Let's return to the Psalms of ascent together. Psalm 123 is where we'll be, Psalm 123. Just to kind of put a punctuation point in my mind on that announcement about family VBS, I honestly have to tell you, I never thought I'd be a senior pastor, let alone a youth pastor. All I ever thought I'd do is preach to kids and juniors. And that's most of what I did in traveling and evangelism. And that's still what I do predominantly when it comes to preaching at camps. I'll be preaching this summer at a couple And it's mostly to juniors. I love working with children and family ministries, and that's kind of been my passion. I know you don't know that about me, that's why I'm telling that to you right now. Some will ask, how did that change your sermon prep? Well, honestly, not at all. So here we are, Psalm 123, this evening, Psalm 123. You know, one of the most powerful tools for teaching is comparison and contrast. If you go into a classroom for kids, you'll notice a kid teacher will do that. They'll use comparison and contrast. And as we do so, by looking at the differences and the similarities in things in life, we can be able to parse out and better understand life, quite frankly, better understand how things work. And we can set them apart by using comparison and contrast. I bring that to your attention because one of the things that I have loved about studying the Psalms, and particularly the Psalms of Ascent as we journey through them, is that is exactly what's going on. We see a lot of comparison and contrast. We see a lot of setting things side by side, seeing how they are different, perhaps, and seeing how things are similar. And the psalmist, as he does this kind of comparison and contrast study that we've already been into, we're now in Psalm 123, We started several messages ago in this, so if you can recall in your mind, you can recall that he does that. He'll stack good things right next to bad things. He'll stack them side by side. And he'll show you bad next to good by way of contrast. And there's a complexity that he shows us in the experience of faith, in the experience of walking by faith. And that is certainly true in the psalm we're about to read. In Psalm 123, it begins with verses looking to the Lord for grace. That's the good, we could say, verses 1 and 2. But then it ends in that same psalm with a jarring contrast in verses 3 and 4 as the psalmist is scoffed at for looking to the Lord by faith. And those two things, if you think about it, often live side by side in the soul of a trusting believer. A pure heart of faith in this world will be met with the scoffing of those who reject the God that you put your faith in. And this is helpful for me to read, I think. It helps me to have a realistic expectation about what faith looks like. You know, there are those who think that if you have faith, then there will never be trouble in your soul at all. And the Psalms would not support such a Pollyannish view of faith, would they? There's this contrast, and there's this warring. There's this honesty, even, with the war of faith. And the truth of goodness is often met face to face with the reality of difficulty. And so if you're here this evening feeling the weight of distress, or whatever it may be, it's comforting to come to a psalm like this. where it has laid side by side two things. Lord, I trust you, but Lord, this is still difficult. And to have those things side by side in such a brief, concentrated psalm like this, I trust is going to be edifying and encouraging for you to read. It's only four verses, but let's begin in verse one. Unto thee, Lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of the maiden to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease and with the contempt of the proud. Now, since we've been journeying through the Psalms of Ascent, let me remind you what we've been doing. We picked up our journey in Psalm 120. This journey will end in Psalm 134, marking us with 15 of these Psalms of Ascent. Some of your headings may say a song of degrees. There are 15 of them. But as they come to us, let me introduce to you a new thing that we now see. These Psalms of Ascent, 15 of them, come to us in forms of five triads, if you will, and they build together. We start with the second triad this evening. That's why I draw this to your attention, this beginning in verse Psalm 123. But there are these triads, and the first Psalm of each triad speaks to some kind of distress that the psalmist is going through and praying about and being honest with his God about. The second psalm of every one of these triads focuses more particularly on the protection of God and the blessing of God in those adversities. Then the final psalm of each triad, the third psalm of each triad, rests in the peace that knowing God's protection and blessing brings. And so there's this observable pattern as you read these 15 Psalms. There's this cycle of spiritual life. There are times where problems seem to be elevated and particularly dominating in our thoughts. And when we move into a time of meditation on them and honesty before God, we move into a peace of God, which moves us then into this