The song of the fourth ascent into the presence of God says,
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 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.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud. (Psalm 123, ESV)
Here sings one who sees himself as a servant of the Most High God, the One enthroned in the heavens. As an earthly servant hopes and expects to be fed with food, water, and shelter by his worldly master, this servant of a heavenly Master hopes for mercy. Why mercy? Why not gold, riches, and endless honor?
The apostle Matthew describes two occasions during which Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their harsh and self-righteous judgments against Jesus and his disciples. First,
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus[b] reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13, ESV)
Second,
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8)
Prior to these accounts Matthew recounted Jesus’ first sermon wherein he said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
Those who are proud and self-righteous cannot show mercy to others. They are “too good” for them. Throughout history we see men in both secular and ecclesiastical power lord it over and abuse those who they believe to be beneath them. But, God will not allow it to be so with any who would ascend into his presence. Those who would be merciful must be as Jesus, “gentle and lowly in heart.” We must be meek as was Moses, the meekest man in all the earth. And if we are not meek, gentle, lowly in heart, and merciful, then we must mourn for our sins and hard hearts! If we expect to receive mercy from our Father, then let us extend mercy to our brothers with the wisdom God gives us.
The person who learns to extend mercy to others becomes, in fact, the man in whom there is no guile. He is no hypocrite. He has learned to rightly judge himself and knows that he himself requires God’s mercy as much or more than his neighbor needs his own mercy. Because he clearly sees this as he walks unto the fourth ascent he can say, “Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.” Those who go on to overcome with God constantly endure the contempt of those Christians who accuse them of legalism and self-righteousness and the taunts of the secular world who abhor their “prudishness” and moral resolve. Yes, our soul has had more than enough of this world’s scorn.
So, let us remember all the blessings of Jesus as we climb every higher toward’s God’s heavenly throne:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:3-11)
