In this age of social media, there may be times when we experience the (subtle) scorn of another person flaunting how blessed their lives are in our face. This can feel incredibly discouraging during times of suffering. And if our understanding of His word is not strong enough, it may even lead us down the dark path of thinking God doesn’t love us or God is punishing us.
Additionally, as believers and followers of Christ, His words in the Bible transforms our hearts to turn away from our former ways, lead us away from idolatry (turning to anything else for our needs apart from God) and walk towards Christ. However, when we see others, especially believers, flaunting on the things He has told us to turn away from – it can be a stumbling block for some of us in our faith to continue to persist walking towards Him.
In times like these, we may be faced with the temptation of reacting in a sinful way. Consider the competition of having children between Leah and Rachel (Genesis 30:1-22). Or the contempt of Hagaar which Sarah experienced (Genesis 16:3-4).
The author of Psalm 123 appears to have experienced something similar, though the exact situation was not revealed. Psalm 123 is broad enough that it doesn’t specify whether the scorn is from the unfaithful in Israel or the unbelieving foreigners. Neither does it specify the situation the author was facing. But what is clear is, the author of Psalm 123 was suffering from the scorn of those who are not suffering.
“Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.”
– Psalm 123:4, ESV
When we are faced with the scorn of others (believers or unbelievers) whether it in social media, friendships or even church – Psalm 123 encourages us to react in a way pleasing to God – which is to turn our eyes to look to the Lord, Our God.
With that, I will leave you with the beautiful passage of Psalm 123, that encouraged me that I am not alone in experiencing this. And God knows we will experience scorns in life, and has provided us with Psalm 123 to teach us a way (pleasing to Him) on handling these emotions we experience.
If you are going through suffering and experiencing contempt from others or the scorn of those who are at ease, may this psalm encourage you to call out to God, turn to Him in prayer, and pour your heart out to Him.
May your hearts be blessed and encouraged by His Word below.
Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God
A Song of Ascents.
1To 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
//How to deal with our emotions in a biblical way, when others flaunt their blessings on social media while we are suffering?
