In our world of personal choice, it’s easy to forget our dependence on the Lord. The psalmist reminds us:

I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look the 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.

Deep down, below the easy decisions to fill our bellies, lies our need for goodwill and generosity and grace. We’re dependent on the Lord for all these and more.

The language here strikes hard. Not that of a loving parent to a child, but of a master to a slave. Repugnant imagery perhaps, to consider our relationship to God in such a way, but it illustrates our total dependence on the Lord.

The Master decides, not the slave. The owner chooses when to extend mercy, regardless the slave’s manipulation. The timing is not that of the slave’s, but rather at the pleasure of the Master.

We pray have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, because only one possesses the ability to grant our deepest need—the Master.

Through the centuries believers prayed, Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Try praying this yourself throughout the day. Perhaps nothing is more essential to our faith than to desperately appeal to the master until he shows us mercy.

Psalm 123 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Jacob Bentzinger