Psalms 123

Psalms 123:1

An EasyEnglish Translation with Notes (about 1200 word vocabulary) on Psalms 107 to 150

www.easyenglish.info Gordon Churchyard Words in boxes are from the Bible. Words in brackets, , are not in the *Hebrew Bible.

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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 Psalm 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?

© 1999-2002, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).

December 2002

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