February 25, Mercy Focus

Today’s reading: Psalms 121-125

“I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy.” - Psalm 123:1-2

Today’s passage is from the psalms of ascents, those psalms that pilgrims sang or recited as they made their way up to Jerusalem for one of the many religious festivals. The topic of this psalm is focus, for the pilgrims were not focusing on the danger, inconvenience, or rigors of travel, but rather on their time with the Lord during their journey. Your focus should be the same, even though there are many other entities vying for your heart and attention, things like your career, health, church and family. While you need many things from the Lord, you need mercy on a daily basis and one way to get that mercy is to give it, as Jesus taught: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Where is your focus these days? Do you see your need for mercy? Are you extending mercy?