Chapter Text
123:1 A Song of Ascents. To You I lift up my eyes, The One enthroned in the heavens!
123:2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a servant‑girl to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to Yahweh our God, Until He is gracious to us.
123:3 Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us, For we are greatly saturated with contempt.
123:4 Our soul is greatly saturated With the mockery of those who are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "song", "ascents", "lift", "eyes", "enthroned", "heavens", and "behold". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "song" and "ascents", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The local LSB text gives this verse as the immediate unit, so "song" and "ascents" carries the first interpretive weight. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "song" and "ascents" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.