Songs of the Great Ascent - The Valley of Vision

Psalm 123

The central thought of Psalm 123 is simply, yet powerfully, stated by Alec Motyer, as he notes: “at the end of our tether [rope] there’s a place called Prayer.”

He continues by describing the place called prayer as,

“a place easy to overlook, dreadfully easy to avoid, all too easy to scorn, a place of quietness and restful reassurance, but also a place calling for patient durability, one of the little places of the earth, a secret cherished between the soul and the Lord.”

It is much easier for us to moan about our lot or to turn yet again to solutions that in the past have proven ineffective. “But the little place, the easily unnoticed and avoided place remains; its door is open; and from inside a most loving voice invites, saying, ‘Come to me and rest.’”

Here Again

Following the trajectory of the Songs of Ascents so far, we might have thought we wouldn’t have to deal with this kind of theme again. We left behind the world of violence in Psalm 120, made the dangerous journey in Psalm 121, and arrived in Jerusalem for worship and peace in Psalm 122. Shouldn’t that have been the end of the book? As one writer explains, “Psalm 123 places you back in enemy territory and serves as a reminder of the cyclical nature of the believer’s pilgrimage.’

In some form or another, we have all been exhausted by sin. We have felt at times that we can never rid ourselves of it and its effects, no matter the progress we think we make. Haven’t we been, in the best sense of the term, fed up with this world’s system? Have you ever been brought so low that the only place for you to look was up? That is to be, in the words of the Puritan-like prayer, in the ‘valley of vision.’

This psalm shows us how to take advantage of that valley, how to live in the low place, and how not to waste those trying moments that are truly for our sanctification.

Join us this coming Lord’s Day as we continue our study in the “Psalms of the Great Ascent” from Psalms 120-134. This week we take a closer look at “The Vally of Vision” from Psalm 123, and by God’s mercies we find that place called ‘Prayer’ once again.  

In Christ,

Pastor Wayne