Look beyond personal rescue toward a community without contempt. The kingdom Jesus announces challenges the ranking of people by wealth, status, and public admiration. Pray for and practice relationships shaped by his servant-hearted rule.

7.0 Reflection Questions

Why might the author begin by lifting the eyes toward God before explaining the community's suffering?
What does God's being enthroned in heaven communicate in a psalm about people who are socially powerless? What does it not mean?
What can we learn from the movement from “my eyes” in verse 1 to “our eyes” in verse 2?
What is the point—and what are the limits—of the comparison with servants watching a master or mistress's hand?
How do Goldingay's and Kidner's readings of the servant image help distinguish dependence on God from approval of oppressive human relationships?
What is the difference between necessary criticism and contempt? Have you experienced or practiced either one?
Why does the psalm describe the community as filled or sated with contempt? What does repeated humiliation do to a person's whole life?
How can those who feel secure or influential become blind to the pain of people with fewer choices? What would repentance look like?
What does the psalm teach us about praying when no answer or relief is yet visible?
How does Jesus' experience of public mockery change the way we hear this ancient community's plea?
Why must a congregation that prays “have mercy on us” also pursue justice, safeguarding, and practical support?
In what situation—personal, pastoral, or communal—could you begin this week with the prayer, “LORD, have mercy on us”?

8.0 Response Prayer

LORD our God, to you we lift our eyes. You reign above every power that can frighten, silence, or humiliate your people. We confess that we sometimes allow the contempt of others to shape how we see ourselves, and at other times we have looked down on people whom you love. Have mercy on us, LORD; have mercy on us. Give protection to those who are threatened, courage to those whose voices have been dismissed, and compassion to communities tempted to ignore their pain. Keep our waiting from becoming despair and our anger from becoming cruelty. Teach those who hold authority to use it for service rather than pride. Through Jesus Christ, who endured mockery and rose in victory, lead us toward truth, justice, healing, and a hope that will not be put to shame. Amen.

9.0 Window into What Comes Next

Psalm 123 ends with a community that has more than enough contempt and is still looking toward God. Its prayer remains unanswered on the page. The worshipers have not found an easy way around their vulnerability. They have, however, refused to surrender their hope to those who despise them.

Psalm 124 responds with a strikingly different voice: “If the LORD had not been on our side ...” It remembers overwhelming danger and then celebrates escape. The images are vivid: enemies who could have swallowed the people alive, waters threatening to engulf them, and a bird freed from the hunter's snare.

The transition should not make us claim that Psalm 124 records the precise historical answer to Psalm 123. These are distinct poems. But their placement allows worshipers to move from an unresolved cry for mercy to a communal testimony that the LORD has indeed delivered his people. The journey of the Songs of Ascents makes room for both experiences.

The next question is: When God brings us through a danger that seemed certain to destroy us, how can remembrance become honest, shared praise rather than self-congratulation?

10.0 Bibliography

Scripture: Psalm 123; Psalms 36:5–10; 42:10–11; 104:27–28; 113; 115:2–3; 120–124; 137; 145:15–16; Genesis 1:26–27; Exodus 3:7–10; Numbers 6:24–26; Deuteronomy 10:17–19; Nehemiah 2:19; 4:1–4; Isaiah 1:17; 57:15; Ezekiel 36:4; Proverbs 14:31; Matthew 5:21–22; 6:9–10; 23:23; Mark 10:42–45; 15:16–20; Luke 18:1–14; 22:63–65; 23:35–39; John 13:1–17; Acts 2:23–36; Romans 8:23–25; 12:15; Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 4:14–16; 13:3; James 2:1–9; 1 Peter 2:21–23; Revelation 21:1–5.
Goldingay, John. Psalms, Volume 3: Psalms 90–150. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. Commentary on Psalm 123, especially the unresolved communal prayer, the transition from singular to plural, the servant image, and the vocabulary of security and scorn.
Kidner, Derek. Psalms 73–150. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975; later editions. Commentary on Psalm 123, “Our longing eyes,” especially the higher perspective of verse 1, the servants' expectant attention, and the painful force of contempt.
BibleProject. Book of Psalms overview and resources on Hebrew poetry and the canonical arrangement of the Psalter. Used for broad canonical orientation rather than for the specific lexical judgments attributed to Goldingay or Kidner.
Project study resources: The Book of Psalms — Study Notes and Book of Psalms: Guide with Key Information and Resources. General orientation to the Psalter and its literary collections. Translation note: Short biblical excerpts designated “study rendering” are interpretive renderings prepared for this article, not verbatim quotations from a specified published Bible translation. Historical settings and debated lexical details are presented with appropriate qualifications.

Psalm 123 — Eyes Lifted Above Contempt: Waiting for the Mercy of God