Even by night, God’s servants are under His eye and have access to Him. Let them therefore bless the Lord, that spiritual blessings out of Zion might come upon them.
Psalm 134
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.
Psalm 134 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 134 – Unity Is of God
The last of the “Songs of Degrees.” It may have been addressed to the priests who came on duty after the offering of the evening sacrifice. There was evidently a band of choristers and others who were on duty while Jerusalem slept. The psalm ends with the reciprocal blessing of the watchers on the retreating crowds; commending them, during the hours of darkness, to the care of the Lord of heaven and earth. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 134:1—Bless ye the LORD, all ye which by night stand in the house of the LORD.
This hymn was composed for the night-watch of the Temple, for those that had gone to relieve the Levites who had been in charge during the day. It is to be noticed that these were specially summoned to bless the Lord and lift up their hands. For, after all, is it not they that stand in the house of God by night who are most in need of these exhortations? It seems to us that the sleepless sufferers among us are God’s night-watch. When the busy workers are slumbering, they come on duty to bless the Lord, and to seek his blessing on the work of the past day, and the coming one.
It is comparatively easy to bless the Lord in the daytime, when sunshine lies like his smile on nature, and all the world is full of music, and our lives flow on quietly and peacefully. It does not take much grace to bless the Lord then. But when night has draped the earth and hushed the homes of men to solitude, and we stand amid the shadows that lurk around us in the sanctuary, facing the inexplicable mysteries of Providence, of history, of life and death; then the song falters on our lips, and chokes our utterance.
No sooner, however, do we dare to formulate the words of blessing, pursing our lips in the effort, daring to say, by the strong effort of will, what we may not say gladly and easily, there comes back to us, as to this ancient singer, the assurance that the Lord which made heaven and earth shall bless. Is it possible for Him to have made heaven and earth, and not to be able to bless the soul whom He has not created only, but redeemed! He cannot fail to bless those that bless. Indeed, their hearts, like sounding boards, but reflect to Him his own. —Our Daily Homily