I Lift Up My Eyes
Psalm 123 summary: what it means
Psalm 123 is four verses long and moves from one pair of eyes to many. It opens with a single voice lifting its eyes to God, who sits in the heavens. Verse 2 gives the psalm's picture: servants watching their master's hand, and a maid watching the hand of her mistress. In the same way, our eyes look to the LORD our God until he has mercy.
The last two verses say why mercy is needed. The people have endured much contempt, and their soul is filled with the scoffing of those at ease and the contempt of the proud. The psalm ends there, with no answer recorded. It stays in the posture of watching and waiting that verse 2 described.
Psalm 123: I Lift Up My Eyes
World English Bible, public domain. allpsalms.com/psalm-123
Psalm 123 commentary: explained verse by verse
I lift up my eyes to you,you who sit in the heavens.
Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
The psalm begins with a single person looking up. God is described only by where he is, the one who sits in the heavens. The KJV reads Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
Also read Luke 18:13, Isaiah 57:15, Psalm 11:4, Psalm 121:1
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 the LORD, our God,until he has mercy on us.
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
This is the heart of the psalm. Servants watch their master's hand and a maid watches her mistress's, waiting for a sign. The people watch the LORD in the same way, and they keep watching until he has mercy on them.
Also read Psalm 119:82, Psalm 25:15, Luke 18:1, Lamentations 3:25-26
Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us,for we have endured much contempt.
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
The plea for mercy is doubled: have mercy on us, have mercy on us. The reason is given plainly. They have endured much contempt.
Also read Psalm 56:1-2, Luke 18:11-13, Psalm 57:1, Psalm 44:13-16
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease,with the contempt of the proud.
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
The contempt is described in more detail. It comes from those who are at ease and from the proud, and the people say their soul is exceedingly filled with it. The psalm ends here, still waiting.
Also read Amos 6:1, Acts 26:24, Psalm 73:5-9, Jeremiah 48:29
A prayer from Psalm 123
LORD, I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens. As servants look to the hand of their master, and as a maid looks to the hand of her mistress, so my eyes look to you, and I will keep looking until you have mercy. Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us. We have endured much contempt. We are filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease and the contempt of the proud. I bring that weight to you and wait on your hand. Amen.
Psalm 123 Bible study questions
- In verse 2, what two pictures does the writer use for how his eyes look to the LORD, and how long does he say he will keep looking?
- In verses 3 and 4, what have the people endured, and who is it coming from?
- What is it like to keep watching and waiting for help that has not yet come?
- The psalm names contempt and scoffing as the trouble. How do you respond when you are looked down on by people who are at ease?
- Psalm 121:1 also begins with lifting up the eyes. How is the direction of the look in Psalm 121:1 different from Psalm 123:1?
Questions about Psalm 123
What does Psalm 123 mean?
It is a short prayer for mercy from people who have suffered contempt. They watch God the way servants watch a master's hand, waiting until he shows mercy.
Who wrote Psalm 123?
The psalm does not name its author. Its heading calls it a Song of Ascents, one of the group from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134.
What does Psalm 123:1 say in the KJV?
Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. The KJV heading calls it A Song of degrees.
What does Psalm 123:2 mean?
It compares the people to servants watching their master's hand and a maid watching her mistress. They look to the LORD in the same way until he has mercy on them.
What does Psalm 123:3 mean?
It repeats the plea have mercy on us, and gives the reason: the people have endured much contempt.
Psalm 123 KJV: the King James Version
Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.1
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.2
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.3
Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.4
Psalm 123 in Hebrew
The Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain. Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible, which counts a psalm's heading as verse 1, so they can run one ahead of English Bibles.
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1 שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת אֵ֭לֶיךָ נָשָׂ֣אתִי אֶת־עֵינַ֑י הַ֝יֹּשְׁבִ֗י בַּשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
2 הִנֵּ֨ה כְעֵינֵ֪י עֲבָדִ֡ים אֶל־יַ֤ד אֲֽדוֹנֵיהֶ֗ם כְּעֵינֵ֣י שִׁפְחָה֮ אֶל־יַ֪ד גְּבִ֫רְתָּ֥הּ כֵּ֣ן עֵ֭ינֵינוּ אֶל־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ עַ֝֗ד שֶׁיְּחָנֵּֽנוּ׃
3 חָנֵּ֣נוּ יְהוָ֣ה חָנֵּ֑נוּ כִּֽי־רַ֝֗ב שָׂבַ֥עְנוּ בֽוּז׃
4 רַבַּת֮ שָֽׂבְעָה־לָּ֪הּ נַ֫פְשֵׁ֥נוּ הַלַּ֥עַג הַשַּׁאֲנַנִּ֑ים הַ֝בּ֗וּז לִגְאֵ֥יוֹנִֽים׃
Psalm 123 in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible
The Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain. It follows the Greek and Latin numbering, so this psalm is Psalm 122 there.
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1 To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven.
2 Behold as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are greatly filled with contempt.
4 For our soul is greatly filled: we are a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud.
Psalm 123 in Latin
The Clementine Vulgate, public domain, where this psalm is Psalm 122.
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1 Canticum graduum. Ad te levavi oculos meos, qui habitas in cælis.
2 Ecce sicut oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum; sicut oculi ancillæ in manibus dominæ suæ: ita oculi nostri ad Dominum Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri.
3 Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri, quia multum repleti sumus despectione;
4 quia multum repleta est anima nostra opprobrium abundantibus, et despectio superbis.
Printable Psalm 123: free, large print and PDF
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Psalm 123 at a glance
| Verses | 4 |
| Heading in the text | A Song of Ascents. |
| Attributed to | Not named in the text. It is one of the fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134. |
| Type | Song of Ascents and Prayer |
| Number in Greek and Latin Bibles | Psalm 122 |
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Psalm 123 in other translations
This page prints the World English Bible and the King James Version because both are public domain. The NIV, ESV, NKJV, NLT and NASB are under copyright, so they cannot be printed in full here. You can read Psalm 123 in those translations at Bible Gateway.
Where Psalm 123 belongs
Songs of AscentsBook 5 of the Psalms
How this page was made
The psalm text comes from public domain translations and is not edited. The summary, the verse notes and the answers are written for this page from the text of the psalm itself. Where a claim goes beyond the text, it is sourced below.
Sources
- Text: World English Bible and King James Version, both public domain, from ebible.org source
- Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Douay-Rheims: Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Latin text: Clementine Vulgate, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Numbering: Greek and Latin psalm numbering, Wikipedia, Psalms source