new assurance that that peace brings. We're in Psalm 123, so we're about to begin a new triad. But let's review for a moment. Remember where we were. In Psalm 120, did you notice the distress? In Psalm 120, the psalmist is homesick about liars, quite frankly, you could put it that way. He's about to go out into this journey and he's homesick about liars. So Psalm 121, the psalmist is extolling the Lord as the keeper of his people in the midst of this difficulty, which moves him to Psalm 122, and the psalmist is seeking the peace of God. And so there's this observable pattern. I recognize my problem, I remember the protection of God, and finally I return to a position of peace or settled rest under the keeping hand of God. That's the pattern we see repeated in the Psalms of ascent. And I bring that to your attention because now we introduce a new triad. So what should we expect? We should expect as we come to this psalm that the psalmist in the second trial once again finds himself suffering in some way. And in this time, he's suffering the contempt of his enemies. And in that condition, he asks God for grace. He asks God to show him favor in the midst of his suffering. And in keeping with the simplicity of these Psalms, which I love about the Psalms of Ascent, there is an observable theme that immediately should rise to the top. Did you catch it already? I haven't intentionally given you my title yet, because as soon as I give you my title, you'll know the theme. My title is The Eyes of Faith. Did you notice the theme? The theme is looking up. In fact, in his commentary on the Psalms, Charles Spurgeon notes the ascending link between Psalm 120 and Psalm 123. Spurgeon says, in Psalm 120, the psalmist looks up from his despair. In Psalm 122, the psalmist looks up to the hills. In Psalm 122, the psalmist looks up to the temple. And now in Psalm 123, the psalmist looks up to God. And as you connect the dots of those first four psalms of ascent, you discover an important truth. Experience the fullness of God's love and grace is a matter of where you are looking. So where do you look in times of trial? And the theme of this psalm is very obvious. The theme is eyes. Of course it's eyes, E-Y-E-S. It's repeated four times in just the first two verses. And it starts out that way. Unto thee I lift up mine eyes. And so Psalm 123 is all about where you look. Let me ask you, where are you looking this evening? I don't know exactly where everybody's situation is, but I can still ask, where are you looking? Psalm 123 is a song for when you are at the end of your rope. Martin Luther called this Psalm the deep sigh of a pained heart. When you are oppressed or persecuted, when you don't know what to do, when you've had enough, when you're at the end of your rope, this is the psalm for you. So how do you look up? Where do you look up? What do you do when you're on your back? Well, there are four headings I want us to look at this evening, beginning number one with this, look up to the Lord as a subject to his savior. This verse tells us of the position of our faith, and it starts this way, unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwells in the heavens. The opening verse of the psalm, with his bold declaration, is a bold declaration of God's sovereignty. And it sets the whole tone for this psalm. God is in control. When you are in need, you actually need to look to someone who can take the controls, who does have the ability. God is in his throne in heaven, and he is sovereign over all things. The psalmist would say in Psalm 115 verse 3, but our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatever he hath pleased. He'll say in Psalm 135 verse 6, whatever the Lord pleased that he did in heaven and in earth and in the seas and in the deep places. Luke 137 puts it simple for those of us who just like simple truth. With God, all things are possible. The psalmist is acknowledging that God is in control because he is sovereignly in charge of all that is going on. God is on his throne, unthreatened by the rage of the heathen against him, unchallenged by the rebellion of others, seemingly unperturbed by the relentless scorn of the world's contempt. Psalm 2 verse 4 puts it this way. He that sitteth on his throne in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. God is in control. Spurgeon, in his sermon now on this particular psalm, put it this way, there is no attribute more comforting to his children than that of God's sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, that sovereignty will sanctify them. There is nothing for which the children ought to be more earnestly contending for than the matter of God's control. And looking at God through the lens of human scorn is like looking at God through the wrong end of the binoculars. You make everything look smaller. It's funny, I gave my son my old binoculars. I had binoculars I had kept for years that were given to me when I went to my first Boston Red Sox game in Fenway Park. And we sat in the nosebleeds, you know what I'm talking about, all the way back. So you had to have binoculars to see what's going on. And I gave those to Eli. He loves