Psalm 123:3 NKJV
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
The Power of Mercy
My Notes
Scripture Reading
“Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.” — Psalm 123:3 (NKJV)
The psalmist’s cry is urgent, repeated, and full of longing: “Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us!” This is not casual prayer. It is the language of a soul pressed, wounded, and weary. The repetition reveals desperation—an earnest pleading that knows mercy can come from God alone.
The psalmist shifts from I to us, reminding us that every believer needs mercy. Mercy is not a one‑time gift but a continual necessity. We stand before God not as self‑sufficient individuals but as a community of needy people, looking to the only One who can lift us from the weight of contempt and rejection.
“For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.”
Contempt is singled out because it cuts deeper than many other wounds. It is the coldest form of rejection—disdain that belittles, mocks, and devalues.
Sometimes contempt bounces off us. Other times it sinks in, filling us until we feel overwhelmed, diminished, or crushed.
The psalmist acknowledges this honestly: “We are exceedingly filled.” Not just touched by contempt—filled by it.
Yet instead of turning inward or retaliating outward, he turns upward. He brings the wound to God, the only One whose mercy can cleanse what contempt has poisoned.
Mercy is the antidote to contempt.
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Contempt tears down; mercy restores.
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Contempt belittles; mercy lifts up.
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Contempt wounds; mercy heals.
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Contempt isolates; mercy embraces.
When the world shows no mercy, God remains the God of mercy. When people mock, belittle, or reject, God receives, comforts, and defends.
The psalmist models the right response: Run to God. Cry out. Keep crying out. Wait for mercy.
Cross References (NKJV)
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Psalm 86:3 “Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long.”
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Psalm 123:4 “Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.”
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Psalm 130:2 “Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.”
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Lamentations 3:22–23 “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
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Luke 18:1 “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”
Meditation Questions
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Where in my life do I feel the need to cry, “Lord, have mercy on me”?
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Do I bring my wounds to God, or do I try to carry them alone?
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What does God’s mercy mean to me personally?
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How can I train my heart to turn to God first when I feel rejected or belittled?
Key Takeaways
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Mercy is not optional—it is essential for every believer.
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Repetition in prayer is not weakness; it is earnest faith.
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Contempt wounds deeply, but God’s mercy heals completely.
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When people show no mercy, God remains the God of mercy.
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Turning to God in seasons of rejection is an act of trust and spiritual maturity.
Prayer
Abba, I come to You with the same cry as the psalmist: Have mercy on me, Lord. When contempt fills my heart—whether from others or from my own thoughts—let Your mercy wash over me. Heal what has been wounded. Restore what has been diminished. Lift my eyes above the scorn of people to Your compassion. Teach me to run to You quickly, honestly, and continually. Fill me not with contempt, but with Your mercy, peace, and strength. I ask for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Proverb for Today
A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, And the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him. Proverbs 12:14 NKJV
Closing
Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:23-26 NASB1995
Bill
Posted on 12/12/2025 by Bill Stephens
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Summary of Commentaries:
The commentators emphasize that the psalmist’s repeated cry, “Have mercy upon us,” reflects deep urgency and total dependence on God. Mercy is the only remedy when believers are wounded by contempt, a pain described as bitter, saturating, and soul‑piercing. They are “exceedingly filled” with scorn—so much that only God’s intervention can relieve them. Instead of seeking pity from people who show none, the faithful unite in pleading for divine mercy, trusting that God alone sees, understands, and can heal the wounds caused by rejection and disdain.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us.‘ He hangs upon the word “mercy,” and embodies it in a vehement prayer: the very word seems to hold him, and he harps upon it. It is well for us to pray about everything, and turn everything into prayer; and especially when we are reminded of a great necessity, we should catch at it as a keynote, and pitch our tune to it. The reduplication of the prayer before us is meant to express the eagerness of the Psalmist’s spirit and his urgent need: what he needed speedily, he begs for importunately. Note that he has left the first person singular for the plural. All the saints need mercy; they all seek it; they shall all have it, therefore we pray—”have mercy upon us.” A slave, when corrected, looks to his master’s hand that the punishment may cease, and even so we look to the Lord for mercy, and entreat for it with all our hearts. Our contemptuous opponents will have no mercy upon us; let us not ask it at their hands, but turn to the God of mercy and seek his aid alone.
