PINNACLE OF PRAISE
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Opening Prayer
Thank you, Lord God, for the gift that is mine to worship you in spirit and truth. Thank you for the privilege that is mine to proclaim your goodness wherever you lead me.
Read PSALM 134
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 134
A song of ascents.
1 Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
When was the last time you spent time before God, not to ask anything of him, but only to praise him?
There are many ways of going on a pilgrimage. We can take a long walk, cutting back our daily needs so that we can focus on God. We might instead do a pilgrimage of the heart and set ourselves tasks for each day to remind us of God. We might use a labyrinth to help us to focus on prayer. The psalter contains 15 psalms of ascent, of which the very short Psalm 134 is the last. These psalms were used as pilgrimage steps. Psalm 134 is the climax of the journey toward God—a shout of praise.
This psalm contains a call to worship, presenting the greatness of God (vv. 1, 2), and invites us to experience the joy of his blessings (v. 3). It was probably a priestly liturgy.1 God is the Maker of heaven and earth but he is also approachable for us humans, for our praise and worship. The psalm was probably used at night (v. 1) and might have been used during the Feast of Tabernacles.2
What is beyond doubt is the call to praise the Lord. Yet it also opens up the idea that this praise and blessing goes in two directions: God receives our praise; we are blessed by the Lord. Being praiseful brings its own blessing. To remember that we are eternally beloved, even in the hardest times, is a way of praising God even when we cannot feel the joy. His praiseworthiness is a fact; his blessing of us is a fact. There are times when we run out of words of our own or we cannot find anything to say to God because we are sad. At those times, let us read Psalm 134 and remember that we are blessed and he is the blesser. Always and forever. Hallelujah.
Apply
Read this psalm slowly and receive God’s blessing. Write it out and read it every day this week, praising the Lord with these ancient words.
Closing prayer
I praise you, Lord, for who you are and for your countless blessings—not just for me, but for those I love and care about.
1 Leslie C Allen, Psalms 101–150, Word Biblical Commentary (Word Books, 1983), p220.
2 Ibid., 218.
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