Psalm 134, Praise From the Sanctuary

A song of ascents.

This is the last of fifteen psalms identified as "songs of ascents." It is likely that these songs were sung as people traveled to Jerusalem and then went up to the second temple. This last song is merely a praise chorus, worthy to be sung at the end of any worship time.

Psalm 134:1-2, All you servants

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD 

who minister by night in the house of the LORD.

 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary

 and praise the LORD.

The servants of YHWH, ministering day or night in the sanctuary, are told to pause, lift up their hands and praise their God.

Psalm 134:3, You and Zion

May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,

 bless you from Zion.

The final verse repeats an underlying theme of the songs of ascent (see Psalm 121:2 and 124:8) -- that it is that YHWH, Creator, is the one in whom the people trust. The psalm ends with a blessing, may the servant of the sanctuary be blessed by the One Who created both the earth and Zion. Here Zion might represent God's throne, His sanctuary, His place of power (Psalm 150:1-2.)

First published November 18, 2025; updated November 18, 2025