StandUpPsalms 134
- 134:1
Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
So he’s talking to the night-shift janitor currently sweeping the Holy of Holies in a pair of coffee-stained overalls.
The text singles out the people who are left behind to keep watch inside the temple during the dark hours of the night. Why does spiritual devotion that happens completely out of public view require a different kind of dedication, and what does it reveal about the value of unseen, routine labor?
- 134:2
Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord.
Telling a third-shift worker in a dark room full of solid gold to suddenly put his hands in the air sounds less like worship and more like an Old Western Testament stickup.
The speaker instructs these isolated individuals to physically lift their hands. What does this physical gesture signify when there is no audience around to witness it, and how does engaging the body change a person's mindset?
- 134:3
May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who is the maker of heaven and earth.
A blessing from Zion is nice, but what this guy needs is a cash bonus for working the graveyard shift to protect God's jewels from Babylonian Vikings.
The psalm concludes by turning the blessing around, wishing favor upon the person who has been performing this quiet nocturnal service. When people are doing exhausting, unseen work behind the scenes, what kind of recognition or spiritual reassurance keeps them going?