Biblion Bible Commentary
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As the Eyes of Servants
Psalms 123:1-4
1 A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens. · WEB
Four verses built on one image: a servant watching a hand, waiting to see what it will do.
I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens Psalms 123:1.
The previous psalm lifted its eyes to the hills; this one goes higher and stops at the throne.
Behold, 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 Yahweh, our God, until he has mercy on us Psalms 123:2.
One long verse containing the whole psalm. A household servant in that world watched the hand rather than the face, because instructions were given by gesture — a movement of the fingers, and the servant moved. What the image describes is attention of a particular kind: sustained, undivided, and directed at something small.
And the servant is not watching for a threat. He is watching because he cannot act until the hand does, and because he will miss it if he looks away.
The second half of the comparison is the psalm's quiet inclusion. A maid watching her mistress was the lowest position in a household, and the psalm gives her the same posture as the men.
Until he has mercy on us. The watching has an end and it is not specified. That is the point of the verse: the servant does not know when the hand will move and stays looking anyway.
Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt Psalms 123:3.
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud Psalms 123:4.
The grievance, stated at the end and in four words: they are being sneered at by the comfortable. It is not persecution, and the psalm does not overstate it. Being looked down on by people with nothing to worry about is a smaller thing than danger and it wears a person out differently, and four verses is the right length for it.
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