Psalm 123 is a simple but profound prayer from a people who are weary, afflicted, and under the contempt of others. Rather than looking inward or striking back, they lift their eyes upward to the LORD.

Verse 4 gives us the context of the psalm and the burden of its writer: the constant persecution of the people of Israel, treated with scorn and contempt.

For the people of Israel then, and the church now, it serves as a reminder that when we find ourselves in times of trouble—among the slandered, the ridiculed, and the persecuted, that our help is found, not in ourselves, but by turning in faith to the LORD. It teaches us where our faith looks when life is hard.