So Our Eyes Look

“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.

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.”

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—
    let Israel now say—
if it had not been the Lord who was on our side
    when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive,
    when their anger was kindled against us;
then the flood would have swept us away,
    the torrent would have gone over us;
then over us would have gone
    the raging waters…

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 123; Psalm 124:1-5,8

Clouds chase clouds in incessant pursuit, like a wound-up cat chasing its prize. Winds blow heartily, gustily, shooshing trees and chimes and shivering the water’s surface, and they keep on. Lift the eyes, lift the thoughts… in the turmoil, cast all above where the all-seeing, omniscient God rides the heavens and sovereignly reigns. His Spirit’s wind blows through the unrest of present darkness, His light tints clouded days with the pink of providence. (Deuteronomy 33:26; Ephesians 6:12)

In the blow of stresses and uncertainty, brooding storms within and without, there is nothing that buoys the soul like looking up. Turning from the threatening winds, the shaking circumstances, the darkness of shadows, to gaze above at the rosy hints of hope blushed by the Lord, elevates the spirit. It takes our focus off of what we cannot control. It releases our attention from fretting over time- and energy-wasting insignificances. It reminds God’s people Who is in charge, Who controls the order and thickness and tempo and outcomes of things. (Matthew 8:27)

When clouds chase our calm, and swirl chaos into our sense of peace, where will we look? Will we stare at the onslaught with dread or trepidation, or set our eyes and minds on all that is above, fixing hope in the Lord of heaven and hosts? (Colossians 3:1-2)

“My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray,
take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
be wholly Thine.

May Thy rich grace impart
strength to my fainting heart,
my zeal inspire;
as Thou hast died for me,
O may my love to Thee
pure, warm, and changeless be,
a living fire.

While life’s dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be Thou my Guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow’s tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from Thee aside.

When ends life’s transient dream,
when death’s cold, sullen stream
shall o’er me roll,
blest Savior, then in love,
fear and distrust remove;
O bear me safe above,
a ransomed soul.” ~Ray Palmer (1830)

Merciful Lord, keep my eyes looking to You, my soul at trusting rest.