Good Morning!
There are a series of psalms in the Psalter called the “Songs of Ascent”. These fifteen odes were to be sung as pilgrims went up to Jerusalem during one of the three festivals held particularly in the City of David. They are the hymns that Jesus and His disciples sang in Matthew 26 after the institution of the Lord’s Supper. As an aside that is one of the cool things about singing the Psalms. We are literally using the same words that our Savior used to praise His heavenly Father. Call me crazy, but if they are good enough for Christ than they should be good enough for us. But moving on from all that each of the Songs of Ascent in their own way teach us much about the nature of the grace of God, and how the people of God are to worship Him. In today’s prayer and worship help we are going to spend some time looking at the last of these songs, Psalm 134.
The Psalm begins with a command: Behold! I want you to try and say that out loud. BEHOLD! I am not sure there is a word which can capture our attention more than that one. In fact, if you said it just now in a public place I bet you got some people to listen. When John the Baptist wanted to gain a hearing he said, Behold I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You. There’s something strong and powerful even about the way that word is constructed in English. Now that you have a crowd gathered paying you mind at the moment you might as well go ahead and say the next line, “bless ye the LORD all ye servants of the LORD…”. We have an instruction followed by an order. Stop what you are doing and give thanks to God. Sounds like a good idea. But the Psalmist doesn’t want just anyone to do it. He wants those who stand in the house of the LORD to stand up, lift up your hands, and say, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD! The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee the LORD.” That’s it. That’s the psalm. Though for us Presbyterians there are some hard words there. Lift up your hands? C’mon man. We know that is a step too far, yet here we see the writer instructing us to do so. What exactly does he mean by it? What if I told you he actually meant for you to…lift up your hands. Not just raise your arms northward, but to take seriously what is happening when we are in front of the Lord in His house, on His day.
The mere act of the advancing of your palms is a sign, not of an emotional trigger trying to gain attention for yourselves, but a letting go of your own place and a recognition of a reliance upon the majesty of God in worship and praise. While not a necessary thing if you feel moved to do so at Bethany knock yourself out. There is nothing wrong with showing a little emotion when you are moved by the testimony of Christ and the beauty of His grace. Sometimes we are afraid to let others see or know that we have been touched by the Spirit. Some may read that and wonder if I’d gotten into some charismatic juice, but it shouldn’t be the provenance of a certain group of Christians to be happy in Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with an “Amen!” or an excited utterance in the midst of the worship of Jehovah. It’s okay to have joy in light of the magnificence of the gospel truth. We serve an awesome God and He is worthy of our reverence and acclaim.
The focus upon the servants (likely meaning the Levites and the Priests) standing upon the nighttime is a means by which the Psalmist can remind all who are singing or reading the passage to remain strong, even in the middle of the nocturnal hour. This class of Israelite was called by God to maintain the Temple throughout the day and this psalm is particularly written for their benefit. However, they were not alone in this work. We see that others like the widow Anna served in the court surrounding the building “night and day” (Luke 2:37) and of course in the New Covenant the division of priest/Levite is done away with and all men and women united to Christ by faith are granted the freedom and privilege to stand in the presence of the Almighty.
One of the things we need to be honest about is that this constant labor of worship can get monotonous. I have to admit that there are times where getting up on Sunday morning and teaching Sabbath School, leading worship and preaching can be a routine, though it should never be like that. It’s not something I am immune to. There is an encouragement in the psalm towards helping all remember what we are on about in the midst of praise. I know that coming to Bethany every Lord’s Day, and now that we have an evening service, twice on Sunday, can get to be where it loses its specialness. It’s just another activity in the never-ending list of things you need to do. Well at the close of today’s devotion I want to encourage you as the Psalmist sought to do with the Levites and Priests of his day. Go back to that word “Behold!”. One of the easiest ways to show our children, grandchildren, and fellow believers that church has become like that for us is to make it one of the first things that gets tossed to the side when competitors vie for attention.
We have to ask ourselves is whatever that activity happens to be comparable to the God who made Heaven and Earth? Well, the answer should be obvious to us and I am sure we all answered correctly in our mind. But, is it true for us in real life? Do we hear the call to worship and raise up our hearts and souls to the Heavenly places, and seek to give to the Lord of Glory our undivided consideration? As we continue to see less and less regard for the sacredness of the Sabbath, even the Sabbath morning, when it comes to other people scheduling stuff, whether it be Roger Goodell or whomever, this question is going to be come harder and harder to offer a satisfactory rejoinder. As you think about it just remember this:
Behold! Jehovah bless thee out of Zion, who made heaven and earth!
Here is a bit more today:
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/adoring-our-lord-and-maker
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church