Tuesday, July 1, 2014

A Closer Look at Psalm 134

How much do you love Psalm 134?  It's a great one to start with if you decide to challenge yourself to memorize Scripture.  Which I highly recommend.
"Behold, bless the Lord,
All you servants of the Lord,
Who by night stand in the house of the Lord!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless the Lord."

The first two verses speak to "all you servants of the Lord" which serves two purposes.  First, as it was written about the Levites, the priests, it is a wonderful reminder to us to pray for priests and pastors, Sunday School teachers and church secretaries, nuns and choirs singing in balconies.  They serve Him, but they also serve His people, and they deserve our prayer.

Secondly, it's a reminder that in some way, we are all servants of the Lord.   In some way, you should be serving Him by serving His people.  We are not all called to "stand by night in the house of the Lord," but we are definitely to "lift our hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord."  Every act of serving Him is an act of worship, but it should be accompanied by purposeful and outward praise.  Serving is only part of what we owe Him...

"The Lord who made heaven and earth
Bless you from Zion!"

I love verse 3 for its use of the word "bless".  Words fascinate me, especially words with dual or "opposite" meanings, and I love that this word is something God does for us, but also something we do for Him.

The other thing I love about verse 3 is that line, "Bless you from Zion!"  I love that reminder that though God is with us always, He is also on His throne.  His deity never wanes, even though He deigns to abide in Spirit in us.  

~ "Behold, bless the Lord" ~
Psalm 134:1
~

No comments:

Post a Comment