Psalms 134:1

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

Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.

Psalms 134 THE The form of this Psalm seems to be dramatical. In the two first verses the psalmist speaks in the name of some emminent person, either the king or chief priests, exhorting and requiring all the priests and Levites to perform the duties of their place and calling; and in the last verse in the name of the priests and Levites, returning him thanks for his good advice. The priests and Levites are exhorted to bless the Lord in his sanctuary. Behold, bless ye the Lord; do not stand there like statues, dumb and idle, but employ your hearts and tongues in singing forth the praises of the Lord. Ye servants of the Lord; peculiarly so called, priests and Levites, who are set apart to the service of God and of the sanctuary, as the next clause restrains this general expression. By night; not only by day, but also and especially by night, when their watch was more necessary. See . As you watch by night when others sleep, so do you utter the praises of God when others are silent. Stand, i.e. serve or minister, as this word is used, 18:7, and oft elsewhere. House; which word includes both the temple and courts belonging to it, as hath been noted before.

Psalms 134:1 « A Song of degrees. » Behold, bless ye the LORD, all [ye] servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.Ver. 1. Behold, bless ye the Lord] This short psalm (the last of the fifteen graduals) is breve Sacerdotum speculum, saith an expositor; a mirror for ministers, who are first excited by a Behold, as by the sounding of a trumpet, or the ringing of a sermon bell. And, secondly, exhorted to praise God, and to pray unto him; whereunto if we add their teaching of Jacob God’ s judgments, whereof Moses reminds them, Deuteronomy 33:10, what more can be required of Archippus, to the fulfilling of his ministry? and if he be slack, he must be told of it, Colossians 4:17, yet with all due respect and reverence to his office, 1 Timothy 5:1. And it were far better, if they would rouse up themselves with the wakeful cock, and not keep sleepy sentry in the sanctuary. All ye servants of the Lord] Ye priests and Levites, who are God’ s servants, but of a more than ordinary alloy; servants of noblest employment about him. Such are all faithful ministers; each of them may say with Paul, Acts 27:23, "Whose I am, and whom I serve." Which by night stand in the house of the Lord] Keeping watch and ward there in your turns, Numbers 18:1-2, &c.; 1 Chronicles 9:33. The Rabbis say, that the high-priest only sat in the sanctuary (as did Eli, 1 Samuel 1:1-28), the rest stood, as ready priest to do their office.

(1) All ye servants.—We learn from 1 Chronicles 9:33 that there were Levites whose duties brought them to the Temple by night. Moreover, the word ‘âmad, “stand,” is the customary word for sacerdotal service (Deuteronomy 10:8; Deuteronomy 18:7; 1 Chronicles 23:30, &c).

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 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.

1. all ye servants of the Lord] Not Israelite worshippers in general, but, as the following clause shews, ministrants in the Temple. which by night stand in the house of the Lord] ‘To stand before Jehovah’ was the regular term for priestly or Levitical ministration. Cp. Deuteronomy 10:8 &c.; Hebrews 10:11. The words imply that services of praise and thanksgiving were held in the Temple at night; possibly a reference to such services is to be found in 1 Chronicles 9:33. The addition even in the courts of the house of our God in the P.B.V. is derived through the Vulg. from the LXX, and comes from Psalms 135:2.

Behold - As if calling attention to the fact that they were there, or had come. Bless ye the Lord - Praise Yahweh.

1. The behold calls for special attention, as if something important was to be done or said. It was the special duty of the priests to pronounce the blessing on the people.