Not Anymore (Ps T L Mukumba) 23-Aug-2020

Psalm 123:1-4

• Being God’s children does not make us immune or exempt to the taunts of proud or arrogant people. Actually, there is a common trend in every society to recognize or respect those who seem to have it all. Such people are often admired and respected.

• We see it all too often; a single woman’s views not taken seriously because she does not have a husband; a childless couple being ignored…because they do not know anything about raising children.

• So, respect appears all too often to be directly awarded according to what one has or does not have. The less you have, the harder it can be for your character or views to be taken seriously by society. But, there is a glad certainty of God’s mercy for those who have been defamed by the proud and arrogant.

 Psalms 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (NIV)

This the message of the Psalmist that we have read

“Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, 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. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud” (Psalm 123:1-4).

• This Psalm is a prayer of Millions of people across the world, who find themselves side-lined based on race, gender, social-economic status, lack of education etc. However, we have a Father in heaven who heals heavily-burdened hearts. And He is not moved by how long we pray but how sincere we are in our cry for His mercy.

• Have you been at the end of your rope lately? God is never irritated by the upward glance of a patient and hopeful seeker. Look to Him the same way a servant looked to the hand of his master or her mistress. In early middle-eastern societies, a master or mistress would use their hand to tell a servant what to do. You and I can do the same today. We can look to God for everything, not just mercy.

• At no time do when we as believers stand tall as when we are down on our knees looking up to God, our master. When God hears our cry for mercy, he responds not only on a personal level but on a corporate level too. A new reality of our circumstances is created and we win great battles. A people who have been on the receiving end of contempt and those who felt helpless to defend themselves, will now witness breakthrough manifestations, because of God’s mercy.

• Let Psalm 123 be a great source of encouragement to you. Continue to look to God’s mercy in faith and watch Him shift the battle against the wicked, to your advantage

• God is always ready to receive even the outcast, who cries out for mercy but closes His ears to the self-righteous and the self-sufficient. So, those who have a self-righteous attitude, thinking they are better than others and those who continually attempt to earn their salvation by works are wrong and will stop the mercy of God manifesting in their lives. (Luke 18)

• Do not say “Thank God I am not like those…” Instead, say, “thank God, His mercy has given me the right…” We are saved by God's atonement and mercy, not by our righteous deeds. Without mercy, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

• Lift your eyes to the Lord:

The eye of desire and prayer
The begging eyes
The eye of dependence
The eye of hope and expectation
The longing eye

• The secret is in the waiting as highlighted in verse 2 “so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God”. When you wait on the Lord you cannot be disappointed in fact as a Christian and believer you get taller you will always get taller when you on your knees in prayer.

• Isaiah 40:31 “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

• We should continue our attendance on Him till the mercy comes.

Our eyes are attending to His directing 
Our eyes are looking on His supplying hand
Our eyes are looking for His assisting hand
Our eyes are crying for His protecting hand
Our eyes look to His correcting
Our eyes are looking To His reward