Psalm 134

A Song of Ascents.

1 Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!

The final song of ascents addresses the night guard of the temple. The holy place and its valuables were guarded 24/7, not only to protect from theft, but to maintain its ritual purity. The temple was holy and no unauthorized person was allowed to enter. Priests were scheduled to guard the temple, and so this may refer to those who are left standing there throughout the night as the worshipers went home for the day. As a pilgrim song, this may reflect the end of the festival and the return of worshipers to their hometowns, leaving the worship to continue on their behalf, led by the priests. The law didn’t prescribe night worship and there seems to be no custom of it, so the best assumption is that this is essentially guard duty. That is not to preclude priests from performing acts of worship and prayer on their own. How else would you occupy yourself for hours throughout the night? I would recite prayers and psalms. I would talk theology with my buddies. I would intercede for others. These are priestly things that may have gone on throughout the night, at least the pilgrims thought so anyway. It was a comforting thought to know that as you returned home, your priests were still praying and interceding for you and the nation, performing their service of prayer and worship on your behalf, for the life of the nation. We have night watchmen in our culture, individuals who stay up all night in hospitals, fire and police stations, or they spend the evening in patrol cars on the streets and highways, ready to assist. Pray for the people who are up all night as you turn out the lights to sleep. They are still up on behalf of someone else. 

2 Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!

3 May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

The psalmist concludes these fifteen songs of ascents by commanding prayer from the priests who are guarding the temple complex at night. The posture of lifting hands was associated with prayer in both testaments. It’s a posture that mimics what the heart is doing, as a posture should. It is an outward expression of what is happening inside. It is a lifting of a prayer, request, praise or thanksgiving to God and it is a lifting of the self to place in God’s hands, a posture of surrender. For this act of faith, the psalmist prays that YHWH would bless them from Zion. There is an inherent blessing that comes from faith, a resource that can sustain you through tragedy and trial. The same hands that formed the heavens and the earth are forming you through trial. “In his hands are the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his for he made it, his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:4.5) “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingertips, the moon and the stars that you have set in place” (Psalm 8:3). Does he who made heaven and earth not care for you so much more? Will he not form you into something glorious and beautiful? All that is required of us is that we lift our hands and place our lives in his hands. He will guard us through the night and make us a beautiful blessing.