WHY YOU CAN LIFT YOUR EYES TO THE ONE ENTHRONED by Adriel Sanchez for Core Christianity
Have you been eagerly watching for the next update from your local or State officials? I confess, it’s hard to miss a news conference these days. Here in California the question is, “What phase are we in? How long will it last? Who can open up?” A lot of us are paying more attention to these kinds of things than we ever have because we’re hoping for a bit of progress and respite. We want to go back to work, or to the beach (right now we can walk but not sit on the beach!), or to our favorite restaurant. Like a runner looking for the signal to begin the race, we’re watching to see when life as it was might get started again.
Could it be that we’re looking to the wrong people, in the wrong way, for the wrong things, though? I was struck by this when reading Psalm 123. Psalm 123 is one of the Psalms of ascent, and traditionally it is believed that these particular Psalms are the songs worshippers would sing on their way to the temple. Whoever wrote Psalm 123 was living in turmoil. He wrote “… we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud” (vs. 3b–4).
The Old Testament frequently calls out the unjust and oppressive rule of the wicked. Here you get the sense that the psalmist experienced it first-hand. While they prospered and probably had their needs met, the psalmist says that he had been sated (“met” or “treated” might work better here) with scorn and contempt. We’re not entirely sure about the details, but those headed to the temple to praise the Lord could identify with this ancient complaint and plea for mercy. While in comparison to the Hebrew exiles we have it really easy today, it’s not unthinkable that the current orders might have you feeling a tad oppressed and watching attentively for the next government update.
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That’s why I love how the Psalm begins: “To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” (v.1) Worship has the ability to lift us up out of our fog, doesn’t it? On the way to the temple, the people of God knew where their focus needed to be. Sure, circumstances were dire, but God was still on the throne. They had to look up, up beyond the clamor of the nations, and the threat of the proud, up beyond this world, to the mighty Jehovah enthroned on high. Especially for the exilic community, these words would have been extremely meaningful. While God’s throne on earth—the temple—may have been in disrepair, God had not been displaced. It was true then, and it’s true today. As difficult as these times have been for many churches, we must look to the one who is still enthroned in the heavens.
