Psalms 134:1-3

Psalms 134

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

The Night Service in the Temple.

ANALYSIS

(See Inserted Headlines.)

(Lm.) Song of the Steps.
(ADDRESSED TO NIGHT-WATCHERS IN THE TEMPLE.)

1

Lo! bless ye Jehovah all ye servants of Jehovah,

who stand in the house of Jehovah in the dark night:[777]

[777] So Br. in the nightsDr.

2

Lift up your hands in holiness[778] and bless ye Jehovah.

[778] Or: unto the sanctuary.

(THEIR REPLY.)

3

May Jehovah bless thee out of Zion[He who is] Maker of heaven and earth!

(Nm.)[779]

[779] See Psalms 135 (beginning).

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 134

Oh, bless the Lord, you who serve Him as watchmen in the Temple every night.
2 Lift your hands in holiness and bless the Lord.
3 The Lord bless you from Zionthe Lord who made heaven and earth.

EXPOSITION

The purpose and structure of this psalm are simple and evident. There is in the Temple a Night-service, which becomes the occasion of a charge from the people to the Levites who represent them, and of a benediction from the Levites on the people before they depart to their homes. There is a probable reference to such a service in 1 Chronicles 9:33; and the priestly response is after the manner of Numbers 6:24. The stair-like movement characteristic of the previous Step-Songs is perceptible in this psalm also, as witness the five-fold repetition of the name Jehovah, which, reverently uttered, would impart to this final song a suitable solemnity. That the standing in the house of Jehovah points to the ministrations of the officials of the Temple, is sufficiently evident from the following passages; namely, Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 18:7, 1 Chronicles 23:30 and 2 Chronicles 29:11. Concerning the lifting up of hands in worship, Psalms 28:2; Psalms 44:20; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 88:9; Psalms 119:48; Psalms 141:2, may be profitably compared; while, as to the accompanying words in holiness or to the sanctuary, the preference of Delitzsch, with R.V. text, for the accusative of direction=unto the sanctuary, is perhaps not quite so plainly correct as the accusative of definition =in holiness, with R.V. margin; although the reason given by Aglen for the latter is scarcely conclusive. He says: Since the servants of Jehovah are here addressed as standing in the sanctuary, this direction seems unreasonable. The unreasonableness disappears if we remember that the ministrants might be already standing within the Temple courts, and yet direct their uplifted hands toward the holy shrine. Still, in holiness appears the more obvious rendering; which becomes doubly acceptable when viewed as supplying the idea of holy hands in 1 Timothy 2:8. It remains only to add: that the simple structure of this psalm by no means pre-supposes the elaborate ritual of perambulating the Temple courts during the night, which the Talmud connects with the Second Temple. There is nothing here which the reforming King Hezekiah might not have arranged or restored.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

This is the last of the fifteen psalms devoted to the Song of the Stepsit is appropriate that it be a night service in the templeRead 1 Chronicles 9:33 and Numbers 6:24 to aid in visualizing the circumstances.

2.

Delitzsch seems to see some objections to an in the temple worship. How does Rotherham answer the objection?

3.

Are we to actually lift up our hands in the worship of our Lord? cf. 1 Timothy 2:8.