Where Does My Help Come From

It is hot! Even in this heat, our grand kids – who are ages four, two, and one – want to play outside. Kids don’t care about the temperature; they just want to have fun. Do you remember those hot summer days as a kid and settling in the shade to eat refreshing popsicles? When our grand kids have grown tired of the heat and are ready for some cool refreshment, I bring out the popsicles. They watch with anticipation, and their little eyes are glued on me as I open their favorite color. Psalms 123 tells about the Israelite people who have grown tired of the heat (ridicule) dealt by contemptuous people and the cool refreshment (mercy) they seek from God.

Do you ever feel like the heat in your life is too much to bear? Maybe your job, a relationship, health issues, the price of gas, or inflation issues have you feeling like you have reached your breaking point. Maybe, like the Israelites, you have been ridiculed by others who look down on you. Who do you look to when you have had all you can take? Psalm 123 verse 1 says, “I lift my eyes to you, O God.” Why did they lift their eyes to God? The same reason my grandchildren watch me intently when I’m opening their popsicles. Anticipation. They were anticipating mercy that only He can give.

Verse 2 says, “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.” A servant would intently watch the master’s hands for any indication the master needed or wanted something, so they could quickly provide. They were devoted. Our gaze should be fixed on God with that same kind of devotion and intensity as we wait for His mercy and deliverance. “The Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God. All who wait for Him are blessed” (Isaiah 30:18).

The cry for deliverance in Psalm 123 is heartfelt and to the point. They have had all they can take, but now they are looking expectantly to God and waiting intently for His restoring mercy. When our eyes are focused on Him, we are not focused on the circumstances, self, or any other person, but on the one and only God of heaven. Because God is in control of all that happens, we can lift our eyes to Him in anticipation and devotion during those heated moments of life and wait for His mercy. My help comes from the Lord.

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