wearing them, but he hasn't quite figured out how to use them. Because if he puts them, you know, you got to focus it. They're pretty nice binoculars. And to him, everything is blurry. So he always looks at them from the other side, through the back end. Because that's easier. You can see through that way. But of course, when you turn binoculars around, everything's smaller. And Psalmist understood this. So even in the midst of this relentless assault, feeling as if he is drowning in the contempt of the world, he refuses to put God in his box, like so many of us do. We would rather shrink God down to our size, rather than lift up our eyes to a God that's so much bigger than who we are. God's people look at him in times of trial with the knowledge that he is in control, and his purpose cannot be derailed, and he who began a good work in you will perform it. Where do you look in times of trial? Are you looking to the Lord as a subject to your sovereign Savior? The psalmist represents the psalm to us in a complex series of roles, though. In his opening foray, he presents to us an understanding that, frankly, you are not God, God is God. And secondly, then, another role comes into play. If God is God, then you look up to him, number two, as a slave, yes, a slave, to his master. This verse teaches us something about our relationship with God when it says, 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. And so the psalmist puts shoes on the belief that God is bigger than us. He is not merely there to worship and to adore God, he is there also to serve God. And he says he is there like a servant, and he is like a servant whose eyes are constantly waiting for the smallest twitch of his master to do his bidding. In ancient times, the word used here, servant or slave, refers to one who would stand quietly in a room, unobtrusively across the room, keeping a constant eye on the master's hand. And the master at that time would direct his servants with the subtlest of gestures. And at the slightest sign from the master, they would do his bidding. They would rush across the room and they would do exactly what the person in the room who was in charge asked them to do. Now this imagery that you now have in your mind is rich with meaning because it teaches us two things about our role as servants. Number one, the imagery of a slave speaks of patience. The servant stands on the other side of the room waiting patiently for his master's direction. He knows it is not his role to tell the master what to do, but rather to wait for the master to tell him what to do. And so if need be, he will wait patiently for the master to move, and then he will follow. And secondly, the imagery of a slave speaks of trust. When the master is dealing with adversities, the slave doesn't need to understand or concur with the master's strategy. It would be inappropriate for him to interfere in any way. His role is not to place, well, I think you should. His role is to follow. A servant's only job is to wait for his master, and that is what the psalmist recognizes his position to be. And as he writes, he uses it from a male servant's perspective and a female perspective so that we all get included in his imagery. He knows exactly what we need to understand. Servants seek to reflect their masters. They watch their masters for the indicators of how, to, or what they should do. And a good servant sees the habits and lifestyle of his master so that he can really move ahead of time with the will and bidding of his master, doing those things that would be well-pleasing to his master. So the question we must ask is, are we watching God when conflict, war, and discord present themselves to us? Are we already locked in, waiting for his bid when conflict comes? Are we looking to God when things get chaotic and troublesome because it's already been our habit when the sunshine is out? And the psalmist is struggling with the insults of those around him, so he turns his eyes as a servant to God. And why do we not turn our eyes to Jesus to watch how he responds to violence? Why don't we look to what Jesus did when others are abusing him and use him as an example? Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek. Jesus demonstrated in his teaching when he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Instead, though, we like to tell God what he should do when we're the ones wrong, instead of letting God be God in this scenario. And so the psalmist says, number one, you need to understand who God is. And really, number two, you need to understand your role because of and in light of who God is. And number three, you look up to the servant, or the Lord, as a supplicant to his savior. And this verse begins to teach us about the priestly role of faith. He begins at the end of verse two, so our eyes wait upon the Lord, until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Now this whole psalm is a prayer addressed to God, and what's most remarkable here is that this is the fourth psalm of ascent, and yet it is the first psalm of ascent that is directed, addressed directly to God. Think about it, and look at your Bibles. In Psalm 120, the