PSALMS OF ASCENT!

PSALM 123:1

Lift
I LIFT UP MY EYES TO YOU, TO YOU WHOSE THRONE IS IN HEAVEN. (PSALMS 123:01 NIV)
I / US
The rst word of this Psalm is I. Is the Psalm personal or communal? This is a plea from the heart of an i n d i v i d u a l , bu t a l s o t h e statement of a community. The rest of the Psalm is about our eyes, us, and we. This is one of the Psalms of communal lament - Psalms 44, 58, 74, 79, 80, 83, 89:38ff, 106 & 123.

POSTURE
Lifting our eyes to God indicates that we are taking the posture of a servant (more on that in the verses to come). In that position we are recognising God for who He is - and we are ready to receive from Him what we need. Looking up is a decision to step away from the world and to see things from Gods perspective. The rst Psalm of Ascent looked higher than the hills, and now this pilgrim seems to have got used to looking beyond his circumstances to God in the heavens. We are growing when this becomes our habit - seeking the God whos faithful love and wisdom are beyond ours (see Ps 36.5),
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9 NIV)

different - Ps 115.3. However, this Psalm goes on to remind the singer that God is the provider of all our needs - He promised!
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will nd; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks nds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:910 NIV)

MOODS
The pilgrim went through many moods as do we in the Christian life. This Psalm helps us remember that we can take these moods to God. Jesus went through many moods on the cross - as his cries from the cross demonstrate culminating in the cry,
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 NIV)

We must go to God when the world cannot provide the support we need. When our son was ill recently we called an ambulance not Dominos Pizza! So many of our problems are beyond us and the skill of people around us. Who are you calling on?

AVAILABLE
God is available 24/7. Fr i e n d s, ex p e r t s a n d counsellors are all helpful - but only God is always with you. Believing in God but refusing to approach him for help is folly at best and arrogance at worst. Lift up your eyes today.

OTHERNESS
We must never become over-familiar with our thinking of God that we forget to respect His otherness. He is

It also helps us when enduring persecution as we see in the early church, Acts 4:24-25.

Malcolm Cox, email: malcolm.cox@iccmissions.org | ICC Missions on facebook | www.nwlcc.org