A song of ascents.
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.May the Lord bless you from Zion,
(Ps. 134:1-3 NIV)
he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
You are awesome in this place Mighty God:
This Psalm is the last of the Songs of Ascents. It begins with a call to worship and ends with a benediction. During the festivals there would be worship events to attend in the Temple. The priests (the servants of the Lord) hear the call to worship. Their ministry is one on behalf of the people. The worship of the Lord would continue day and night in the Temple. The reference to night-time in this Psalm is possibly because the festival is drawing to a conclusion. The final service like all services begin with a call to worship and ends with benediction. It is the Lord who bids us come, and it is the Lord who dismisses His people from His presence through benediction.
The priests lift up their hands in prayer and praise to God. They lift up their empty hands as they pray signifying that they are praying for the Lord to come and fill their emptiness.
The call to worship has brought the people of God into the sanctuary and in God’s presence they sing God’s praise.
As the people of God leave to make their way home, they are sent from God’s presence with the blessing of God’s benediction upon them. The blessing extends to all of life. Whatever town or village the people of God will return to, they will go with the blessings of the covenant God upon their lives. The covenant Lord is the maker of heaven and earth and His blessing comes from heaven and extends to the ends of the earth.
As the people of God leave to make their way home and face all the difficulties and joys that they described on their way to the Temple (Psa 121-133) they will face again with the promise of God with them.
Greater is He who is in You than he who is in the world. Our God is with us and He will never leave us or forsake us.
Immanuel our God is with us:
Prayer
Gracious God we love to respond to Your call to worship and come before You to sing Your praise, to invoke Your name in Worship , to confess our sins and be reassured that You have forgiven us in Christ. In Your presence we serve You as a Kingdom of Priests as we intercede for our nation, our Church, for the issues of Your Kingdom and for ourselves. We are pleased to hear Your word read and preached upon. As we sing our final praise we are pleased to bow our heads and leave Your sanctuary with the blessing of benediction upon our lives, to go out to our various places to serve You where You have placed. Lord teach us the great significance of Your sanctuary because we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.