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A Prayer for Mercy

Psalm 123

Good News Translation (GNT)

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1  Lord, I look up to you, up to heaven, where
   you rule.
2  As a servant depends on his master, as a
   maid depends on her mistress, so we will
   keep looking to you, O Lord our God, until
   you have mercy on us.
3  Be merciful to us, Lord, be merciful; we have
   been treated with so much contempt.
4  We have been mocked too long by the rich
   and scorned by proud oppressors.

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Taken from 'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union

A Prayer for Mercy

     Psalm 123

Let's look first at the second part of this short psalm. God's servants have been criticised and ridiculed by proud, arrogant people. This psalm may recall the Israelites' exile, but there were also other times when they suffered such attacks. And it is clearly something to which we can relate.

In our post Christendom society, we frequently find ourselves coming under ridicule for our beliefs and practices. It is becoming increasingly risky to state our beliefs openly: sometimes we will simply be laughed at or mocked, but sometimes we even risk losing our jobs.

So what should we do in these circumstances? We lift our eyes to our God (vs 1,2). When we feel threatened and under pressure, it's easy to keep thinking about the situation, mulling it over, becoming more and more negative.

We can find our thoughts spiralling into anger, self-pity and hopelessness. So let us stop and lift our eyes to the Lord our God!

He is on the throne in heaven. That means he is King and is in charge, whatever happens on earth, in the short term.

As New Testament believers, we have no more right in ourselves to demand anything from God than those slaves, but in Christ we are given a new status.

No longer are we slaves. Instead, we have become children of God. We can call him 'Dad', run to him with our fears, our frustrations, our humiliations, and we know that graciously, mercifully, he always receives and accepts us.

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