134 A Song of Ascents.
134:1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
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!
Section Overview
This final Song of Ascents is geared toward a liturgical occasion, perhaps the opening or closing of a festival (depending on the identification of the “servants of the Lord”; v. 1). By the reading followed here, the psalm would suit well the close of a service.
The movement in the psalm goes from addressing the “servants of the Lord” (vv. 1–2) as “you” (plural) to addressing the particular worshiper (v. 3; “you” singular). The servants are called to “bless” the Lord, while the prayer is that the Lord would “bless” the faithful worshiper.
Section Outline
I. Bless the Lord, O Servants (134:1–2)
II. May the Lord Bless You (134:3)
Response
As suggested here, the words of the psalm invite the sanctuary personnel to “bless” the Lord perpetually (acting on behalf of the congregation), and then it provides words by which they will “bless” the congregation. The faithful must be reminded that in their worship they have been in God’s presence, and they leave for “ordinary life” under his care and protection; this is the function of a benediction (cf. Num. 6:23–27).
This stress on the Lord’s house and Zion clarifies why, in the postexilic period, reformers (cf. Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Malachi) made so much of the temple and its priesthood: they are fundamental to the corporate and personal lives of God’s holy people.
Christians believe that in their assemblies, scattered throughout the world, they bring one another into God’s presence through faith in Christ. They may rightly expect those who serve them in ministry to represent them perpetually before the Lord and also to pronounce God’s blessing on the departing worshipers.Psalm 134
Psalm 135