Psalm 123:3, 4 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.… The returned exiles found the contemptuous treatment of their neighbors the hardest thing to bear. Contempt is always hard to bear; but it is hardest to bear when we have an inward and painful conviction that we are so weak and poor that the contempt is in no way unreasonable. Those are just the times when we want a kindly word and a sign of confidence and hope, and then we feel most deeply if, instead, we are scorned, made a laughing-stock, and disheartened. That was the case with our Divine Lord. On the cross he needed the sign of love and word of sympathy; instead he had to bear the scorn and contempt which the psalmist suggestively anticipated for him (Psalm 22:6-8). The returned exiles had a similar experience. In their time of frailty a little neighborly help would have been so much to them. It would have given them quietness, security, and the cheer of sympathy. Instead of this, contempt humbled them, made them anxious, plucked out hopefulness, and filled them with fear. Contempt is a moral atmosphere in which nothing good or beautiful ever grew yet, or ever will grow. Hope the best of men, and you help them. Despise them and expect failure for them, and you crush them. I. CONTEMPT, WHEN IT IS UNREASONABLE, CAN BE BORNE. It is sometimes a mere product of malice and envy. There is no real ground for it, and we may know that there is no ground. We may properly cherish the consciousness of our power and worth; and then we can appraise the contempt of the envious at its true value, it cannot hurt us. The contempt is weak, it is not we who are weak. And the contempt will fail, not we. "What can harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?" The world despises the godly. It is no matter; the future is with the godly. II. CONTEMPT, WHEN IT IS REASONABLE, IS PAINFULLY DEPRESSING. Because it exaggerates our own sense of weakness, and so still further weakens us. Our sense of disability and insufficiency is oftentimes a great distress to us, and makes the struggle of life too hard for us. Precisely what we need is some sign of confidence, some kindly encouraging word, the cheer of some one who can see things more hopefully than we can. Consequently, we feel all the more deeply when our weakness is only despised; we hear loud and confident prophecies of our speedy failure, and men raise the laugh which crushes hearts more than open scorn. Then what can we do but turn from man to God? - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.WEB: Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. |
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