“I have come to believe the Psalms of Ascents (Psalm 120-134) can be a great source of help for the modern church. We, ever increasingly, live in a time where we must embark on a pilgrim lifestyle.
This different brand of life needs philosophies and anthems to abide by, and I believe these psalms provide the required help. Because of this, I have written a book on these psalms and each entry will expound on each psalm in order. This is the final chapter.
Since these posts are rather lengthy, I encourage you to take whatever time you need to set aside to digest them. My prayer is for these studies to enrich you significantly on your sojourn with Christ. Thank you for reading, listening, and sharing.”
“A SONG OF ASCENTS. Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD! May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!” (Psalm 134)
A God of Blessing
Enoch, a descendant of Adam, walked with God. According to Hebrews, his pursuit of friendship with God was an act of faith. Holding Enoch up as an example for all of us, Hebrews says:
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
What this ancient man had is what present-day believers need to have. We must believe that God exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. To walk with God is a blessing, but we must know it is a blessing, or else we will not engage with him. So Hebrews tells us that walking with God only happens by faith, and it leads to great rewards.
Psalm 134 affirms the same idea. The pilgrim worshippers had climbed to Jerusalem for worship. There, God blessed them. And they are now invited to bless him in return. He, then, will continue to pour his gracious blessings onto their lives. This psalms asks the question: do I believe God is a rewarder of those who seek him?
The Psalm's Structure
The structure of this Psalm is straightforward. Two groups are singing. The first group is the congregation. Each of them, all the way back in Psalm 120, decided to leave their homes to worship God in Jerusalem. As they journeyed, they sang. When they came to Jerusalem, they sang. When they entered the temple, they sang. But, now, as they depart for home, they continue to sing.
In the song, night has come upon them. They allude to the night servants of the Lord. The gates are closing. They look back on the phenomenal time they've just had with God. About to go home, they turn and sing one last song. It isn't a song to God, but to the priests who watched the temple by night. In the song, they make a request. The pilgrims asked the priests to bless the Lord while they are away from the temple.
The priests then return the song. As the congregation departs, the priests sang of God's blessing flowing from Zion (Jerusalem). From there, God would bless the pilgrims while in their homes. God, the creator of heaven and earth, would bless them from his holy hill.
The Invitation: What It Means to Bless God (134:1-2)
Come, bless the LORD...bless the LORD! (Psalm 134:1-2)
A Definition
But what does it mean to "bless the Lord" (1, 2)? When God blesses us, he imparts something to us. When God blesses us, we are changed. When God blesses us, we grow and we mature. But God cannot grow; he cannot mature. He is the eternally blessed God. We cannot add to him.
When we bless God it does not snap him out of a bad day. He is never fatigued and drained, in need of our encouragement to keep on going. When we worship him he does not respond, “You know what? I was having a really bad day and I was kind of on edge, but you, you blessed me. And now, I feel better about life and the world because you've changed me.” No, when we bless the Lord, we do not change the Lord.
When we bless the Lord, we are merely praising the Lord. We open our mouths and celebrate God. When God blesses us, he imparts something to us. But we bless him by rejoicing over the excellencies of God.
Our Response
The Westminster Catechism boiled it down in this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” The thing that makes us human is our ability to cry out to God and to bless him for who he is. This is not only our greatest purpose but our response to what he has already done for us.
We do not bless a distant and disconnected God. He is involved. Though eternally blessed and without need, he loves us. He loved us through the cross. And the Bible teaches that we love him because he first loved us. We respond to his love. So when the psalmist tells the priest to bless the Lord, they know it is the way the priest should respond to all God has done. We do not initiate with God, but he initiated with us. He made the first move.
There is much I do not understand in this world. The tragedies and disasters, the trials and pains of life, the chaos and human hurt -- it all confounds. And, though I do believe God is working in the midst of all of the chaos, I can know with certainty that God loves us by looking to the cross. There, I see a God who said, “I want to bless you. I want to give myself to you.” And believers are meant to look at back to that great blessing of God at the cross of Jesus Christ and respond.
Our Decision
Not only is this blessing of God our best purpose and our greatest response, but it's also our decision. It's our decision whether we will use our mouths for complaint, fear, and doubt -- or to praise.
James said we will use our tongues in one of two ways: "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God" (James 3:9). So our mouths have the potential to bring blessing or curse. And, in our psalm, God asks us to come into a life that blesses him, that praises his name.
Accept the Invitation to Bless God (134:1-2)
"Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD..." (Psalm 134:1-2)
Priesthood of All Believers
I don't know how the exhortation from the pilgrims to the priests sounds to you. When the people tell the spiritual leadership to bless the Lord while they're gone, maybe it sounds like modern congregations telling their pastors to be diligent in prayer -- "Hey pastors, go bless the Lord. We're going home, do your job. Bless the Lord. Be spiritual and stuff.’”
But the Old Testament priesthood is not a picture of present-day church workers. The Old Testament priesthood is a model of what God wills to do in the life of every believer. Peter said, "You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). He then said we have this priesthood so "that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).