psalm is celebrating God's faithfulness, and it's really addressed to no one in particular. It's just a psalm about God's faithfulness. In Psalm 121, the psalm is about God, but it is addressed to his people. It is not addressed to God, it is about God, addressed to God's people. In Psalm 122, the psalm is about the temple, and it ends with a chorus addressed to the city of Jerusalem as he prays for peace, but it is not addressed to God. Only one line in those first three pilgrim psalms is a petition addressed to God himself, but here in Psalm 123, the entire psalm is an extended prayer addressed directly to God. And the supplicant begins with his prayer in verse 1, unto thee lift up I mine eyes. But notice this, the voice shifts from first person singular in verse 1, unto thee lift up I mine eyes, to first person plural in verses 2 and 3. It's already on the screen, but let me highlight them for you now. Notice what he does. our eyes, he switched, our eyes wait upon the Lord, our God, until that he might have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, oh Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Did you notice something? Friend, this is a pretty important switch. He is praying not only on his own behalf, he is now praying as an intercessor for all other people. And this, friend, is exactly how Jesus taught us to pray, but we don't often pray this way. In his model prayer, Jesus put it this way. After this manner, pray ye. Can you quote it? Our Father, which art in heaven. Notice he didn't put it in the first person. He started here with our. Have you noticed that the Lord's Prayer is phrased in the plural? He didn't say my father and so on. We are told to pray our father and to give us this day our daily bread. When we pray, we are not told to pray for ourselves. We are told to primarily be praying for our brothers and sisters. Compare this to the praying of a regular prayer request time at church for just a moment, carefully so. Because if you compare it too much, you might step on your own toes. Most prayer requests are about my needs and my hurts. We ask God about my sickness and my job and my needs. You ever heard the stories of George Mueller? George Mueller lived from 1805 to 1898. He is a perfect example of living out a selfless per life. Mueller lived in England. He is best known for his orphanages and his desire to reach factory workers, children of that age. I think in some ways it's neat to use this illustration on the heels of an announcement about children's ministries because I really believe that some of the greatest heroes of this faith focused in on children first. I believe that started with Jesus' example when he said, let children come to me. But here is one that definitely invested with kids in the miserable workhouses, like a Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist type situation. And Mueller took them in, he fed these boys and girls eventually, started with the boys, eventually he grew to having girls as well, and clothed them, educated them, and through his orphanages in Bristol, England, Mueller cared for, they tell us, as many as 2,000 orphans at a time. which eventually grew towards the end of his life to 10,000 at times at a time. Just think about the monetary needs of such a group. And only through his annual reports did people learn after the fact about the financial needs of the previous year. But he would always include how God provided them. Mueller chose to live for himself a life of poverty. And so it is reported that he would spend hours on his knees praying for the needs of his orphans. Mueller had over 50,000 specific recorded answers to prayer in his prayer journals when he died. None of them were about himself. 30,000 of which he said were answered the same day or even the same hour that he prayed them. Think about that. That's 500 definite answers to prayer each year. More than one per day, every single year for 60 years. And he never prayed for himself. Just think about that. Again, there is nothing selfish at times to pray for yourself. But it is becoming selfish when that's all you pray for. Here is the psalmist, and the switch in your mind should really be dramatic. The psalmist doesn't stroke feelings of self-pity, or his own sense of need, or his own sense of comfort. The psalmist takes a priestly stance, and he approaches God for others, which is exactly what Jesus in his model prayer told us to do. Let me ask you, where are you looking? Sometimes the best way to know where you're looking is just to assess what you're praying for. Sometimes the eyes of faith aren't all that faithful because it's all towards ourself. And the psalmist strikes all the right notes with total humility from start to finish. He praises the subject to his sovereign. He prays as a servant to his master. He prays as a supplicant making intercession for other people. But as he stands also in a fourth role, one that he doesn't expressly mention until the end of his prayer, he now stands really honestly as a sufferer to his deliverer. And this verse teaches about the problem that he's facing. Look what he says in verse three, the end