Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 134:1

Clarke's Commentary

PSALM CXXXIV

An exhortation to praise God in his sanctuary, 1-3.

NOTES ON PSALM CXXXIV

This is the last of the fifteen Psalms called Psalms of degrees. Who was the author is uncertain; it is attributed to David only by the Syriac; it is intimately connected with the two preceding Psalms, and is an exhortation to the priests and Levites who kept nightly watch in the temple, to the assiduous in praising the Lord. It seems to consist of two parts: 1. An exhortation, probably from the high priest, to those priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night, to spend their time profitably, and duly celebrate the praises of God, Psalms 134:1-2. The second part, which is contained in the third verse, Psalms 134:3 is the prayer of the priests and Levites for the high priest, who seems now to be going to his rest.

Verse Psalms 134:1. Behold, bless ye the Lord — I believe הנה hinneh should be taken here in the sense of take heed! Be upon your guard; you serve a jealous God; provoke him not.

Which by night stand — Who minister during the night.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 132 -134 A house of prayer for Israel

A visit to the temple is a fitting occasion to recall the origins of the temple. David, with much difficulty, brought the ark (or covenant box) to Jerusalem with the aim of building God a house (132:1-5; cf. 2 Samuel 6:3-13; 2 Samuel 7:1-3; see also introductory notes to Psalms 24:0). Previously the ark had been at Kiriath-jearim, also known as Baale-judah and here called ‘the fields of Jaar’. David therefore went from Bethlehem (Ephrathah) to Kiriath-jearim to collect the ark and bring it to Jerusalem (6-9; see 2 Samuel 6:2,2 Samuel 6:14-19; 1 Chronicles 13:5; 1 Chronicles 13:5).

Although David wanted to build God a house in Jerusalem, God wanted to do something far greater for David. God wanted to build David a house in Jerusalem; not a house of stone, but a line of royal descendants to rule from Zion where the living God dwelt (10-14; cf. 2 Samuel 7:4-16). God would give his people all they needed for healthy lives, physically and spiritually (15-16). He would give the Davidic king power, prosperity, victory and glory (17-18).

The psalmist rejoices to see Israelites from all parts of the country worshipping together in unity in Jerusalem. He considers it a precious sight, having a pleasantness that he likens to the perfume of the sweet-smelling oils used to anoint Israel’s high priest. It has a freshness like the dew that falls on Mount Hermon (133:1-3).
At the end of the day’s festival activities, the worshippers wish the priests and Levites good-night on a note of praise to God (134:1-2). The priests and Levites respond by wishing the worshippers God’s blessing (3). This concludes the fifteen Songs of Ascents.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Behold, bless ye Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, That by night stand in the house of Jehovah. Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, And bless ye Jehovah. Jehovah bless thee out of Zion; Even he that made heaven and earth.”

“Behold, bless ye Jehovah” “`Behold’ is a word which usually draws attention to something that is liable to be overlooked.”H. C. Leupold, p. 222. Certainly, the obligation of God’s people to bless his holy name and to offer thanks and prayers to him continually is just such a thing that is easy to overlook, neglect and omit in the hustle and bustle of every day life. However, it was the neglect of this very common duty that precipitated the judicial hardening of all mankind in the pre-Christian era.

“Knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). Note the brief words, “Neither gave thanks.”

“All ye servants of Jehovah” This phrase may be understood, either as the Levites keeping the night vigil in the Temple, or as the “community at worship.”Leslie C. Allen, Vol. II, p. 216. Either meaning could be correct. All depends upon what the situation here actually is. If the scene is that of a group of pilgrims arriving at night before the Temple and addressing the Levites on night duty there, then the words refer to the Levites. The second half of the verse, appears to favor that meaning.

“That by night stand in the house of Jehovah” The Temple was never left without its full contingent of Levites and priests. The company of pilgrims arriving at night would have been welcomed.

If that is the case, the words “Bless ye, Jehovah” would carry the same meaning as “Pray to Jehovah on our behalf.”

“Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, and bless ye Jehovah” This may have been the invitation of the Levitical contingent in the temple to the night-arrivals for them to begin the worship service. “Lifting up the hands” was a gesture associated with praying from the very earliest times. Dahood tells us that the custom of “lifting up the hands toward heaven” in worship “was customary among the Canaanites,”Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, Vol. III, p. 255. even before the conquest by Israel.

“Jehovah bless thee out of Zion” Throughout the Old Testament, the blessings of God are represented as coming “out of Zion”; a truth that in the New Dispensation appears in the affirmation that “all spiritual blessings” are in Christ and become available to mankind only through him and “in him.”

“Bless thee” This word was viewed by Kidner as the key to the whole passage. Whereas, it is God who is blessed in the first lines, the reverse appears here, where it is man who receives the blessing, “To bless God is to acknowledge gratefully what He is; but to bless man, God must make of him what he is not, and give him what he has not.”Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 454.

The pattern of all Old Testament blessings is that of Aaron given in Numbers 6:24 ff.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

“Even he that made heaven and earth” This concludes this brief psalm. “The worshippers will leave enriched and strengthened, with the invocation of divine blessing ringing in their ears.”Leslie C. Allen, op. cit., p. 218. “This Psalm is a fitting conclusion to the Psalms of Ascents.”C. M. Miller, co-author with Anthony L. Ash, p. 416.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Behold - As if calling attention to the fact that they were there, or had come.

Bless ye the Lord - Praise Yahweh. Making known their desire that God should be praised, and calling on those who presided over the public worship of the sanctuary to engage now in that service as expressive of their feelings.

All ye servants of the Lord - The priests or ministers of religion, appointed especially to this service.

Which by night stand in the house of the Lord - There was a class of singers in the temple who devoted the night, or a part of the night, to praise; and it is possible that this service may have been, as it was subsequently in some of the monasteries, continued by succeeding choirs, during the entire night. Thus in 1 Chronicles 9:33, it is said, “And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free, for they were employed in that work day and night.” This class is particularly addressed in this psalm, as if they were especially favored, or as if they especially possessed the ear of God in the silence of the night, and when the world slumbered around them. There is something favorable to devotion in the silence of the night; when the world sleeps; when we are alone with God; when it seems as if God would more particularly attend to our cry since the rest of the world is still, and does not (as it were) need his care. All this may be fancy; but the effect may be to make the mind more solemn, and better suited for devotion.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

1.Behold! bless ye Jehovah. Some interpreters think, that others besides the Levites are here intended, and it must be granted, at least, that some of the more zealous of the people remained over night in the Temple, as we read (Luke 2:37) of Anna, a widow, “who served God constantly with prayers night and day.” ⁽¹⁵⁰⁾ But it is evident, from the close of the Psalm, that the inspired penman addresses priests only, since he prescribes the form of benediction which they were to offer up for the people, and this was a duty belonging exclusively to the Priests. It would appear then, that the Levites are here called servants of God, from the functions they discharged, being specially appointed, and that by turns, to watch by night in the Temple, as we read in the inspired history. ⁽¹⁵¹⁾ (Leviticus 8:35.) The Psalm begins with the demonstrative adverb Behold! setting the matter of their duty before their eyes, for they were to be stimulated to devotion by looking constantly to the Temple. We are to notice the Psalmist’s design in urging the duty of praise so earnestly upon them. Many of the Levites, through the tendency which there is in all men to abuse ceremonies, considered that nothing more was necessary than standing idly in the Temple, and thus overlooked the principal part of their duty. The Psalmist would show that merely to keep nightly watch over the Temple, kindle the lamps, and superintend the sacrifices, was of no importance, unless they served God spiritually, and referred all outward ceremonies to that which must be considered the main sacrifice ­ the celebration of God’s praises. You may think it a very laborious service, as if he had said, to stand at watch in the Temple, while others sleep in their own houses; but the worship which God requires is something more excellent than this, and demands of you to sing his praises before all the people. In the second verse he reminds them in addition, of the form observed in calling upon the name of the Lord. For why do men lift their hands when they pray? Is it not that their hearts may be raised at the same time to God? ⁽¹⁵²⁾ It is thus that the Psalmist takes occasion to reprehend their carelessness in either standing idle in the Temple, or trifling and indulging in vain conversation, and thus failing to worship God in a proper manner.