Every believer is a priest before God. Every blood-bought Christian has complete access to the throne room of God. Each has a sacrifice to offer to God. According to Peter, the sacrifice we offer God is straightforward -- the proclamation of "the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light."
We would do well to refresh ourselves in the priestly ministry God has given us. So often as believers, we are tempted to walk around with a complaint about what God is doing here, a question about what God is doing there, or a frustration with the way that God is operating here. But we must remember we were blind and couldn't see, and that God opened our eyes. We were lost, but are now found. We would do well to proclaim the excellent grace of God in our lives.
All of us are called to bless the Lord. The ancient pilgrims in our psalm told the priests to act like priests -- and priests blessed the Lord. They are telling the priesthood to live out their identity. To the priests, they said, "Be what you are." And we must do the same. We are a kingdom of priests. We must bless him because it's what we do. Paul said, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). Our calling is great. Let us bless the Lord.
Bless Him When It Is Difficult to Do So (134:1)
"You servants...who stand by night in the house of the Lord..." (Psalm 134:1)
The Scene
Envision the scene: the worshippers were leaving the temple for their homes and, as night descended upon Jerusalem, they told the priests they left behind to keep on praising God. But the departure of the pilgrims was preceded by their arrival. And it is this arrival I want us to consider. The priests served God every day. The morning and evening sacrifice was important, and the various offerings throughout the week provided constant work for the priests, but it was all so small compared to the major feasts on their religious calendar. Three times each year, these priests would wake up to the arrival of pilgrims from all over Israel. And, some years, the crowds would be massive, and this must have excited the priests.
As they offered sacrifice after sacrifice they were carried along by worship and joy and adrenaline, but then the feast ended. The pilgrims offered their final song and sacrifice. And they packed up their belongings and families, the gates closed, and night came. In that moment, you can imagine sadness overcame the priests. The people are gone. The beautiful time of worship is over.
So the people say to the priests, “Look, we know we'll be gone. We know it's night time and you have hardly anything to do, but we're asking you to bless the Lord. It might be dark. You might be alone. But please bless God.”
Praising God When It's Difficult
It is one thing to know what it means to bless God and accept that invitation, but it is quite another to grow to bless God when it is difficult. But we must learn how to bless him when it is hard, and the setting of this psalm helps us learn this lesson.
There are moments where it's harder to praise God -- trials, pains, and hurts abound. But we also struggle to celebrate him in lesser times of pain. Fatigue at the end of a long workday, low energy while parenting a toddler, or exasperation at the actions of a friend are all minor issues, but can become a major hindrance to our worship.
If you think yourself immune to such pressures, I would encourage you to fast. Skip one meal and you'll realize how delicate you are. Without that right blend of proteins and carbohydrates and fats, you're a mess. Or a heatwave blasts your community, and your house becomes impossibly hot. You become uncomfortable and irritable. In times like these, we like to say, "I'm just not myself." Or maybe we are. Perhaps the true you is shining through!
And what the psalms sing is, during the hard times, during the difficult times, during the painful times, during the times where the priests could have become listless and apathetic, they needed to learn to bless God. The priest could have said, “Forget it! The people are gone, it's nighttime, no one is watching.” Instead, they should have blessed God, praised God, and worshipped God.
Jesus, our Lord is an incredible example of submission to God even when hard. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he felt accurate emotions about what he was about to endure. He knew that when he went to the cross, fellowship with his Father would be broken for the first time in all of eternity, as the wrath of the Father was poured out upon him for us. Anticipating that moment, Jesus prayed, “My Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). It was an honest prayer before God. He didn't pretend there was no pain looming. But then, as our model, he said, “Nevertheless not as I will but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).
Avoid or Engage?
We must decide our longings, desires, and feelings will not be the source of our identity. We must push past them and engage in what God wants us to engage in. So often the question about our maturity comes down to the question: will we avoid or will we engage?
The immature person says, “I don't like that person, so I will avoid them.” But the mature believer says, "I am struggling to like that person, but I must engage them, believing they are made in the image of God." They will engage the person. The immature person says, "I don't understand the Bible, it is too complex." But the mature believer says, "While there is much I don't understand, there is much I do, and I will spend my life learning what God says." They will engage the word. The immature person says, "I don't like going to church, so I will avoid it.' But the mature believer says, "Even when I don't feel like being with the church, I know my heart will only grow if I am present with my brothers and sisters." They will engage with the church. The immature person says, "I don't feel strong in prayer, so I will avoid it." But the mature believer says, "Though I feel weak in prayer, I will enter into it, trusting the Spirit to help me pray better than before." They will engage prayer. The question is straightforward: will I avoid or engage?
Ways to Bless God: A Practicum (134:1-2)
"Lift up your hands to the holy place..." (Psalm 134:2)
Before we close this chapter and this book, let's think of some of the ways we can bless God. I bring this up because the pilgrims sang to the God-ordained priests who lifted up God-ordained hands to the God-ordained place. The temple, the priesthood, the pilgrimage was all designed by God. He authored every bit of it.
