A Song of Ascents.

1Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD,
         Who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

2Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
         And bless the LORD.

3May the LORD bless you from Zion,
         He who made heaven and earth.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
A Song of Ascents. Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, Who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
A song for going up to worship. Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, all who stand in the house of the LORD night after night.

King James Bible
<> Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord: Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

Darby Bible Translation
{A Song of degrees.} Behold, bless Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, who by night stand in the house of Jehovah.

English Revised Version
A Song of Ascents. Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.

Webster's Bible Translation
A Song of degrees. Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, who by night stand in the house of the LORD.

World English Bible
Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in Yahweh's house!

Young's Literal Translation
A Song of the Ascents. Lo, bless Jehovah, all servants of Jehovah, Who are standing in the house of Jehovah by night.

Cross References

Revelation 19:5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great."

Deuteronomy 10:8 At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day.

1 Chronicles 9:33 Now these are the singers, heads of fathers' households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free from other service; for they were engaged in their work day and night.

1 Chronicles 23:30 They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the LORD, and likewise at evening,

2 Chronicles 29:11 "My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense."

Psalm 103:21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.

Psalm 135:1 Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD; Praise Him, O servants of the LORD,

Psalm 135:2 You who stand in the house of the LORD, In the courts of the house of our God!

Ezekiel 40:45 He said to me, "This is the chamber which faces toward the south, intended for the priests who keep charge of the temple;

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 134

This is the last of the fifteen songs of degrees; and, if they were at any time sung all together in the temple-service, it is fitly made the conclusion of them, for the design of it is to stir up the ministers to go on with their work in the night, when the solemnities of the day were over. Some make this psalm to be a dialogue. I. In the first two verses, the priests or Levites who sat up all night to keep the watch of the house of the Lord are called upon to spend their time while they were upon the guard, not in idle talk, but in the acts of devotion. II. In the last verse those who were thus called upon to praise God pray for him that gave them the exhortation, either the high priest or the captain of the guard. Or thus: those who did that service did mutually exhort one another and pray for one another. In singing this psalm we must both stir up ourselves to give glory to God and encourage ourselves to hope for mercy and grace from him.

A song of degrees.

Verses 1-3

This psalm instructs us concerning a two-fold blessing:-

I. Our blessing God, that is, speaking well of him, which here we are taught to do, v. 1, 2. 1. It is a call to the Levites to do it. They were the servants of the Lord by office, appointed to minister in holy things; they attended the sanctuary, and kept the charge of the house of the Lord, Num. 3:6, etc. Some of them did by night stand in the house of the Lord, to guard the holy things of the temple, that they might not be profaned, and the rich things of the temple, that they might not be plundered. While the ark was in curtains there was the more need of guards upon it. They attended likewise to see that neither the fire on the altar nor the lamps in the candlestick went out. Probably it was usual for some devout and pious Israelites to sit up with them; we read of one that departed not from the temple night or day, Lu. 2:37. Now these are here called upon to blesss the Lord. Thus they must keep themselves awake by keeping themselves employed. Thus they must redeem time for holy exercises; and how can we spend our time better than in praising God? It would be an excellent piece of husbandry to fill up the vacancies of time with pious meditations and ejaculations; and surely it is a very modest and reasonable to converse with God when we have nothing else to do. Those who stood in the house of the Lord must remember where they were, and that holiness and holy work became that house. Let them therefore bless the Lord; let them all do it in concert, or each by himself; let them lift up their hands in the doing of it, in token of the lifting up of their hearts. Let them lift up their hands in holiness (so Dr. Hammond reads it) or in sanctification, as it is fit when they lift them up in the sanctuary; and let them remember that when they were appointed to wash before they went in to minister they were thereby taught to lift up holy hands in prayer and praise. 2. It is a call to us to do it, who, as Christians, are made priests to our God, and Levites, Isa. 66:21. We are the servants of the Lord; we have a place and a name in his house, in his sanctuary; we stand before him to minister to him. Even by night we are under his eye and have access to him. Let us therefore bless the Lord, and again bless him; think and speak of his glory and goodness. Let us lift up our hands in prayer, in praise, in vows; let us do our work with diligence and cheerfulness, and an elevation of mind. This exhortation is ushered in with Behold! a note commanding attention. Look about you, Sirs, when you are in God's presence, and conduct yourselves accordingly.

II. God's blessing us, and that is doing well for us, which we are here taught to desire, v. 3. Whether it is the watchmen's blessing their captain, or the Levites' blessing the high priest, or whoever was their chief (as many take it, because it is in the singular number, The Lord bless thee), or whether the blessing is pronounced by one upon many ("The Lord bless thee, each of you in particular, thee and thee; you that are blessing God, the Lord bless you"), is not material. We may learn, 1. That we need desire no more to make us happy than to be blessed of the Lord, for those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. 2. That blessings out of Zion, spiritual blessings, the blessings of the covenant, and of communion with God, are the best blessings, which we should be most earnest for. 3. It is a great encouragement to us, when we come to God for a blessing, that it is he who made heaven and earth, and therefore has all the blessings of both at his disposal, the upper and nether springs. 4. We ought to beg these blessings, not only for ourselves, but for others also; not only, The Lord bless me, but, The Lord bless thee, thus testifying our belief of the fulness of divine blessings, that there is enough for others as well as for us, and our good-will also to others. We must pray for those that exhort us. Though the less is blessed of the greater (Heb. 7:7), yet the greater must be prayed for by the less.

