The Songs Of Ascent – Part 18 – Psalm 134 – Blessing Both Ways – God And Man And Message To The Temple Night Watchers – Final Message Series

THE SONGS OF ASCENT – PART 18 – PSALM 134 – BLESSING BOTH WAYS – GOD AND MAN AND MESSAGE TO THE TEMPLE NIGHT WATCHERS – FINAL MESSAGE

{{Psalm 134:1 “Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD.

Psalm 134:3 May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.”}}

Here we come to the end of the whole collection of the Psalms or Songs of Ascent. The pilgrims who have been singing since Psalm 120 these psalms on their journey to Jerusalem for the Feasts required by the Lord, and to worship at the Temple, have now arrived and their praises ascend to the Lord. They stand in the Temple and express their delight in just three verses.

The verses contain a twofold blessing, firstly blessing rising to the Lord and the request that the Lord will bless you from Zion. We aim to consider each part in this Psalm to derive blessing for ourselves as we try to be faithful to what the word of God would teach us. It is the second shortest chapter in the bible but it is not short of meditation.

[1]. THE FIRST VERSE

Psalm 134:1 [[Behold, bless the LORD]], [[all servants of the LORD]] [[who serve by night in the house of the LORD!]]

PART 1

In verse 1 there are three segments and each has its own message. We come to the first one, which is one of these statements we hear often, and like another one, “Praise the Lord,” it just passes by us and we never take in what the actual meaning is. I do not set myself up as any expert on this at all, but like everything, we must examine sensibly to see what the meaning is.

“Bless the LORD,” but before that we have “Behold”. It means, “Come, see . . .” “The word calls attention to an immediate need - something that is to be done, and to be done at once. (Pulpit Commentary).

Spurgeon is expansive in his view of this scene – [[“Behold". By this call the pilgrims signal the attention of the Temple night watch. They shout to them - Behold! The retiring pilgrims stir up the holy brotherhood of those who are appointed to keep the watch of the house of the Lord. Let them look around them upon the holy place, and everywhere "behold" reasons for sacred praise. Let them look above them at night and magnify Him that made heaven and earth, and lighted the one with stars and the other with his love. Let them see to it that their hallelujahs never come to an end. Their departing brethren arouse them with the shrill cry of "Behold!" Behold! - see, take care, be on the watch, diligently mind your work, and incessantly adore and bless Jehovah's name.”]]

There are so many cases of the word “Behold” in the New Testament but one of them is very significant in the Church calendar right at this time – {{Mark 16:6 He said to them, “Do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. BEHOLD, here is the place where they laid Him,”}}. The Lord has risen! COME, look around you. Look at the place where the Lord was laid and see that He is not here! How very important that “Behold” really is!

“Bless the LORD!” The pilgrims standing in the Temple address those who have the night watch to tell them to bless the Lord. We say the same things to one another. However what does the term mean?

In one sense it means giving, as in giving thanks to the LORD and honouring God for all He is and what He does and has done. It is like a cousin for “Praise the Lord!” I like the way Matthew Henry puts this – [[“We must stir up ourselves to give glory to God, and encourage ourselves to hope for mercy and grace from him. It is an excellent plan to fill up all our spare minutes with pious meditations, and prayers and praises. No time would then be a burden, nor should we murder our hours by trifling conversation and vain amusements, or by carnal indulgences.”]]

We will finish this section with a quote from Spurgeon again on how he sees the meaning of the injunction “Bless the LORD” – [[Think well of Jehovah, and speak well of him. Adore him with reverence; draw near to him with love; delight in him with exultation. Be not content with praise, such as all his works render to him; but, as his saints, see that ye "bless" him.]]