I mention the God-ordained nature of their worship because present-day believers have increasingly thought worship can fit whatever form they prefer. It has become more popular to think that each one of us needs to figure out our own way to pursue God. But God has ordained clear avenues to pursue him. Some call them spiritual disciplines. Let's observe eight of these God-ordained disciplines.
Spiritual Disciplines
First, the discipline of prayer. In prayer we cry out to God, talk to God. Every believer has experienced a spiritual battle when in prayer. When praying, you can expect opposition, boredom, or aimlessness, but it is clearly one of the main ways we bless God today. By the blood of Jesus, we gain access to the throne room of the Father.
Second, the discipline of Bible study. There's a word that's used in the Bible -- “meditate.” Unfortunately, in our modern times, meditation is thought to be the emptying of your mind. This definition is dangerous because an empty mind is ripe for deception. In the Bible though, the word “meditate” doesn't mean to empty your mind, but to fill it with the word of God. And so to study the Bible, to be a person who the Bible is front-and-center in their thought life.
Third, the discipline of worship in song. Singing with the congregation is not the preliminary event before the teaching. It's not like previews before a movie, optional and not the main attraction. No, corporate praise is the main attraction. And praising God in song is a significant part of worship.
Fourth, the discipline of fellowship. Intentional community with other believers is another pathway God has given to us. With each other, we celebrate God through testimony, encouragements, and exhortations. As we share life's burdens together, God meets with us.
Fifth, the discipline of fasting. The normal fast found in the Bible is total abstinence from food for a period of time. And there are many benefits to seeking the Lord with fasting. Jesus used the word “reward,” and I can do no better. There may be a thousand and one ways a believer benefits from fasting (see Daniel 9, Jonah 3). As I have endured various fasts, none of them left me impressed with myself, but with my Lord. This is perhaps the greatest benefit.
Sixth, the discipline of secrecy in good deeds. Jesus said, “Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3). Anonymously doing good for someone else is a beautiful way to thank and praise your Father in heaven. And he sees your secret work and will reward you openly (Matthew 6:4).
Seventh, the discipline of generosity. God is looking for generous people who will sow their financial seed into his kingdom. He will then reap a harvest from that seed and bless them with more seeds for future generosity (2 Corinthians 9:6-10).
Eighth, the discipline of solitude and silence. Jesus often broke away from the crowds and disciples to be alone with God in the wilderness. It is healthy for us to learn how to be alone -- not just with yourself -- with God. To allow God space to speak into your life and heart requires the space for solitude.
I live near the Pacific Ocean. On those waters, a sailboat can travel for miles. But it must first hoist its sail. We must think of these spiritual disciplines in this way. God is moving, the wind of his Spirit is blowing, and when we hoist the sail of these disciplines, God catches them and moves in our lives. Or moves our lives.
Let Him Continually Bless You (134:3)
"May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!" (Psalm 134:3)
Distressed or Blessed?
At the beginning of the journey to Jerusalem, back in Psalm 120, each pilgrim started out by themselves in their house. And the prayer began like this, “In my distress, I called to the Lord” (Psalm 120:1). The whole pilgrim life, the whole disciple life, the reason that embarked on this journey was the distress of life. And they wanted to escape and come into a place of blessing. And they, instead of looking elsewhere for blessing said, “We think it's going to be found in God.” So the first word of these songs is “distress” and the last word of these songs is “blessed.”
Those ancient pilgrims found what they were looking for in God. He traded their distress for his blessing. In covenant with him, they sought him, and therefore enjoyed his immense and gracious blessing upon their lives. Each pilgrim wondered what would happen if they sought first the kingdom of God. When they walked out of the temple to head home they received their answer. The priests sang, “May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth.”
Go to the Correct Mountain
It is important for present-day believers to remember where the blessing of God is found. It isn't secured on the various mountaintops our world proposes. Ease or power, fame or experiences, cannot produce the blessing. God's mountain, a relationship with him, must be our constant aim. Success, possessions, or health are not ultimate. Romance, friendship, or family cannot bring final satisfaction. Only God can produce the blessing. If we spend our lives trying to climb those mountains, we'll get to the top and discover the "distress" is still there.
But when we climb towards God we are blessed. The song declares him the maker of heaven and earth. Success did not make you, entertainment did not make you, ease did not make you, God made you. As your maker, he understands how you work and what will bless your life. When we resist the norms of modern society and climb toward the Lord, his blessing comes into our life.
The Independence of God
But what does it mean to be blessed by God? At the beginning of this chapter, we talked about God's eternally blessed state. God is not "served by human hands, as though he needed anything" (Acts 17:25). He needs nothing, because "whatever is under the whole heaven is" his (Job 41:11). God needs nothing. He is the eternally blessed God.
Perhaps our definition of blessed should be informed by God's state. He is blessed. He is good. He is in need of nothing.
And I want you to think about this because what we said is, what does it mean to be blessed? We thought about what it means to bless God, but what does it mean when God blesses you? What I've tried to show you is that God is blessed. I told you already, this is called the doctrine of the independence of God. Perhaps when God blesses you, he transfers a bit of that independence into your heart and life and you become good. You need less, you're satisfied. No longer distressed, you are blessed.
