Daily Devotion – July 2, 2021 – Christine Chiles

Psalm 123 (NRSV)

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

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 upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.

Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

Devotion

“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”

A six year old excitedly shared with me part of a conversation with her parents about God. With wide eyes she told me, “Did you know that God can see everyone? God has, like, 600 eyes!”

The psalmist writes of people who hope God can see them—a servant, a maid, those vulnerable to the indifferent or contemptuous treatment of the powerful. Those of lowly station cast their hope beyond human masters to the One they trust will respond with mercy and justice.

God’s Son overturns human power differentials. Born in the flesh, he took on the life of a slave and servant to all. In this, Jesus established a new basis for all relationships.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, may knowing you transform all our relationships with your mercy and love. Amen.