AN EXHORTATION TO PRAISE
Psa. 134:1-3
Morning Meditation 5/26/16
“Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.”
Spurgeon said, “We have now reached the last of the Gradual Psalms. The Pilgrims are going home, and are singing the last song in their psalter. They leave early in the morning, before the day has fully commenced, for the journey is long for many of them. While yet the night lingers, they are on the move. As soon as they are outside the gates, they see the guards upon the temple wall, and the lamps shining from the windows of the chambers which surround the sanctuary; therefore, moved by the sight, they chant a farewell to the perpetual attendants upon the holy shrine. Their parting exhortation arouses the priests to pronounce upon them a blessing out of the holy place: this benediction is contained in the third verse. The priests as good as say, "You have desired us to bless the Lord, and now we pray the Lord to bless you."
As we look at this Psalm lets see first of all THE EXHORTATION TO PRAISE. The words “Behold, bless ye the LORD” is an exhortation to praise.
The picture here is the pilgrims who have made a long journey to Jerusalem to worship are about to leave on their journey home. They are exhorting the Levites who stand in their stead and praise the LORD. The Levites were mediators, intercessors and representatives for the entire nation. The pilgrims bring a sacrifice, the Levites offer it. They contacted God for the people. They received blessing from God for the people.. So the people were dependent on the Levites to faithfully perform their duties.
Spurgeon said, “The Psalm teaches us to pray for those who are continually ministering before the Lord, and it invites all ministers to pronounce benedictions upon their loving and prayerful people.”
Praise is one of the primary acts in worship. Psa. 33:1 says, “Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.” The word “comely” means “the state of being beautiful.” Can you imagine God calling the angels and the multitude of the redeemed together in heaven and saying to them, “I want you to see something. Look at this person or church praising me. Isn’t that beautiful?” We say, “Isn’t that a beautiful lady, or, isn’t the Grand Canyon beautiful,” but God says, “Isn’t that beautiful” when he sees and hears our praise of him. God said in Psa. 50:23, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. So God is glorified through the praises of his people. Then we are taught that souls are won through the praise of God’s people. Psa. 40:3 says, “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Then we see in this Psalm the ENCOURAGEMENT TO FAITHFULLY PERFORM THE SERVICE. The “servants of the LORD” are addressed. The primary meaning of the word “servant” is “slave.” The Levites were called “servants.” A servant is one who is bought and owned by another. A servant is one who gets all his orders from his master. He does not operate independently of his master. His service is one of duty. And that meaning is very applicable here. These servants of the LORD are representative. If they fail, the pilgrims fail. If they do not faithfully preform their duties, then those they represent also fail in the same sense.
We are servants of the Lord and when our conversation is not ordered aright, then others are affected negatively by it. No one lives to himself or dies to himself. We are to in love and serve one another.
Then there is the ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE IMPORTANCE OF UNRECOGNIZED SERVICE. Notice the words “which by night stand in the house of the LORD.” There are those who serve God in the “night.” Others are asleep.. The Levites by night kept the praises of the people ascending to the throne of God. Their service was not noticed. It was offered while others slept.. But it was noticed by the LORD. And the whole nation was blessed of the LORD because of the un noticed service of those who faithfully performed their duties while others slept.
Do you ever get the idea that absolutely no one knows what you are doing. I can just see that missionary who is on the field of service and suffering the culture shock of living in a completely alien environment. The feeling of desperation and depression is something he has to fight. He is supported financially by the people back home, but he wonders if that is all the support that he is getting. His service is in “the night.” Not many really know what he is going through. He feels alone. This Psalm tells us that those who served in the night needed a word of exhortation to be faithful to their calling. Even though others may not see, God does.
Then there is AN EARNEST REQUEST FOR A FINAL BLESSING. If this Psalm pictures the pilgrims leaving Jerusalem on their long journey home, they are asking the Levites to get them a final blessing to sustain them on their journey. The Psalm says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary . . .” The hands must be clean hands, they must be consecrated hands, and they must be hands lifted in faith to receive a blessing. The pilgrims have a right to expect this of their representatives. The Levites are supported by the nation of Israel. They are taken care of so that they can give their full time to the service of representing the people. God’s servants who are supported by the people so that they can give full time to Bible study, prayer and leadership need to take heed to this message. I am afraid that many pastors and full time workers could do all they do and hold down a full time job, because they are not spending their time on their knees and diligently studying the BOOK so that they can feed the people when they come together to worship.
