To You I lift up my eyes,
O You who are enthroned in the heavens!
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 Jehovah our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
Be gracious to us, O Jehovah, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly filled with contempt.
Our soul is greatly filled
With the scoffing of those who are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud.
— Psalm 123:3
When we follow the Lord, we have to prepare ourselves to be in contempt. People will look at us and ask, “What are you doing with your life?” This is the Lord’s disciplinary hand.
Sometimes our parents would say to us, “You have a college degree, but you are wasting your life. When are you going to do something useful?” Then all we can do is tell the Lord, “Lord, have mercy upon me. Be gracious to me. I am greatly filled with contempt.” This is to know the Lord’s hand.
When the Lord’s hand of discipline is upon us we often become contemptible in the world’s eyes. However, this should lead us to cry out to the Lord for His mercy. Then His hand will come in to supply us, support us, lead us, and comfort us. The more experiences we have of this, the better. The Lord’s hand of discipline keeps us dependent on His mercy.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 43.
Tomorrow: “Knowing Christ in the Church Life”