Psalm 134 Commentary
While many temple activities were restricted to the daytime, some special activities needed to be done throughout the night. Therefore, there was always a need for a night shift for activities like guarding the Sanctuary and keeping the fire on.
The message from this psalm seems to focus on these priests who worked in the night. Let them praise the LORD in the process of executing their duties. Let praising the LORD be an item on the task list. It would, therefore, serve as an important reminder to the saint. Praise isn’t for the ‘Praise and Worship’ team alone.
It seems to convey the thought that night shift activities may have been viewed as less important. They didn’t rank highly on the temple task list. Let the priests who served during the night consider it a privilege and praise the LORD for it.
It would also suggest that praising the LORD was a 24/7 assignment. Let there be no gaps. It could be an obvious application if the saint thought of night praises as an instruction to keep the fire even in dark moments of one’s life. Keep praising the LORD even when the lights are out. In moments of less activity, in moments of fewer opportunities, and in moments of low expectations; let the saint praise the LORD.
Believers raise their hands in prayer probably and in part because of an instruction to do so in the psalm.
The last verse is a prayer that the LORD blesses ‘these’ night workers. The reference to the LORD as the Marker of heaven and earth may convey the thought that the same LORD made both the day and the night. He will bless the day as well as the night.
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