Psalm 123:1 To you lift I up my eyes, O you that dwell in the heavens.… This is the characteristic possibility for humanity. The cattle have no uplooking eyes, and no yearning hearts to find expression by uplooking eyes. Man can look up, pierce the veil of sense, and see the unseen, and realize relations with the Divine. Indeed, he is not himself until he does. But to get the fixed uplook often is, and may well be, the issue of a lifelong moral discipline. The need for turning to God comes out of distressed earthly conditions. The restored exiles in Jerusalem were full of anxieties and perplexities; they could get no heart-rest by the worrying, which is represented by "looking down." They found it by looking up and away to the steadfast heavens - to him "that sitteth in the heavens." "The uplifted eyes naturally and instinctively represent the state of heart which fixes desire, hope, confidence, and expectation upon the Lord." Manton says, "The lifting up the eyes implies faith and confident persuasion that God is ready and willing to help us. The very lifting up of the bodily eyes towards heaven is an expression of this inward trust." R. Holdsworth gives the following outline: There are many testimonies in the lifting up of the eyes to heaven. 1. It is the testimony of a believing, humble heart. Neither infidelity nor pride ever carries a man above the earth. 2. It is the testimony of an obedient heart. A man that lifts his eye up to God acknowledgeth this much, "Lord, I am thy servant." 3. It is the testimony of a thankful heart; acknowledging that every good blessing, every perfect gift, is from the hand of God. 4. The testimony of a heavenly heart. He that lifts up his eyes to heaven acknowledgeth that he is weary of the earth; his heart is not there; his hope and desire are above. 5. It is the testimony of a devout heart. There is no part of the body besides the tongue that is so great an agent in prayer as the eye. I. THE UPLOOK TO GOD MAY BE BUT OCCASIONAL. And that is so far well. Man must be busy with earthly things; but his heart should be as a metal spring tied down. It flies upward at every instant of release. II. THE UPLOOK TO GOD MAY BE FIXED AND PERMANENT. A set of the eyes, because there is a set of the heart. The fixed level of human eyes, and of soul-eyes, varies most remarkably. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: {A Song of degrees.} Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.WEB: To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens. |
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