Bible Reading: 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.” (Psalm 123:1-2)

Wherever we are now in our walk of faith, what is our prayer? Whether we are jubilant with praise or wandering through the darkest valley of our lives, what should be our prayer? For those of you who doubt, who are weary, who feel stuck in your faith, who are bearing heavy burdens, who are sick of this God-thing because it just never seems to work, what is your prayer? 

There is only one thing a man can do; beg for God’s mercy. We are sinful, broken human beings. We have no good in us. Everything we do deserves eternal damnation. Our lives are futile, filled with emptiness and death because we have rebelled against the Holy God. Even if we wanted to fix the problem, we can’t. No matter how hard we try to do good works and make up for our past mistakes, we will never return to a state of holiness. God cannot accept a single blemish, and yet, when we think of ourselves as capable of reaching God with our good works, we usurp God’s position as God, making ourselves yet again be flawed. If you strive for perfection, you will never get there. If you strive for heaven by your own works, you will never get there. 

There is only one thing a man can do; beg for God’s mercy. Get on your knees, weep, confess to God as you are. Accept the fact that you are dirty, filthy, and sinful before God no matter what others would think of you, no matter if you are the pastor’s kid, no matter if you’ve appeared to be a saint in church all your life. And fall on your knees not only once, but continuously for without God, we are nothing. 

Without God, we would never be able to comprehend the message of the cross. Without God, we could never believe in Him and accept salvation. Without God, we would never be able to grow in faith. Without God, we would never be able to endure hardship. Without God, we would never have peace and joy in knowing Him. Without God, we are left to rot in our sins, making ourselves all the more ready to be thrown in hell. 

I need God’s mercy. You need God’s mercy. Wherever we are in our walk of life, whoever we are, we need God’s mercy. The psalmist understood this, for he begged, “Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us”. Have we begged before God in such a manner before? 

The mysterious thing is that God is faithful to those who He loves. He answers the prayers of the weak and lowly and those who earnestly seek Him. Hold to the promises God gives in Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7, Psalm 9:10 and the list goes on. Seek the mercy of the Lord.

Lord, have mercy on me. You know my innermost struggle. I have no idea how to deal with it, Lord. Please forgive me for my sins and have mercy on me. Remember me in Your love and sacrifice on the cross. Remember also all the promises You have made for those who seek You. Lord, I don’t know how to seek You. I don’t know where I can find You. Nonetheless, have mercy on me and bring me into Your light. Please do not leave me, do not forsake me. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Hans Sangtoki (18) is the coordinator of RE Generation Z. He has a passion for serving his generation and sharing hope in Christ. He also has an interest in classical music and dreams of conducting an orchestra one day.

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