Psalms — Chapter 134

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1A song of ascents. Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who serve by night in the house of the LORD!

2Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD!

3May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

1Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.

2Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.

3The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

1Behold, bless ye Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, That by night stand in the house of Jehovah.

2Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, And bless ye Jehovah.

3Jehovah bless thee out of Zion; Even he that made heaven and earth. Psalm 135

1A song of ascents. Attention! Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who serve in the Lord’s temple during the night.

2Lift your hands toward the sanctuary and praise the Lord.

3May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

1Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, who stand by night in Yahweh’s house!

2Lift up your hands in the sanctuary. Praise Yahweh!

3May Yahweh bless you from Zion; even he who made heaven and earth.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

This final Song of Ascents calls on the LORD's servants who stand watch by night in his house to bless him, lifting their hands in the sanctuary (vv. 1-2). It closes with a benediction: may the LORD who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion (v. 3).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Song of Ascents / Hymn of Praise
Attributed Author: Anonymous (superscription: "A Song of degrees")
Key Themes: Night worship, blessing the LORD, lifting hands in the sanctuary, priestly blessing, the Creator who blesses
Historical Context: Psalm 134 is the final Song of Ascents (15th of 15) — a brief evening benediction of 3 verses. The collection that began in distress and exile (Psalm 120) concludes at the temple at night, with worshipers calling priests/Levites to bless the LORD during the night watch, and receiving blessing in return. The pattern: worshipers bless God (vv.1-2), then God blesses worshipers (v.3). It is a fitting conclusion to the pilgrim journey — arrival at the temple, nighttime worship, mutual blessing between God and His people. The journey is complete.
Which by Night Stand in the House of the LORD (vv.1-2): Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. The last of the fifteen Songs of Ascents, three verses long, and it is addressed to the men on the night watch in the temple. After a collection that began in exile among people who hated peace, the pilgrimage ends inside the building after dark. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
Bless Thee out of Zion (v.3): The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. The last verse answers the first two: the servants are told to bless God and the reply blesses them. It is addressed to one person, not the group, which reads as the priest turning to each pilgrim in turn. And the credential is the one Psalms 121 and 124 used on the road, so the collection ends with the same maker it started out trusting.

Map & Geography

  • Zion (v.3): The hill on which Jerusalem/the Temple stood; often used poetically for God's dwelling.

Places on this map

  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalms 130-134 | From the Depths to the Heights | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Psalm 134 - The LORD Bless You from Zion
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Blessing God in the Night Watch (v.1) — The call goes out to those who serve the Lord through the night hours, not just in the bright light of festival days. Do you worship God in the unnoticed, tiring, in-between seasons, or only when it's convenient?
  • Lifting Hands in the Sanctuary (v.2) — The instruction to lift hands toward the holy place pictures worship that is physical, deliberate, and directed at God. Is your worship an actual posture of surrender, or something that stays only in your head?
  • A Blessing Returned From the Maker of All (v.3) — The psalm closes with the Creator of heaven and earth blessing His worshipers from Zion in return. When you bless God with praise, do you expect Him to bless you back, or does worship feel like a one-way transaction?