Psalm 123–124

A Prayer for Mercy

123Lord, I look up to you,

up to heaven, where you rule.

²As a servant depends on his master,

as a maid depends on her mistress,

so we will keep looking to you, O Lord our God,

until you have mercy on us.

³Be merciful to us, Lord, be merciful;

we have been treated with so much contempt.

⁴We have been mocked too long by the rich

and scorned by proud oppressors.

God the Protector of His People^f

124 What if the Lord had not been on our side?

Answer, O Israel!

²“If the Lord had not been on our side

when our enemies attacked us,

³then they would have swallowed us alive

in their furious anger against us;

⁴then the flood would have carried us away,

the water would have covered us,

⁵the raging torrent would have drowned us.”

⁶Let us thank the Lord,

who has not let our enemies destroy us.

⁷We have escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap;

the trap is broken, and we are free!

⁸Our help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.