(150) “We know generally,” says Fry, “that there was a nightly service in the Temple, (2 Chronicles 21:0:) and Kimchi, a Jewish writer, represents those who by night stand in the house of the Lord, as holy men who rose from their beds in the night and went to pray in the Temple.” After referring to the case of “Anna, a Prophetess,” he adds, “And St. Paul, before Agrippa, speaking ‘of the hope of the promise made unto the fathers,’ gives us this remarkable description: ‘unto which our’ twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. There was public service in the Temple at Jerusalem not only by day but by night; which latter service many of the Jews, for whose special use this and the next Psalm seem to have been composed, were in the habit of attending.”­ Cresswell.

(151) Ye servants off the Lord, etc., i.e., ye Levites, whose duty it was, according to the Talmudists, to keep watch by night, standing in the Temple: the High Priest was the only one who sat in the Temple. Compare Leviticus 8:35; 1 Chronicles 9:33 Psalms 92:2; Psalms 119:147; Luke 2:37.” ­ Cresswell.

(152) “Car a quel propos les hommes eslevent ils les mains en priant, sinon afin qu’ils eslevent aussi leurs esprits a Dieu ?”­ Ft.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 134:1-3

Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which stand by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion ( Psalms 134:1-3 ).

So twofold: bless the Lord, and then may you receive the blessing of the Lord. "Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord."

One of the glorious ministries of Calvary Chapel is the Men's Prayer Ministry where men gather by night in the house of the Lord. Where men are here all night long, standing before the Lord, bringing before the Lord the prayer requests, the needs of the body. Men volunteer on three-hour shifts maybe every second week or so to just come in, just to stand before the Lord in His sanctuary. "Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which stand by night in the house of the Lord." What a privilege, what a blessing. Just to come down and stand before the Lord for the needs of the body. "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary. Bless the Lord." How glorious it is. How beautiful it is. May God bless you out of Zion. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. A call for God’s servants to praise Him 134:1-2

Priests were on duty 24 hours a day at the temple. They served as guards, and they also offered sacrifices and carried out other sacerdotal functions during the daylight hours. The psalmist called on them to praise God even at night. Lifting up the hands in prayer was a common posture that symbolized the petitioners offering praise up to God and receiving blessings from Him.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 134

This last pilgrim psalm called on the priests who served God at the temple to praise Him, and it called on God to bless them.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Behold, bless ye the Lord, all [ye] servants of the Lord,.... All men are of right the servants of God being his creatures; and are under obligation, through his providential goodness, to bless and praise him; though they are not all in fact so: but all good men are, being made so by the power of divine grace; which frees them from the servitude of sin, Satan, and the world, and makes them willing to serve the Lord; as they do in righteousness and holiness, with reverence and godly fear, heartily and willingly, and with great pleasure; and yet have no dependence on any service they perform: and as these are under the highest obligations to bless the Lord; the is, to ascribe greatness to him, to give him the glory of his works, and thanks for his mercies, temporal and spiritual; so they do in this way, and for those things, bless and praise him, to which they are here excited;

which by night stand in the house of the Lord: according to Kimchi, these were the wise and holy men, that rose from their beds in the night, and went to pray in the temple, and to praise the Lord; and such a holy person was Anna, Luke 2:37; according to R. Obadiah and Arama, they were such who continued in the chambers of the temple in the night season to study in the law and in the expositions of it: but it is generally interpreted of the priests and Levites, who watched in the temple by night, that it might not be profaned nor plundered; and they were obliged to stand, for none might sit in the temple but a king of the house of David d. The priests watched in three places, and the Levites in twenty one, according to the Jewish Misnah e. The Targum is,

"who stand in the watch house of the sanctuary of the Lord, and praise in the nights;''

which was one part of their service, 1 Chronicles 9:33. Under the Gospel dispensation all the saints are priests, and they have a place in the house of the Lord; where they wait upon him in his ordinances, and serve him, and which they do continually. Some understand, by "nights", times of affliction, darkness, and desertion.

d Maimon. Beth Habbechirah, c. 7. s. 6. e Middot, c. 1. s. 1.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A song of degrees.

