Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God

One of our elders, Peeter Lukas, is recently retired from working on the line at GM. He’s also a very thoughtful man, and a quite a good thinker and writer. Whenever he leads a devotional time, he writes out his remarks in advance and reads them to us. What he presents is invariably edifying and inspiring.

Below is his devotion for a recent meeting of our Director of Worship Search Committee (of which, in addition to being an elder, he is also a member). I think you’ll find this short meditation good for your soul, not to mention good for anyone else looking for someone to help lead the congregation in worship.

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Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
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.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

The question that we are all asking is, “What sort of man are we looking for?” It seems “strange” to me that a man on planet Earth actually exists today who shall, Lord willing, be here some day. But who is he? I don’t think we’re looking for a Vegas lounge lizard—“There’s no business like show business…”—and I doubt we’re looking for the ninth century British monk who gave out cordial “Remember death” greetings to one and all.

So, who are we looking for?

The Psalmist, in verse one says, “I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”

Also, Psalm 34:1-5 says,

I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.

What are we looking for? Ultimately, it’s a man of spiritual purity—a man who lifts his eyes and heart to God in knowledgeable, eager expectation of mercy in his own worship. He worships in such a way that he can say in verse 3, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us.” He knows of the mercies of God within his own soul first. God has gifted him with musical abilities that find their first outlet in his own worship of the God of mercies. He has a profound awareness of the mercy and grace of God in Christ. A director of worship is therefore urgent about one thing—the necessity of God alone at the center of our corporate worship.

Simple question: Is there any concern that URC’s worship would somehow become “professional” or any other derivative of this which would mean a loss of true spirituality if we hire a director of worship?

Simple answer: There should be few words more troubling to this man than the word “professional.” He labors after undistracting excellence in worship, but he labors for the right things. He’s concerned that the microphone perfectly picks up the angelic voice of 7 year old Sally Pureheart. He won’t ask during a group photo, “Did you get my best side?” He says, “I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!” and he longs to see the same in others. This is what we further see in verse 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.

Our director of worship is a servant. He may wear a three piece suit, he may wear jeans and a sweater, but he’s a man with a passion that our eyes look to the Lord our God. He has a concern to serve and be with everyone, servants and maidservants included. Yes, he’s concerned to understand and minister to the multi-ethnic culture of University Reformed Church. I just said that he labors for the right things. He likes the gospel as it was defined by African-Americans over a hundred years ago—“being seized by the power of a new affection.” But he is just as concerned and sensitive to the typical middle class, college educated family, with a husband who works too much, a wife who is becoming increasingly depressed, a son who looks at his Xbox too much, and a daughter who thinks that the Kardashians are THE template.

Yes, he will labor to be pure, to have passion, and also to be proficient. He’s a man who will work hard to figure out how to use a pin whistle or violin or organ or choir for the edification of the body. It seems that we want a man who not only knows that there are 88 keys to a piano, but he knows how to find and use them. He‘s a man who knows that the word “chord“ has the letter “h“ in it, and he knows how to help others find the various chords on a guitar. To what degree of proficiency? I think the Psalmist answers that in verse 2: “so our eyes look to the Lord our God till he has mercy upon us.” Many of us don’t know chords from choruses, or arias from librettos, but what matters most is that we the someone we find can proficiently and passionately lead “us” and “ourselves” and “our families” in God honoring worship.

One final question and thought: What’s the context of Psalm 123? The commentators aren’t unanimous in this. James Boice leans towards it being written “in the early days after the Jew’s return from exile in Babylon”. Calvin leans to the time “when the Jews were captives in Babylon or when Antiochus Epiphanes exercised towards them (the Jews) the most relentless cruelty.”

The precise timetable may not be known but it still helps us to better understand the emotional context of verses 3 and 4.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.

Contempt, scorn, being mocked—there are few things that more quickly cut into us than contempt, scorn, mocking. And yet, the Psalmist in Psalm 123 isn’t being stringent; he doesn’t retaliate the mocker‘s words, he doesn’t build strong walls of “regulative principles and principles and principles,” accompanied with fiery eyes. Yes, he did say “more than enough” two times but he used the word “mercy” three times. And his terra firma reality was…

so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.

Our man ought to be proficient—we‘ll each have a slightly different definition as to what this looks like, but at the end of the day, can he serve well the entire body of URC? Our man needs to be passionate about the gospel and in serving others, and our man must be pure, the delight of his eyes is to be in the Lord and in His mercy.