there. For we are exceedingly filled with contempt Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease and with the contempt of the proud. I wish in some ways, sometimes you just feel that way, like why couldn't you just end it earlier? You feel that way sometimes, like that was a little bit more of a high note, now we're gonna end on the low note. I mean, come on, give us something joyous to end with. But as I started my message today, I actually find this beneficial because it really speaks to the reality of the human condition, doesn't it? Not everything ends with they lived happily ever after. And so it ends here, and all the preceding roles which evoked humility, these last verses resonate with us because they express to us, in a secularized society, the increasing hostility we feel. We're saying we're going to cry out to God and we're going to live for God. And as you do so, all those around in a secularized society, they mock you to scorn. We could read verse 33 and 34 this way. We have more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of this scorn. It won't stop. And the psalmist and the people had to lift up their enemies. Contempt here, by the way, refers to an attitude of hostile condensation. It might be a silent disdain, a covert oppression, it may be open insults, but that's what it refers to. And scorn refers to verbal abuse, even mocking derision. They're laughing at Christians for what they have the audacity to believe. And finally, here at the end of this psalm, we learn the nature of the trouble that had prompted the prayer at the beginning. But notice, as soon as he names what was prompting him to pray, he immediately mentions the scorn of those who are at ease and the contempt of the proud. And as soon as he mentions it, the psalm is over. Even then, he still doesn't plead for something that I would have been tempted to plead for. He doesn't plead for vengeance. He doesn't plead for revenge. Despite all of his troubles, he just wants mercy. The psalmist is okay with a life of suffering if it means it will draw him closer to God. Let me ask you, are you okay that way? Are you okay with a life of suffering that means it will draw you closer to God? In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus put it this way, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake, rejoice. What? Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they, the prophets which were before you. To be perfectly honest, I think that for the past generation or more, the people of God have been too much at ease, because Christianity has been easy. Certainly in America, that's true. And that is why, perhaps, the church is so worldly and backslidden. Those who feel at ease are the ones who ought to be the most troubled. The Old Testament is full of warnings about being at ease. In fact, it says in the Old Testament, those who are at ease in Zion are those who feel secure. And you remember when in the Old Testament times, when they were about to finally go into the promised land, their leaders stood before the congregation and waxed eloquent because they were afraid of something. They were afraid that they would finally get to the promised land and have everything at their fingertips, and lands that they didn't build, and houses that they didn't build, and fruit that they could just eat at the vine, whatever they wanted to. And in their abundance, they would forget God. Sometimes when we have it easy, when we have it right at our fingertips, the greatest danger for those of us who have it easy is we forget God. When Emperor Valens threatened Eusebius with the confiscation of all of his goods, torture, banishment, or even death, historians tell us Eusebius, the courageous Christian, replied, he needs not fear confiscation who has nothing to lose. nor banishment to whom heaven is his country, nor torments when his body can be destroyed at one blow, nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow," end quote. This point cannot be repeated enough. Despite the trouble that this psalmist has gone through, he has no other prayer requests. He does not pray for the persecution to stop. He just wants mercy. And it is remarkable that there is no sense of anything like impatience or resentment anywhere in this psalm, how unlike us this psalmist is. When we get sick, we clamor to get healed. That's the only thing on our mind. When things don't go our way, we search for answers, and that's all we can think about. When people hurt us, we can't get it out of our mind. We have to have revenge. And as the psalmist ends in verse four, it ends with a sigh, not a complaint. The psalmist is still a sufferer, but he suffers with complete trust in the one who is his deliverer. And the psalmist cries out to God for help. And again, notice how unlike us he is. When we are in trouble, we try to fix it. We're fixers. When we are hurt, we might curl up and keep it to ourselves. When we are sad, we put on a happy face and pretend like everything is okay. But crying out to God is the honest way to approach God. It's what he wants us to do. When our firstborn was born and everyone after it, like every other