      1 Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.   2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.   3 The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

      This psalm instructs us concerning a two-fold blessing:--

      I. Our blessing God, that is, speaking well of him, which here we are taught to do, Psalms 134:1; Psalms 134:2. 1. It is a call to the Levites to do it. They were the servants of the Lord by office, appointed to minister in holy things; they attended the sanctuary, and kept the charge of the house of the Lord, Numbers 3:6-10, c. Some of them did by night stand in the house of the Lord, to guard the holy things of the temple, that they might not be profaned, and the rich things of the temple, that they might not be plundered. While the ark was in curtains there was the more need of guards upon it. They attended likewise to see that neither the fire on the altar nor the lamps in the candlestick went out. Probably it was usual for some devout and pious Israelites to sit up with them we read of one that departed not from the temple night or day,Luke 2:37. Now these are here called upon to bless the Lord. Thus they must keep themselves awake by keeping themselves employed. Thus they must redeem time for holy exercises; and how can we spend our time better than in praising God? It would be an excellent piece of husbandry to fill up the vacancies of time with pious meditations and ejaculations; and surely it is a very modest and reasonable to converse with God when we have nothing else to do. Those who stood in the house of the Lord must remember where they were, and that holiness and holy work became that house. Let them therefore bless the Lord; let them all do it in concert, or each by himself; let them lift up their hands in the doing of it, in token of the lifting up of their hearts. Let them lift up their hands in holiness (so Dr. Hammond reads it) or in sanctification, as it is fit when they lift them up in the sanctuary; and let them remember that when they were appointed to wash before they went in to minister they were thereby taught to lift up holy hands in prayer and praise. 2. It is a call to us to do it, who, as Christians, are made priests to our God, and Levites, Isaiah 66:21. We are the servants of the Lord; we have a place and a name in his house, in his sanctuary; we stand before him to minister to him. Even by night we are under his eye and have access to him. Let us therefore bless the Lord, and again bless him; think and speak of his glory and goodness. Let us lift up our hands in prayer, in praise, in vows; let us do our work with diligence and cheerfulness, and an elevation of mind. This exhortation is ushered in with Behold! a note commanding attention. Look about you, Sirs, when you are in God's presence, and conduct yourselves accordingly.

      II. God's blessing us, and that is doing well for us, which we are here taught to desire, Psalms 134:3; Psalms 134:3. Whether it is the watchmen's blessing their captain, or the Levites' blessing the high priest, or whoever was their chief (as many take it, because it is in the singular number, The Lord bless thee), or whether the blessing is pronounced by one upon many ("The Lord bless thee, each of you in particular, thee and thee; you that are blessing God, the Lord bless you"), is not material. We may learn, 1. That we need desire no more to make us happy than to be blessed of the Lord, for those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. 2. That blessings out of Zion, spiritual blessings, the blessings of the covenant, and of communion with God, are the best blessings, which we should be most earnest for. 3. It is a great encouragement to us, when we come to God for a blessing, that it is he who made heaven and earth, and therefore has all the blessings of both at his disposal, the upper and nether springs. 4. We ought to beg these blessings, not only for ourselves, but for others also; not only, The Lord bless me, but, The Lord bless thee, thus testifying our belief of the fulness of divine blessings, that there is enough for others as well as for us, and our good-will also to others. We must pray for those that exhort us. Though the less is blessed of the greater (Hebrews 7:7), yet the greater must be prayed for by the less.