But, Lord, My eyes are fixed on You.
[Psalm 141]
When you face difficulties in life, what do you do? When nothing seems to work and you are struggling to get things done, what do you do? I remember the words we meditated on during last week's morning prayer, from Psalm 62:1, 5: "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him comes my salvation (my hope)." How can we silently focus on God when facing hardships? The reason is that "in quietness and trust is your strength" (Isaiah 30:15). Why must we trust God silently in our difficulties? Because our salvation (our hope) comes only from Him (Psalm 62:1, 5).
In today's reading from Psalm 141, verses 7, 9, and 10, we see David, the psalmist, facing difficulties caused by his enemies, the wicked. The challenges he faced were not only affecting him but also his companions, who were being mistreated by his enemies (v. 7, Park Yun-seon). David’s enemies were setting traps, snares, and nets to catch him (vv. 9-10), and they were determined to kill him at all costs (v. 7). In the midst of these struggles, what did David do? I want to take five lessons from today's passage.
First, David set his eyes solely on the Lord.
Look at Psalm 141:8: "But my eyes are toward You, O Lord God; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute." Although it’s not in the Korean Bible, the English versions start verse 8 with the conjunction "But." In the midst of his difficulties, David confessed, "But my eyes are toward You, O Lord God." This expresses an expectation of God's help (Park Yun-seon). The believer’s act of not losing heart in suffering and waiting for God is already a miracle in itself. How could what we believe not happen? (Park Yun-seon). Indeed, when we are in difficulty, instead of focusing on the challenging circumstances, if we fix our gaze on the Lord who is able to deliver and help us, that alone is already a miracle.
Thinking of David’s eyes fixed on the Lord, I am reminded of Hebrews 12:2a: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." When we face challenges, our gaze must be fixed solely on the Lord, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. We must not be like the Israelites at the Red Sea, looking at the sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind, filled with fear, complaining, and grumbling. Instead, like Moses, we must lift our eyes upward. We must look to God, the Maker of heaven and earth, who is our help (Psalm 121:1-2).
Second, David's hands were given to God.
Look at verse 2 of Psalm 141: "Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." When David faced difficulties, his eyes were turned to the Lord, and his hands were lifted up to Him. The fact that David lifted his hands to the Lord means that in his troubles, he dedicated his soul to God, praying earnestly (Park Yun-seon). We can catch a glimpse of this earnest prayer in verse 1: "O Lord, I have called upon You; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You." From the use of the word "make haste," we can understand that David was making an urgent request to God. The situation was so critical. In short, David’s prayer was one of urgent longing for God's salvation. He prayed, "Do not leave my soul destitute" (v. 8), for God’s protection (v. 9), and that God would judge the wicked (v. 10), while also asking, "Deliver me completely." David, offering this urgent prayer to God, dedicated his soul to Him. He resolved to pray "always" (v. 5), and he wished that his prayer would be accepted by God as a joyful offering, like the evening sacrifice (Park Yun-seon).
What kind of prayer does God accept joyfully, like the evening sacrifice? I think of Psalm 51:17: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." The prayer that God accepts joyfully, like the evening sacrifice, is a prayer offered with a broken spirit, a heart of repentance and sorrow. God delights in prayers offered with a recognition of sin, confession, and repentance. God also accepts prayers lifted with clean and pure hands.
Thirdly, David’s heart did not incline towards evil.
Look at verse 4 of Psalm 141: "Let not my heart incline to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their delicacies." When people face difficulties, if they do not turn their eyes to the Lord or pray, their spiritual resistance weakens, and they are easily tempted by Satan to sin against God. If our eyes and hands are not turned to the Lord, we become spiritually vulnerable, and our hearts can easily incline toward evil (sinful actions). Dr. Park Yun-seon said: "In times of trouble, humans tend to change their faithfulness and blend with the wicked. Therefore, in those times, we must make a resolution and pray so that we do not fall into such behavior. We must resolve that, even if we must die, we will not participate in the actions of the wicked." I believe it’s one of two options: either we grow spiritually stronger through trials, bringing glory to God, or we become spiritually weak and sin against God. Through the pathway of suffering, we can become spiritually stronger, leading a holy life, increasingly separated from the world and sin, or we can become spiritually weak and, in the process, align ourselves with the world and sin, living in worse ways than unbelievers. I am concerned that, at least on the surface, many Christians are living lives worse than unbelievers. What is the cause? It is because our hearts become vulnerable in the midst of trials and we incline towards evil. So, what should we believers do?