Calvin's Commentary

1. Behold! bless ye Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, who stand nightly in the house of Jehovah. 2. Lift up your hands towards the sanctuary, [149] and bless Jehovah. 3. Jehovah bless thee out of Zion, who made heaven and earth!

1. Behold! bless ye Jehovah. Some interpreters think, that others besides the Levites are here intended, and it must be granted, at least, that some of the more zealous of the people remained over night in the Temple, as we read (Luke 2:37) of Anna, a widow, "who served God constantly with prayers night and day." [150] But it is evident, from the close of the Psalm, that the inspired penman addresses priests only, since he prescribes the form of benediction which they were to offer up for the people, and this was a duty belonging exclusively to the Priests. It would appear then, that the Levites are here called servants of God, from the functions they discharged, being specially appointed, and that by turns, to watch by night in the Temple, as we read in the inspired history. [151] (Leviticus 8:35.) The Psalm begins with the demonstrative adverb Behold! setting the matter of their duty before their eyes, for they were to be stimulated to devotion by looking constantly to the Temple. We are to notice the Psalmist's design in urging the duty of praise so earnestly upon them. Many of the Levites, through the tendency which there is in all men to abuse ceremonies, considered that nothing more was necessary than standing idly in the Temple, and thus overlooked the principal part of their duty. The Psalmist would show that merely to keep nightly watch over the Temple, kindle the lamps, and superintend the sacrifices, was of no importance, unless they served God spiritually, and referred all outward ceremonies to that which must be considered the main sacrifice the celebration of God's praises. You may think it a very laborious service, as if he had said, to stand at watch in the Temple, while others sleep in their own houses; but the worship which God requires is something more excellent than this, and demands of you to sing his praises before all the people. In the second verse he reminds them in addition, of the form observed in calling upon the name of the Lord. For why do men lift their hands when they pray? Is it not that their hearts may be raised at the same time to God? [152] It is thus that the Psalmist takes occasion to reprehend their carelessness in either standing idle in the Temple, or trifling and indulging in vain conversation, and thus failing to worship God in a proper manner.

3. Jehovah bless thee out of Zion! We have conclusive proof in my opinion from this verse that the Psalm is to be considered as referring to the priests and Levites only, for to them it properly belonged under the law to bless the people. (Numbers 6:23.) The Psalmist had first told them to bless God; now he tells them to bless the people in his name. Not that God meant by any such injunction that the people might themselves indulge in a life of carnal security an opinion prevalent among the Papists, who think that if the monks chant in the temples, this is all the worship necessary on the part of the whole body of the people. What God intended was, that the priests should lead the way in divine service, and the people take example by what was done in the temple, and practice it individually in their private houses. The duty of blessing the people was enjoined upon the priests, as representing Christ's person. Express mention is intentionally made of two things, which are in themselves distinct, when the God who blessed them out of Zion is said to be also the Creator of heaven and earth. Mention is made of his title as Creator to set forth his power, and convince believers there is nothing that may not be hoped from God. For what is the world but a mirror in which we see his boundless power? And those must be senseless persons indeed, that are not satisfied with the favor of Him who is recognized by them as having all dominion and all riches in his hand. Since many, however, are apt, when they hear God spoken of as Creator, to conceive of him as standing at a distance from them, and doubt their access to him, the Psalmist makes mention also of that which was a symbol of God's nearness to his people and this that they might be encouraged to approach him with the freedom and unrestrained confidence of persons who are invited to come to the bosom of a Father. By looking to the heavens, then, they were to discover the power of God by looking to Zion, his dwellingplace, they were to recognize his fatherly love.

Footnotes:

[149] "qds. Some persons render this word as if it were an adverb. So Tilingins has Attollite manus vestras sanete.' There is no doubt, that lifting up the hands reverently, is the ordinary and proper posture of suppliants at the throne of grace. Farther, St. Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:8, apparently with reference to this passage, speaks of lifting up holy hands. The Septuagint and Syriac, however, have taken the word as a noun, signifying the sanctuary; the former have hagia." Phillips. Warner and Cress, well with Calvin would read "towards the sanctuary;" i.e., towards the holy of holies, where the ark, the symbol of the Divine presence, was fixed.

[150] "We know generally," says Fry, "that there was a nightly service in the Temple, (2 Chronicles 21: and Kimchi, a Jewish writer, represents those who by night stand in the house of the Lord, as holy men who rose from their beds in the night and went to pray in the Temple." After referring to the case of "Anna, a Prophetess," he adds, "And St. Paul, before Agrippa, speaking of the hope of the promise made unto the fathers,' gives us this remarkable description: unto which our' twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. There was public service in the Temple at Jerusalem not only by day but by night; which latter service many of the Jews, for whose special use this and the next Psalm seem to have been composed, were in the habit of attending." Cresswell.

[151] Ye servants off the Lord, etc., i.e., ye Levites, whose duty it was, according to the Talmudists, to keep watch by night, standing in the Temple: the High Priest was the only one who sat in the Temple. Compare Leviticus 8:35; 1 Chronicles 9:33 Psalm 92:2; Psalm 119:147; Luke 2:37." Cresswell.

[152] "Car a quel propos les hommes eslevent ils les mains en priant, sinon afin qu'ils eslevent aussi leurs esprits a Dieu?" Ft.

Links

Psalm 134 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

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