“For we are exceedingly filled with contempt,” and this is an acid which eats into the soul. Observe the emphatic words. Contempt is bitterness, wormwood mingled with gall; he that feels it may well cry for mercy to his God. Filled with contempt, as if the bitter wine had been poured in till it was up to the brim. This had become the chief thought of their minds, the peculiar sorrow of their hearts. Excluding all other feelings, a sense of scorn monopolized the soul and made it unutterably wretched. Another word is added adverbially—exceedingly filled. Filled even to running over, as if pressed down and then heaped up. A little contempt they could bear, but now they were satiated with it and weary of it. Do we wonder at the threefold mention of mercy when this master evil was in the ascendant? Nothing is more wounding, embittering, and festering than disdain. When our companions make little of us, we are far too apt to make little of ourselves and of the consolations prepared for us. Oh, to be filled with communion, and then contempt will run off from us, and never be able to fill us with its biting vinegar.
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Enduring Word
Have mercy on us: The psalmist wasn’t content to only wait for mercy; he begged for it. He demonstrated that waiting on the LORD is not a passive thing. He repeated the request for mercy, showing the intensity of his plea. The Master he looked to would look upon him and help. (Guzik)
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt: The psalmist needed God’s intervention and mercy because he felt filled with the contempt put on him by others. (Guzik)
i. Exceedingly filled: “The Hebrew word here used means ‘to be saturated’; to have the appetite fully satisfied – as applied to one who is hungry or thirsty. Then it comes to mean to be entirely full, and the idea here is that as much contempt had been thrown upon them as could be; they could experience no more.” (Barnes, cited in Spurgeon)
ii. Sometimes others show contempt to us, and it just rolls off like drops of water. Other times, we take contempt from others, and we let it fill us – sometimes until we are exceedingly filled. These times lay us low and make us feel that only the mercy of God can save us. (Guzik)
iii. Contempt: “It is illuminating that contempt is singled out for mention. Other things can bruise, but this is cold steel. It goes deeper into the spirit than any other form of rejection.” (Kidner)
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Albert Barnes
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us – The language of earnest pleading, repeating with emphasis the object of the prayer. The supplicants are represented as standing and urging this petition, feeling that help could come only from God; looking only to him; and watching his countenance, as servants do their master’s.
For we are exceedingly filled – The Hebrew word used here means to be saturated; to have the appetite fully satisfied – as applied to one who is hungry or thirsty. Then it comes to mean to be entirely full, and the idea here is that as much contempt had been thrown upon them as could be; they could experience no more.
With contempt – Contempt has been shown us in every possible way. We are thoroughly despised.
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John Gill
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,…. Merit is not pleaded; for, though servants, they knew they were unprofitable ones: but mercy is asked; whether by the awakened sinner, under first convictions, or by the backsliding professor, for forgiveness of sins, under a sense of them, or as under the correcting: and chastising hand of God for them: and which is repeated, to show the state of their case, which requires mercy, and in haste; and the eagerness of their spirit, and the earnestness of their suit, their prayer being the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man;
for we are exceedingly filled with contempt; by reason of meanness in outward circumstances, the common lot of God’s people; and therefore are reckoned the faith of the world, and the offscouring of all things: and on account of their religion, which wicked men make a jest of; reckon an engine of state, to keep people in awe of the civil magistrate; or a piece of priestcraft, to serve the lucrative views of a set of men; or as mere cant and enthusiasm, and a gloomy melancholy business, which none but fools will give into; and particularly on account of peculiar doctrines embraced, which are branded as novel, irrational, and licentious; and ordinances, which entirely depend on the sovereign will of the institutor of them. For these things, and the like, contempt was plentifully poured upon them; they had enough of it, and too much, so much that they could not bear it; it was become intolerable and loathsome, and the more, as it had been a long time continued on them. So Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret the word, rendered “exceedingly,” of a long time.
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Matthew Henry
They sue for mercy, not prescribing to God what he shall do for them, nor pleading any merit of their own why he should do it for them, but, Have mercy upon us, O Lord! have mercy upon us. We find little mercy with men; their tender mercies are cruel; there are cruel mockings. But this is our comfort, that with the Lord there is mercy, and we need desire no more to relieve us, and make us easy, than the mercy of God. Whatever the troubles of the church are, God’s mercy is a sovereign remedy.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us!” Note how a godly man speaks. He does not say, “Have mercy upon me, O Lord, have mercy upon me! because I am disgraced;” but, “Have mercy upon us, O LORD, for we are filled with contempt!” The godly man is not so grieved for his own and individual contempt as he is for the general contempt of the good and faithful. There is an accord of the godly, not only in the cross, but also in groanings, and in the invocation of divine grace.
—Wolfgang Musculus.
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