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 night shift activities such as guarding the Sanctuary and keeping the fire on.

The message from this psalm seems to focus on these priests who worked at night. Let them praise the LORD in the process of executing their duties.

Let praising the LORD be on the “to-do” list for the night. It would, therefore, serve as an important reminder to the saint. Praise isn’t for the ‘Praise and Worship’ team alone.

Their praise is ‘songless’. But they lift their hands to the LORD. No one saint is short of tools in this task!

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 also suggests that praising the LORD is a 24/7 assignment. Let there be no gaps. It is an obvious application if the saint thinks 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 Maker 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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Published by Joseph Malekani

Joseph Malekani is a born-again Christian with a strong PAOG/Baptist background. He is heavily involved in student ministry with ZAFES – an IFES movement with focus on student ministry in Zambia. He is married to Audrey and they have two lovely children.

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