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Psalm 123 Bible study: Our eyes look to the LORD

Psalm 123 lifts its eyes "to you, you who sit in the heavens" (123:1) and pictures servants and a maid with their eyes on a master's and a mistress's hand (123:2). In Hebrew that verse has no verb for look: only eyes, turned toward a hand. One verb for mercy comes three times, and the verb behind "endured" (123:3) is the verb of "filled" (123:4).

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“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.”
Psalm 123:2 · World English Bible

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“Psalm 123 compares our eyes looking to the LORD with the eyes of a maid looking to the hand of her mistress.”

Is that in Psalm 123, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

Eyes on a hand

In the text

The psalm is titled "A Song of Ascents" (123:1) (tap Ascents). Then it looks up: "I lift up my eyes to you, you who sit in the heavens" (123:1) (tap lift, eyes, sit). Then it gives a picture from a household: "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" (123:2) (tap servants, master, maid, mistress). Here is what almost everyone misses: in Hebrew there is no verb for the WEB's look in that verse. Word for word it runs as the eyes of servants to the hand of their master, and so our eyes to the LORD, our God. The picture is only eyes, turned toward a hand. The psalm names eyes four times in two verses, and the hand twice.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Psalm 123

That was a taste

The rest of Psalm 123 is waiting in Favor

  • Waiting for mercy, then asking for it
  • Filled with contempt
  • "You who sit in the heavens"
  • A maid and her mistress
  • 6 questions as you read
  • 13 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

חָנַןchanansay kha-NAN

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "shew favour, be gracious". Strong's: "properly, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow". The psalm has it three times: "until he has mercy on us" (123:2), and "Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us" (123:3), where each have mercy on us is one Hebrew word. Psalm 57 asks it twice in one verse too, in the singular: "Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me" (Psalm 57:1). Psalm 86's notes follow the words that come from this verb, among them gracious in "a merciful and gracious God" (Psalm 86:15).

For your group

Psalm 123 Bible study questions

  1. 1The psalm pictures eyes on a hand, looking to the LORD "until he has mercy on us" (123:2). What are you waiting on God for right now, and what does that waiting look like for you?
  2. 2The psalm starts with "I lift up my eyes" (123:1) and goes on with "our eyes" (123:2). What would it look like for your group to look to God together, for one another, this week?
  3. 3"We have endured much contempt" (123:3). When have you felt looked down on, and what helps you bring that to God instead of carrying it alone?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 123 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.

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No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.

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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home