When You’ve Had Enough: Psalm 123

When You’ve Had Enough

Psalm 123

Other things can bruise, but this [contempt] is cold steel. It goes deeper into the spirit than any other form of rejection.

Derek Kidner

Enough is enough. We’ve probably all said or thought this at some point. Fed up with a situation and tired of the same results from the same behaviors, we’ve said, “Enough!” We refuse to continue to just accept things as they are and we long for change. Throughout the psalms, there have been quite a few times the psalmist has communicated to the Lord that enough is enough. The suffering, affliction, or injustice that he is enduring have gone on long enough.

In Psalm 123, the psalmist cries to the Lord for mercy “for we have had far more than enough of contempt” (123:3). Contempt is an attitude of disrespect and scorn. It is the act of despising and showing a lack of respect or reverence. If you’ve ever been an object of contempt you know the look of disdain, the mockery, the lying, and the disregard for your thoughts and ideas. It is painful and hard to overcome as contempt is very close to hatred of the heart. When someone views us with contempt, they are many times unwilling to formulate a different view of us or see us as deserving respect. The psalmist was facing contempt from others and had had enough. Perhaps contempt and disdain are not what you are facing right now, but is there something that has you telling the Lord that you have had enough? What can we do when we feel we have had enough? What did the psalmist do?

First, the psalmist looked to the Lord in dependence. He says, “To you I lift up my eyes” (123:1). He turns his gaze to his Lord and uses a metaphor of a servant and master. As the servant’s eyes look to the hand of his master for his only provision and his every command, so the psalmist fixes his attention on the Lord and His provision and help in his time of oppression. And how long will he continue to look to the Lord? “Till he has mercy upon us”(123:2). The psalmist was determined to continue to trust until he saw the answer to his request. It reminds me of when Jacob wrestled with God. As the dawn was breaking, and even though God had touched Jacob and wounded his hip, Jacob held on and said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26), and so God blessed him there. The psalmist is saying, “I will not cease seeking my Lord’s help until He gives it.” It’s a tenacious, expectant waiting. Looking to the Lord and not letting go until He blesses us with His mercy. Being tenacious means to continue despite difficulties, opposition, or discouragement. It means to be determined, resolved, unconquerable, and persistent. This is how we must seek the Lord and His mercy in our situation.

Next, he voices his anguish to the Lord in prayer. “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt” (123:3). The psalmist cries to the Lord for what he needs, and he expresses his true thoughts. They’ve had enough. They feel they can take no more of the contempt and the scorn of those who hate them. He has already expressed that he will continue to cry to the Lord until He answers. This must be the approach of the believer to his God. An honest pouring out of the heart to Him, persistently looking for His answer, tenaciously holding on until He grants mercy to him in his situation. It is a faith that says like Jacob, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Or like Abraham, “having patiently waited, obtained the promise” (Hebrews 6:15). Or the persistent widow who bothered the unrighteous judge until he obtained justice for her (Luke 18:1-7). Will we continue to come again and again to our Savior despite the difficulties, opposition, or discouragement? Will we pour out our hearts honestly to Him, not irreverently, but speaking to Him those hard realities that we face?

Thankfully, even when we feel like we’ve had enough and can take no more, we have many promises that guarantee that our Savior will sustain us. We have a Savior who knew this Psalm and bore contempt and scorn to the point of death. His death and resurrection transforms our suffering, so that even when we feel we’ve had enough, and we are groaning, we can be of good courage. His grace will be sufficient for us in the situation that we are sick of (2 Corinthians 12:9). His love controls and compels us to make it our ambition to live fully pleasing to Him, even in our “more than enough” circumstance. But in order to do this, we will need to follow the example of Psalm 123 and look dependently to the Lord, persistently cry for mercy, and wait expectantly for His help.

123:1-2 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.

Father of mercy, I pray:

▫️I look to You. You are great and there is nothing too hard for You. This situation, this circumstance, this hardship that is overwhelming to me, is not overwhelming to You. By Your Spirit, help me to keep my eyes fixed on You. You are where my help comes from.

▫️I need tenacity and persistence to keep coming to You and holding onto You. Give me courage and strengthen my heart to not grow weary or faint-hearted in this situation where I feel I’ve had enough. Help me to persevere! Give me the steadfastness of Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:5).

▫️As the servant looks to the hand of his master, Lord, I’m looking to You. I know You are my provider. You are also my King. Provide what I need for _______, and also help me to walk in Your ways doing Your will. I want to have the ambition of my life to be that I am pleasing to You. I am struggling to please You in this hard place, specifically I am sinning by ________. Help me to demonstrate my trust in You by my obedience to You.

▫️My desire is to patiently wait for You, to not grow weary or restless, but to have a confident expectation that You hear me and will answer me in my day of trouble.

123:3-4 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for 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.

Father of mercy, I pray:

▫️Have mercy upon us, O Lord. That is the cry of my heart. Have compassion on me and give me relief from ________. I feel that I have had more than enough of ________. Yet I know that You can give me the grace and strength to continue to fight the good fight and to lay down my life.

▫️My soul has had more than enough of _________. But I see no way out of this situation, and at times it feels like things will never change. Sometimes I feel like giving up. Renew my hope as I wait patiently for You. May I never cease coming to You about this and trusting that You are accomplishing what is good for me in this.

▫️Give me the ability to see this hardship as a “wound of grace” (Tim Keller). It is painful, but it is leading me to deeper intimacy with You. Cause me to value knowing You above my comfort and above my ease. I will not let You go until You bless me in this trial. Bless ______ which has caused me so much heartache. Make it fruitful in my life so that I can comfort others with the comfort You have given me.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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