Psalms 134

Heaven, the upper-world Church, is Society Organized; and the Church below, Society Organizing—both in fact one, as regards their final end or object, and the properties and principles in which they are consummated. Of course, the incomplete society below comprehends aberrations, misconjunctions, half conjunctions, and a great many mere scaffoldings which the other does not. The Society Organized is called a city, the city of the living God; because it is the most condensed, completest form of society. It also includes or takes in “angels an innumerable company,” some of them, we are to believe, from worlds more ancient than ours and from empires afar off, quite unknown to us. It gathers in also “the first-born” of the Church, and puts their names in register on the roll of the grand all-worlds’ society. And “the spirits of just men made perfect” are either there or on the way up, to be joined in the general city life and order, for which they are now made ready. All the indications are that a complete organization is so far made, and all its distributions and relations adjusted; as when men of all grades and races are gathered into and unified in the state of city organization. In this organized society it is one of the points to be noted that there is no distribution by sect or sectarian names. The myriads that arrive, new-comers from the Church below, drop off the names of their sects, having left them in their graves not raised; for there is no resurrection promised of these names. They are not Romish any more, not Anglican, not Calvinistic, not Armenian, or Wesleyan, their general assembly is not the Presbyterian, their crowns are not brimmed as being Friends, and since baptism is no more wanted, there are no Baptists. But they are all earth’s people and Christian to a man, all other names being sunk and forgot in their now complete society. The Church below, the Society Organizing, is, in fact, the same as the other, and is pouring on its trains continually to be merged in that other and become a part of it. It is even called a family—“of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” Bushnell.

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 to the sanctuary.

And bless ye the LORD.

3. The LORD bless thee out of Zion; Even he that made heaven and earth.

THE whole series of pilgrimage songs closes, in the most appropriate manner, with a summons to bless the Lord, addressed by the people to the priests in attendance at the sanctuary (vs. 1, 2), and indirectly answered by a priestly blessing on the worshippers themselves (v. 3). The servants of the Lord here meant are not His people indiscriminately, but His official servants, and most probably the priests, as will appear from v. 3. A.

Three things are clear with regard to this Psalm. First, that it consists of a greeting (vs. 1, 2), and a reply (v. 3). Next, that the greeting is addressed to those priests and Levites who had the night-watch in the temple. Lastly, that this Psalm is purposely placed at the end of the collection of pilgrim songs in order to take the place of a final blessing. D.—That the address is not to any persons in the habit of frequenting the temple is evident, because it was only in rare and exceptional cases that such persons could be found in the temple at night. And, further, the word “stand” in v. 1 is the common word to express the service of the priests and Levites, who had their duties by night as well by day. Accordingly, it has been supposed by Tholuck and others that the greeting in vs. 1, 2 was addressed to the guard going off duty by those who came to relieve them, and who in their turn received the answer in v. 3. Others conjecture that the greeting was interchanged between the two companies of the night-watch, when they met in making their rounds through the temple. Delitzsch, however, thinks that the words of vs. 1, 2 are addressed by the congregation to the priests and Levites who had charge of the night service, and that v. 3 is an answer of blessing from them to the congregation, who were gathered on the temple-mount. P.

The Psalm teaches us to pray for those who are continually ministering before the Lord, and it invites all ministers to pronounce benedictions upon their loving and prayerful people.

2. And bless the Lord. God’s ministers are to bless men by their teaching, but they must yet more bless Jehovah with their worship. Too often men look at public worship only from the side of its usefulness to the people; but it is of even higher importance that the Lord God is adored, extolled, and had in reverence. S.

3. Calling up thus to the temple-hill, the Church receives from above the benedictory countergreeting: Jehovah bless thee out of Zion, the Creator of heaven and earth. It is addressed to the Church as one person and to each individual in this indivisible Church. D.—As the priests were called upon to bless God in behalf of the people, so here they bless the people in behalf of God. The priests, having blessed God, turn and bless the people. The obvious allusion to the sacerdotal blessing (Num. 6: 23-27) favors the optative construction of this verse, which really includes a prediction, the Lord will bless thee. A.

The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. He doth not say, the Lord bless thee out of heaven, but “bless thee out of Zion.” As if he would teach us that all blessings come as immediately and primarily from heaven, so mediately and secondarily from Zion, where the temple stood. If ever, therefore, we would have blessings outward, inward, private, public, secular, spiritual; if ever we would have blessing in our estate, in our land, in our souls, we must pray for it, and pray for it here, in Zion, in God’s house. A. Wright.

As we part company with the pilgrims, it is pleasant to think of them as starting on their homeward journey in the starlight from under the shadow of the temple, with the benediction of the priests making music in their hearts. But it is still more pleasant to reflect that, as they went on their way, pondering the priestly benediction, what time the sun rose into the sky to shine on righteous and unrighteous, on just and unjust, they would be reminded of a Divine love from whose grace no man could be hid, which shone with steadfast rays on every race, and brooded, with healing in its wings, over the whole world. One likes to think that the Book closes with the words, “Maker of heaven and earth,” and to reflect what a fine omen, what a wide promise of hope, there is in these words for us and for all men.

For we, too, are pilgrims on our way home; and much of the journey has to be done in the dark; and there are many steep roads to climb, and rough places on which we must pick our steps, and smooth places on which we may easily slip or stray; and there are many perils and many adversaries to be encountered. But we, too, have come to Mount Zion; for us there is a “city of the living God,” the heavenly Jerusalem, in which an innumerable company of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect serve God day and night, a city which rings with joy and praise forever. And as we look up and listen, in the pauses of our journey, we, too, may catch glimpses of the glory of the city, and hear some faint echoes of its songs. The heavenly ministrants do, we know, look down on us with strengthening sympathy and compassion, and cry, “The Lord bless thee out of Zion.” Nay, God Himself, since He is our Maker and loves us, even He Himself blesses us out of Zion, sends us help from the sanctuary, and bids us good speed on our journey. Let us, then, lift up our eyes unto the mountains. And if any ask, “Whence cometh your help?” let us make answer and say, “Our help cometh from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth; He will keep us from all evil; He will keep our soul; He will keep our going out and our coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” Cox.