The NIV 365 Day Devotional

Lift Your Eyes

The only route to a certain harbor in Italy leads through a narrow channel between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years many ships have crashed as crews have tried to navigate through the channel. To solve this problem authorities mounted three lights on three huge poles in the harbor to guide ships safely into port. When a ship’s captain lines up the three lights and all three appear as one light, the ship can proceed safely up the narrow channel. Everything depends on the captain’s eyes. If he sees two or three lights, he knows he’s off course and in danger.

In much the same way the songwriter of Psalm 123 and his fellow Israelites turn their eyes to the Lord, looking to him for safe harbor. For those who sang this song in worship, this scene brought them back to their captivity in ancient Babylon, a sadly familiar setting for the people of Israel. While in captivity, the people pleaded with God to end their persecution. They sought help for the present and promises for future restoration, as God had promised. And they asked for mercy, expressing their readiness for whatever might come from the hand of God.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote, “Creation, providence, grace; these are all motions of Jehovah’s hand.” We see these motions every day—in the waves of the ocean, at sunrise and sunset, in the deer by the brook and the way the trees of the forest are clothed with splendor. We also see the motions of God’s hands within our lives—when he provides for our needs, heals our broken relationships, or comforts us in our suffering and grief.

God moves among his creation. He hears the pleas of his people. Even when shrouded in clouds and darkness, unable to see where the future may lead, we can rest in the knowledge that our Captain sees beyond the dangerous rocks and shoals. He himself embodies the three lights in One—he’s the ultimate Navigator of our lives.

Taken from the NIV Men’s Devotional Bible.