Psalms 123:1-4

Psalms 107:150

Gordon Churchyard

Psalms 123

Psalms For Climbing;

Psalms 120:134

Jesus said, "We will go up to Jerusalem" (Luke 18:31).

The Story of Psalms 120:134

These 15 psalms are called "Songs of Ascent" in many Bibles. "Ascent" means "going up". This translation calls it "climbing". But what are we climbing? Bible students give us 4 answers:

• One line in the psalm "climbs" on the line in front of it. This means that it repeats the line. Read the start of Psalms 124 for an example.

• There were 15 steps from where the women stood to where the men stood outside the *temple. The *temple was God's house in Jerusalem. As the men climbed the steps, they sang one psalm on each step. This is why most of the psalms for climbing are short.

• Jerusalem was on the top of a hill called "Zion". The *Jews often went to Jerusalem to worship God at the *temple. "Worship" means "Tell God how *wonderful that he is. And tell him that you love him". The *Jews sang these psalms for climbing as they went up to Jerusalem.

• Hezekiah was a king of the *Jews. He was so ill that he thought he would soon die. He prayed for a longer life. God made the clock "climb" back 10 degrees. This was about an hour. It was a sign that Hezekiah would live another 15 years. Hezekiah made a book of 15 psalms, 10 of them new, the other 5 by David and Solomon. The story is in Isaiah chapter 38.

We do not know which of these is the true answer. It may be something else! Perhaps answers 3 and 4 are the true answers.

Who wrote the psalms for climbing? Some are by David, and one or two are by Solomon. Solomon was David’s son. The other psalms for climbing may be by Hezekiah or one of his friends like Isaiah; or by Ezra or Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah were leaders of the *Jews 500 years after Solomon built the *temple, or 250 years after Hezekiah was king. This was when the *Jews made the Book of Psalms. The psalms for climbing were part of this Book of Psalms.

Psalms 123

(This is) a song for climbing.

v1 I lift up my eyes to you (God).
You are sitting in *heaven.

v2 Our eyes look to the *LORD our God:
• like men who are servants look to the hands of their masters;
• like a woman who is a servant looks to the hand of her *mistress.
(*LORD), have *mercy on us.

v3 Have *mercy on us, *LORD, have *mercy on us.
We have had more than enough *contempt.

v4 We have had more than enough *contempt
from the *proud people that are *oppressing us.

What Psalms 123 means

Verse 1: *Heaven is the home of God. We do not know where it is. The Hebrew word also means "the skies".

Verse 2: The notes on Psalms 120 explain the word "*LORD". The *psalmist (the person that wrote the psalm) has had enough of people saying things that are not kind. He looks to God for help. He looks to God like a servant looked to the hand of his master or her mistress. A master or mistress would use their hand to tell a servant what to do. That is why he said this. A master or mistress was someone with authority.

Verses 2 – 3: "Have *mercy" is an important Christian *prayer. You say a *prayer when you speak to God. To ask God to "have *mercy" means to ask him not to *punish (hurt) you when you have done something wrong. Instead, you ask him to be kind and to *forgive you. The notes on Psalms 130 explain the word "*forgive".

Verses 3 - 4: Sometimes people think and say things that are not kind about you. We call that "*contempt". "*Proud people" think that they are more important than they are. When powerful people make poor people work for little or no money we call this "oppression". The powerful people are oppressing the poor people.

Something to do

Jesus taught people to say "The *Lord’s *Prayer". It starts, "Our Father, you are in *heaven". Is it like the start of this psalm?
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
temple ~ a place where people meet to worship God.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; a person who has the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; in the Psalms, belief in God.
wonderful ~ great and surprising.
heaven ~ the home of God.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
mercy ~ being kind when you do not have to be kind.
contempt ~ thinking that someone is bad.'proud people ~ proud people think that they are good and clever. But they may not be.
heaven ~ the home of God.
psalmist ~ the person that wrote a psalm (or psalms).
prayer ~ you say a prayer when you speak to God.
punish ~ hurt someone because they have not obeyed the rules.
forgive ~ take away the results of sin. (But look in the notes on Psalm 85:2.)
sin ~ not obeying God; or what you do when you do not obey God.'proud people ~ proud people think that they are good and clever. But they may not be.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
prayer ~ you say a prayer when you speak to God.