Psalm Chapters 123 and 124 - Songs of Degrees

Psalms 123 and 124: The Upward Gaze and the Broken Snare

There is a gesture in Psalm 123 that deserves more attention than we usually give it — the lifting of the eyes. Not the closing of them, as we so often do in prayer, but the opening and raising of them toward the One who dwells in the heavens. The psalmist compares himself to a servant watching the hand of a master, a maiden watching her mistress — not in fear, but in that alert, almost breathless attentiveness of one who knows that everything depends on what that hand will do next. And what does the servant ask for? Mercy. Because the world has filled him with contempt, and the proud have made his soul heavy. Then Psalm 124 arrives like the other side of the same coin: the backward glance of gratitude. "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side" — the repetition is not carelessness but emphasis, the kind of thing you say twice because you can hardly believe it once. The waters would have overwhelmed us. The teeth would have torn us. But the snare is broken, and the bird has escaped. These two psalms belong together like inhale and exhale: one looks up in desperate need, the other looks back in astonished relief. And between them, the pilgrim walks on.

00:00 Eyes Lifted to Heaven
00:15 The Servant's Watchful Gaze
00:30 A Cry for Mercy
01:00 If the Lord Had Not Been on Our Side
01:20 The Snare Is Broken
01:35 Our Help in His Name