Psalm 134: Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!
I did not sleep much when I was in seminary. Being a full-time student, a part-time pastoral intern, and a part-time overnight security guard meant I did not get very well acquainted with my bed in those days. But that made me love sleep even more. There was nothing like working overnight, going straight to Hebrew I (I would not recommend this order of events), and then walking down the hill to my apartment in the student housing. There it was: my bed, warm and inviting. It was always a beautiful sight—at least on the days when I was still alert enough to be able to see things. As creatures, few things get our attention quite like lacking something we need. That is true for sleep deprived seminarians. It is especially true for pilgrims. We have come now to Psalm 134, the very last in the Psalms of Ascent. Westminster Shorter Catechism 1 famously reads, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” As we will see, Psalm 134 would be a good proof text for this question and answer.
This collection of fifteen pilgrim songs began in Psalm 120, in Meshech and Kedar, which were violent places far from Jerusalem. Now the pilgrims are standing in God’s own special presence in his temple. What does that have to do with us? This is also where we stand: Because through Christ we are priests of God, we can bless him day and night. That is your chief end, believer!
The Call
Psalm 134 begins with the same Hebrew word as Psalm 133, although the ESV here translates it as “come” instead of “behold.” By this word, the psalmist is drawing our attention to this call to worship. It is important, so we should listen. Who is being called here in the immediate context of the psalm? It is servants, or we could say, the Levites and the priests. They were the ones who offered service to God day and night. What are they being called to do? They are called to do what they were set apart to do: offer praise to the LORD. As all of us were made to praise God, this is really a call for all of us to worship. If you are in Christ, then you are a priest to God. You have access to him and should bless him. Listen to what Peter says in his first epistle: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:4–5). It is good for us to hear calls like this in Psalm 134:1, because, even as priests, there is a temptation to become numb to the blessings of being in God’s presence. We should repent of our apathy. After all, what is better than being in the presence of our Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer?
But why “bless” God in verse 2? Is not God the one who blesses us? Well, here the word does not convey the idea of giving God what he needs and does not have. Instead, it means giving God his due: deserved honor and praise. Remember, your salvation is ultimately for God’s glory. Therefore, God’s glory is for your good. So praise this God who is wonderful and has done wonderful things in Christ! Do what Paul calls us to do in Romans 12:1: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Or as we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, through Christ “let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb 13:15).
The LORD
The one we praise is the one who saves and the one who dwells. We praise him because he is the God who saves, whether it is his people enslaved in Egypt, pilgrims on the road who are brought into his house, or all who believe in Christ crucified and raised. Israel was brought to the promised land and given Jerusalem and the temple. The feasts of Israel were celebrated in remembrance of this. The priesthood itself was a testament to the fact that God saves. As we considered in Psalm 133, the Levitical priesthood existed because God made a way of reconciliation for his people. And we have a better picture in Christ, who is not only our great High Priest but is our Savior himself.
We also praise God because he is the one who dwells. He did not save us only to leave us alone. Our God is far too gracious for that. Christ came as Immanuel: God with us. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on us. God the Father is your Father through Christ. The goal of all creation is the glory of God, brought about in large part because of his work for and communion with his redeemed people. Remember, you have given him every reason not to dwell with you. You have sinned against him and would not even be in Christ if he had not stooped down to you. Yet he still dwells with you in Christ, even now.
The Place
Why are God’s servants called to lift their hands “to the holy place” as it says in verse 2? The psalmists calls them to do so because that is where God’s special presence resided in those days. Yahweh had promised to dwell in the midst of his people, which is what happened when his glory-cloud left Mt. Sinai and took up residence in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. Then David moved this tent of meeting to Jerusalem and set it up on Mt. Zion (Ps 132). When his son, Solomon, prayed his prayer of decimation for the temple, he said this: “Listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive” (1 Kgs 8:30). In other words, Zion is the place of blessing (v. 3).
We already considered how we bless God: by declaring what is already true. But God blesses us in a different way. He declares us righteous in Christ, and then he blesses us in his presence.[1] As a result of God’s blessing to us, our imperfect worship is accepted by God through Christ. So worship with confidence. When you come to church on the Lord’s Day, do not wonder if your worship is acceptable to God because of its inherent perfection and worth. It is not. But your worship is acceptable to God as you come to him through Christ, so worship like it. After all, this blessing comes from Zion. But where is Zion, now? In Hebrews 12:22–24 we read these words:
You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
We do not have to go to a physical stone temple to have access to God. Instead, we come to the place where he has called us and where his people have gathered in response to his call. Why do we go to the gathering of the saints on Sundays? Because that is where God has promised to come, as well. That is where he has promised to strengthen you in Christ and give you his blessing by the Holy Spirit.
The End
As we close this final Psalm of Ascent, imagine the pilgrims finally standing in Jerusalem, receiving a blessing in God’s very presence. The road was long and hard, but it was more than worth it. God preserved his people along the way, and he will do the same for us. We can have confidence in this because Christ is the perfect pilgrim in our place. He ascended the hill of the LORD (Ps 15; 24) and brought us with him (Col 3:1–4). So where are you going? Into God’s presence to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ forever. In the meantime, make meeting with God through Christ a priority. Every week (and for some of you, twice each Sunday) you get what the ancient Israelite pilgrims got three times a year: a meeting with your Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer.
I encourage you to read Psalm 135 to supplement the content of your praise. It answers the question: What has the LORD done? And remember Psalm 134: Because through Christ you are priests of God, you can bless him day and night. And that is what you will do forever when your pilgrimage ends in the new heavens and earth: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Rev 21:3).
Note
- Derek Kidner, Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (IVP Academic, reprinted 2008), 454.
©Chris Smith. All Rights Reserved.
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Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith is originally from Bellevue, Nebraska. A graduate of Westminster Seminary California (M.Div 2019; MA (Historical Theology) 2020). He is associate pastor of Phoenix URC in the United Reformed Churches of North America. He is currently pursuing a ThM in systematic theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary.
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