In today's passage, David set his eyes on the Lord, offered his hands to God, and also dedicated his heart to God, praying to avoid sin and not allowing his heart to be inclined toward evil. Even though the food that the wicked ate seemed delicious, like a "delicacy," David's eyes were focused solely on the Lord, and because of this, his heart did not fall into the temptation of the lust of the eyes. Furthermore, because his hands were dedicated to prayer, seeking purity and holiness, he was able to avoid participating in the evil deeds of the wicked. Like David, even though we face many temptations in times of difficulty, we must fix our gaze on the Lord, devote our hands to prayer, and in doing so, protect our hearts as we move forward.
Fourth, David set a guard over his mouth.
Look at Psalm 141:3: "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips." When we are in distress, suffering, and adversity, we need to be careful with our words. This is because, in times of pain and hardship, there is a great risk of sinning with our mouths. Especially when we are spiritually weak, we must be even more cautious with our speech. In fact, looking at the works of Satan, we can see that he tries to fix our eyes on the pain and difficulty of the situation, making it hard for us to pray and also tempting our hearts to turn toward sinful things. In this context, Satan causes our mouths to sin against God. One example of this can be seen in Job 2:9, where Job's wife says, "...Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die." Upon hearing this, Job replied to her, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin with his lips (Job 2:10). Job, even in the midst of his difficulties, did not sin with his mouth against God.
Like David, we need to pray to God, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips." Especially when we are suffering at the hands of those who cause us pain, we need to fix our eyes on God in prayer, guard our hearts, and commit ourselves not to sin with our words. In doing so, like David, our words should be sweet and pleasant for others to hear (Psalm 141:6). Speaking sweetly refers to words that bring comfort and joy to the listener. I am reminded of Paul's words in Colossians 4:6: "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt..." We should aim for our words to bring grace to those who hear them.
Fifth, David did not reject the rebuke of the righteous.
Look at the first half of Psalm 141:5: “Let the righteous strike me; it is a kindness; let him rebuke me; it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it...” David, even in the midst of adversity, not only did not reject the rebuke of the righteous but actually considered it a kindness. How could David consider the rebuke of the righteous as a kindness in the midst of hardship? When we are in difficulty, we long for comfort from our dear brothers and sisters. No one desires to be rebuked. If we are rebuked, our hearts are burdened even more in the midst of hardship. But how is it that David, in his adversity, did not reject the rebuke of the righteous but rather considered it a kindness? The secret can be summarized in two words: humility and wisdom.
First, humility means that through hardship, pain, and adversity, David’s eyes were fixed on the Lord, and through prayer, he humbled his heart before God. It was because of this humility that David did not reject the rebuke of the righteous but considered it a kindness.
Secondly, David had wisdom. The writer of Proverbs, Solomon, says: “Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8). This is something we actually experience in our lives. No matter how much love we put into rebuking the arrogant, they will not listen. Even if we try to rebuke them carefully and indirectly, they won’t listen; instead, they will hate us. As a result, we tend to avoid rebuking the arrogant. However, when we rebuke a wise person, even directly, they will listen, make an effort to correct themselves, and be grateful. Although they may feel upset at first, in the end, they will genuinely be thankful. When we see this, we experience that God’s word, “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you,” is true (v. 8). David, with this humility and wisdom, was able to consider the rebuke of the righteous as a kindness, rather than rejecting it.
I pray that this humility and wisdom may be in all of us.
I pray that, no matter what challenges or adversities lie ahead of us, our eyes will be fixed on the Lord. We must stop our gaze on Him. We must cry out to Him. We must lift our hands in prayer to Him. We must also guard our hearts and not be led into evil. Let us all set a watch on our lips. Even if we receive rebuke, let us not reject it, but consider it a kindness. The Lord will hear our prayers and deliver us.
Pastor James Kim
(Sharing the word that returns to me, experiencing immunity through it)