parent in the room at that delivery hour, you want to hear your child cry, don't you? It means there's a healthy baby there. You want to hear that cry. When our first one was born, there was a little bit of complications and we didn't hear that cry right away. It's a little panic sets into the room when that happens. You see all the medical team kind of rushing there. And all of a sudden, our firstborn was rushed to the other side of the room, and they're all working on her. I'm so thankful for modern medicine. But when you hear that cry from the other side of the room, you as a parent, you rejoice. You want to hear that. And so like God, we can think that God wants to hear his children cry to him. He wants to hear you run to Him. He wants you to be honest with Him. Friend, if you came into this room thinking that God is somehow this distant God who's just kind of up there in the heavens and He's just too far removed and doesn't care for the feelings of our infirmities, I've got news for you. Read the Psalms again. God wants to hear you. And this is what is taking place. The author on behalf of Israel is calling upon God for his help. He's lifting up his eyes directly to him, and as he cries, he cries out as a subject to his sovereign, as a supplicant to his savior, as a sufferer to his deliverer. And even so, you can look up to God, and this is our reality. Now, we don't know who wrote this psalm. That's what's interesting about it. The psalm before, you can say, well, that's a song of David. This one, a song of degrees, doesn't have an attached author. There's all kinds of speculation about what it is that they're suffering. Some commentators suggest this psalm pertains to the time of exile during Babylonian captivity. That could have been. Other commentators suggest that this belongs to a later time. The psalm comes from the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the Jews were returning to their land and found it inhabited by people, and they were fighting off. We don't know, frankly, is the point. We don't know when exactly. One day when we get to heaven, I'm sure we have a few questions we'd love to get answers for, and perhaps in the great movie theater of heaven, we could watch it all displayed in HD. Maybe probably better than HD, quite frankly. But until we get there, we don't know. What we do know is this. God is there. And side by side, right next to each other, there's a contrast. The beginning of the psalm, Lord, I trust you. End of the psalm, Lord, it's kind of difficult. Friends, the pressure and compression of that finds its release in the vertical upward look to God. The pressure of life is ultimately simply an instrument that God often uses to push us to look nowhere else but to him. And there are times when troubles seem to be elevated and particularly dominating our thoughts, and then we move in these cycles of life, perhaps, into a meditative time on the peace of God, and perhaps we'll see that. Some of you may be there, but wherever you are, it brings to us a renewed sense of assurance that I hope you got this evening. God is, if you are saved, God is with you, and God is for you. Let me just repeat that because it's kind of important for us that you may have assurance. If you are saved, God is with you and God is for you. Six words, God is with you and God is for you. Eight words, actually. Friend, there are times where there may be some in this room that they've never accepted God as their personal savior. They've just never cried out to him. And you go through the valley of affliction because life is full of difficulties and this world still groans and travails in pain and you look up and you don't know God. And the only hope I can give to you and the only hope I can offer to you is the hope that Jesus came to save your soul. Would you come to him? For those of you who are saved, would you bask in the reality that God is for you and God is with you? Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, a short four-verse psalm, power-packed with truth about where to look. So often we get so distracted from what really matters and where to go and what to do. Lord, we just need to look to you. And there may be times, Lord, there may be some in this room that God has in his providence allowed to fall right on their back or fall right into the pit so the only place they can look is up. And so our prayer this evening is that that's exactly where they would be looking. Lord, there still yet may be others who are here that have never accepted Christ as their savior. May today be the day of their salvation. With every head bowed and every eye closed, the instruments in a moment are gonna begin to play a song of invitation. I don't know what burden you carried with you into the room today, but I know one who wants to carry that burden. Friend, would you come to Jesus today if you're not saved? Would you call out to God if you are? Perhaps there may be others in this room that maybe just in brief need to reevaluate their prayer life and consider where they are looking when it comes to their prayer requests. As the instruments begin to play, would you respond as God