Enough!

Today I am commenting on Psalm 123:1-4, which reads:  

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until 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 its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud. 

One summer when I was a teenager, I helped a friend of mine cover a newspaper route while the regular driver was on vacation. We would arrive at the newspaper building at 3am, fold and place rubber bands on hundreds of newspapers, and then distribute the papers along the route. 

We thought we were working hard, but in truth we were hardly working. Still, on the last morning we worked the route, we decided to treat ourselves to a dozen doughnuts.

All day before our last morning on the route, I looked forward to those doughnuts, because we rarely had such treats in our house. The first two were delicious, but after the third doughnut I had had enough! I went from a sugar rush to nausea in just minutes. To this day I avoid eating doughnuts, although I admit that I do enjoy one every now and again.

As we look around us at the fallen world through which we sojourn, we often say the same thing, “Enough!” And like us, the Psalmist effectively said, like Popeye, “I’ve stood all I can stand, and I can’t stands no more!”

The difference between the Psalmist and Popeye is that the Psalmist did not look to spinach for his strength and his encouragement. With a child-like faith, the Psalmist looked to God. As Psalms 121:1-2 remind us:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121 goes on to tell us that our God never sleeps, and He watches over us wherever we may be. He will not let our foot slip, and He will keep us from harm. He even provides us the shade we need from the hot Sun!

2020 has been a trying year for people in our country It began with an impeached president and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It continued with a spate of civil unrest which was followed by a contentious and bitter election, a drama which is still playing out as I record this. How many times have we said in 2020, “Enough, already!”

When we have had enough, we have someone to turn to, the same Almighty and All-loving Heavenly Father in which the Psalmist found refuge centuries ago. I commend that same Sovereign Lord to you today.

Of course, this begs the question, “Why wait until we have had enough of this world to seek our help in God?” After all, Our Lord stands at the door to our lives and knocks, and if we let Him in, He will fellowship with us, and we with Him.

So why wait? 

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt