Psalms 123 - Introduction

CXXIII.

This psalm has been beautifully called Oculus Sperans (the Eye of Hope). That it reflects the feelings of Israel under foreign oppression there is no doubt, but there is no indication of precise time, unless we are to adopt the Hebrew margin, and see in the concluding word a reference to the Ionians, which would bring the psalm within the Macedonian period. The step-like rhythm is not very marked; but the psalm so abounds in assonance that it has been called the “Rhyming Psalm.”