June 8, 2020

Daily Devotionals

June 8, 2020

Our Peachtree Church email devotionals this week, June 8-12, are inspired by selected Psalms.

To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

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.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,

for we have had more than enough of contempt.

Our soul has had more than its fill

of the scorn of those who are at ease,

of the contempt of the proud.

Psalm 123

The Songs of Ascent are a handful of fifteen Psalms that people would recite or sing as they climbed the long, steep way up to Jerusalem and the Temple. They have also been called the Gradual Psalms, the Songs of Degrees, or the Songs of Steps. They are named for the necessary and difficult climb ahead of the travelers who were going up to Jerusalem for worship or festival, alms-giving or sacrifice. What awaited them up there would all be worth the climb, they must have thought, as they walked up and sang.

Continuing their mount, they lift their eyes to Jerusalem and imagine the One who awaits them. They keep their eyes lifted and fixed on God as they trudge. It seems to them that their eyes and minds are as trained on Him as they would be on an earthly lord or lady, whom they watched respectfully to see what would be wanted next. They hope that God will show mercy, just as they hope earthly lords and ladies would show mercy to their servants.

And why do they need mercy? They are simple people who are treated with scorn by their richer and more powerful neighbors. They are lorded over by proud and contemptuous wealthy folk. All they have is God, and they are climbing to Him. They are climbing for God’s mercy.

In this time of pandemic, we have become fractured: rich from poor, powerful from simple. Or at least we see the fractures as we never have seen them before. The virus has laid bare the everyday use we sometimes make of others. To insulate ourselves, we call on others to serve our needs. We accept deliveries from their hands and close our doors behind us. This scripture reminds us that the Psalmist wrote these words not for folk like us—but for those who wait on us. Like the climbers in the Psalm, there are those in our society who are watching us and hoping for mercy. They hope for that same mercy the simple people in the Psalm sought when they lifted their eyes to God and prayed as they walked up the steepest hills of life.

For Reflection

With whom do you identify in this Psalm? And why?

Does the situation of servants and lords and ladies seem outdated, or is there something current here?

What kind of mercy can you show to those who wait on you in this time?

Prayer

Oh Lord our God, we lift our eyes to You as we climb through this hard time. We want to remember that You are there at the end of the climb and that You also walk beside us every day. Lord, help us to open our eyes and hearts to see those around us who serve, who wait and watch and give. Help us find ways to be merciful. Teach us and change us, oh Lord of mercy on the heights. Amen.

Rev. Vicki Franch

Pastor for Pastoral Care

404-842-2571