Happy Monday! It’s time for your daily devotional. Today marks the last day of our Songs of Degrees or Songs of Ascent series. These songs teach you to praise the Lord in distress or gladness, putting your full trust in Him. They exalt God as your Keeper, Protector, Provider, Deliverer, and True God. In today’s daily devotional, rejoice, for God’s goodness and mercies follow you.
The Priests’ Service
Psalm 134 contains three short verses; its authorship is widely attributed to the temple priests and Levites. It was sung last as the pilgrims left the temple after the week-long feasts were over. While walking away from the temple, they’d turn around in the darkness before sunrise and sing to the priests on watch.
These priests served in shifts, so the night watchmen were on their posts, standing at attention. In your daily devotional, what a powerful image of God’s consecrated priests dutifully serving God’s house. In your daily devotional, whenever you have the privilege of serving in your church, do it faithfully unto the Lord.
God Inhabits Your Praise
Verse 1 proclaims, “Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord.” The pilgrims exhorted the priests to “bless” the Lord. In other words, praise and exalt Him. Priests don’t bless the Lord in the sense that the greater blesses the lesser, as when God blesses His people. As Psalm 103:21 entreats, “Bless ye the Lord, all ye His hosts, ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.”
It’s fitting that God’s ministers magnify Him in the sanctuary. Thus they are encouraged to bless Him as they serve. In this daily devotional, when you praise God, He becomes bigger in your eyes, leading to greater trust, faithfulness, and obedience. In this daily devotional, Psalm 150:1 exhorts, “Praise God in his sanctuary.”
Lift Up Your Hands in the Sanctuary
Verse 2 says, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” Lifting of hands in the sanctuary was a common posture in prayer. Lifting your hands in praise signifies surrendering to God and receiving from Him. Each year the pilgrims celebrated the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.
The celebrations were about their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, the giving of the law through Moses, and the end of forty years in the wilderness. Also, in the last feast, they celebrated the end of the harvest season. In your daily devotional, lift your hands in praise to a faithful God who has provided for you every step of the way.
One True God
In verse 3, the psalmist identifies Israel’s God: “The Lord that made heaven and earth.” Israel was surrounded by paganism. Unfortunately, God’s people turned to idolatry, steering away from the True God, which led to their removal from their home and country. Yet God continued to love, provide, and deliver them, eventually bringing them back to Israel. In this daily devotional, it’s important to know the God you serve is the Creator of Heaven and earth.
You are Blessed Out of Zion
In Monday’s daily devotional, the priests, in turn, blessed the pilgrims as they departed. This was God blessing them individually and collectively from Zion to their prospective locations. No other god can bestow blessings. When you bless God, He blesses you abundantly more than you can imagine. God isn’t limited by time, space, or distance. Lift your voice in praise, for His goodness and mercy follow you wherever you go.
