Psalm 134

Psalm 134. This is the last one we're going to do tonight. It's the last of the "Psalms of Ascent." And it's kind of fitting as a final psalm, because it's a call to come and praise the Lord. Another very short Psalm. And it simply says, in verse 1,

And again, some of you have a song going through your head. Don't sing it out. But when you go home, I mean, sing it all the way home as loud as you want in the car. Some of you guys don't know what song that is, but that's all right. It's old. And those of you that know it probably are, too! But you know, we've covered several times in our study of the psalms that when the psalmist says, "bless the LORD," it's not speaking of the same blessing that you might give to me, or I might give to you. Because ultimately, God can't receive anything from us that He needs. And there's nothing that He doesn't already have. A human can never actually give to God that kind of a blessing. The Hebrew word that is translated here bless, in this thing of "bless the LORD," actually can be translated to kneel. To kneel before the Lord. And the implication is to bless the Lord as an act of adoration, as an act of praise. "Come bless the LORD,” Come adore the LORD! Come and kneel before the Lord!" Right? And the idea also of standing by night, as it says there in the first verse, "(those) who stand by night in the house of the LORD!...," is probably considering the duties of the Levites that are given to us in 1 Chronicles. Let me put this on the screen for you. In 1 Chronicles 9:33 we read,

And there were they who stood before the Lord by night. And the call was to encourage them to continue to "bless the LORD!" To acknowledge, and to worship, and praise the Lord! Verse 2 goes on and says,

And lifting of hands in worship is very biblical. I remember the first time I saw it. I was raised in church, but nobody ever raised their hand or hands. That just wasn't something that happened in the church that I was raised in. It was much more formal. And Sue and I, were in our early 20s, the first time we went to a church where people were raising their hands. And I was... I didn't know what they were doing. All I saw was these people putting their hands up. It's like, do they want to be called on? Do they need to go to the bathroom? I couldn't figure this thing out. But eventually came to understand it, as this biblical idea of surrender. It's kind of this idea of surrender, (Pastor Paul lifts hands in supplication) Lord I give my life to You. It's also a symbol of welcoming, Lord, I welcome, I welcome You into my heart, into my life. I welcome the fellowship, the communion, with my Heavenly Father. I open my heart to You. I surrender my life to You. I give it to You. To offer up our lives as a beautiful spiritual sacrifice. It's a very beautiful symbol. But the psalmist encourages those who stand by night in the temple, to lift up their hands to bless the Lord. And then the final cry is a prayer.

May the Lord who created all things bless you from Zion! ---