Psalm 134 is the final Psalm in the Songs of Degrees. As mentioned in a previous post, some believe that these Psalms were sung as the children of Israel traveled to Jerusalem to go up to the temple. If this is the case, this Psalm would seem to be one of joy and praise that they had safely made it and were able to meet together in the house of the LORD.
Psalm 134 begins, “Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.” (verse 1) When God blesses us, He gives us good things. He cares for us, protects us, spiritually satisfies us, helps us materially. It all depends on which blessing He chooses to give us. What do we do when we bless God? We cannot help Him or provide anything for Him. When we bless God, we show Him our appreciation and adoration. “Bless” here means to kneel as an act of adoration, to praise, salute and thank. (See Strong’s Concordance). We joyfully show our expression of gratitude to Him for all that He has done for us. We express our love to Him because He has expressed His love to us.
The Psalm goes on to say, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.” (verse 2) We praise and bless God in our private devotions. We should also praise and bless Him in the assembly of the saints, in the sanctuary where we all meet together to adore Him.
As we express our love for the LORD and our joy in being able to adore and worship Him, God once again returns blessing to us. “The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.” (verse 3) We can never out-love the Lord. And we can never bless Him more than He will bless us. When we give Him praise and adoration for His blessings, He pours out more blessing. “We love him, because he first loved us.” (I John 4:19) And the more we express our love to Him, the more abundantly He pours out His love to us.
Dear God, we give You thanks and joyful praise!