On the Receiving End of Scorn – Psalm 123

A text – Psalm 123

123:1 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
123:2 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.
123:3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
123:4 Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.

A reflection:

Have you ever been somewhere that made you feel alone and weak, somewhere that made you look around the room for someone you could trust? Just someone you could stand near and count on not to ignore you, or, worse, do you harm?  Have you ever been lost, looking for someone to help you?

Our Gospel text for this week has Jesus feeling a little bit this way. He is in Nazareth, leading his chosen students on a long journey to towns and villages, preaching about God’s kingdom and healing the sick of every kind. He arrives at his own hometown, speaks in the synagogue, and discovers that the friends and neighbors of his childhood and youth cannot bear to see him as a miracle worker or even as a teacher. They scoff at him, scorn him, and dismiss the very idea of his ministry.

Have you ever been scorned? How does it feel? It feels bad enough if you deserve the scorn – if you have done something people ought to punish you for. But if you are innocent of wrongdoing and they scorn you anyway, just because you are who you are…that can be very painful.

If that happens to you, to me, we must do as the psalmist tells us – look to God, throned in heaven, as servants look to their masters and mistresses, hoping they will take care of us. And we trust God, because God always takes care of us. We just keep breathing. And God will come through, even if proud and haughty people scorn us. We needn’t be afraid, for God will fill our lives with loving kindness. This belief that God will be good to us is all God needs to shower us with love. Our faith in God makes us well and brings us help.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for short and relatable prayers like Psalm 123. Help us to remember that your Word is filled with such passages that point us toward help. We are grateful.  Amen.