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Psalm 123
I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt. We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud.

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By: The Rev. Dr. W. Ross Blackburn

The psalm draws a parallel between those at ease and the prideful. How often pride and ease go hand in hand. Money is power. Pride, likewise, hungers for power, for preeminence. It is these who scorn the servants of the LORD, who hold them in contempt. It is not difficult to understand the conflict between those at ease and the people of God. The disciple of Christ denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Him. There is no such thing as ease for Jesus’ disciples. This may not mean that the wealthy have no inheritance in the kingdom of God, but certainly it means that the wealthy cannot expect to find themselves following Christ as they insist upon living at ease.

The Christian life is in large part war-war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. How can a Christian live a life of ease with three so formidable enemies seeking to destroy him? We do well to be wary of living a life of ease. There is a battle. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness (Eph. 6:12).

Those content to live at ease, whether within or outside the church, will scorn those seeking to live a life of costly discipleship. The godly will appear too serious, too judgmental, and will be accused of turning others away due to their lifestyle and attitudes. The world, of course, would rather lukewarm disciples, who expose no darkness or compromise, but rather by their lives indicate that one can be saved and still live at ease. Paul’s words to the Philippians would be most unwelcome: for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict which you saw and now hear to be mine (Phil. 1:29-30).

Scorn and contempt is the lot that can be expected for the people of God. As Jesus prayed for His disciples, “I have given them thy word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world” (John 17:14). The Scriptures suggest that the scorn and contempt is persistent, requiring persistence on the part of the Lord’s servants, both in prayer and in endurance.