Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 134. This final Song of Ascents is geared toward a liturgical occasion, perhaps the opening or closing of a festival (depending on the identity of the "servants of the Lord," v. 1). By the reading argued for here, this would suit well the close of a worship service.

134:1-2 Call to the Temple Helpers to Bless the Lord. The psalm opens by calling a group described as the servants of the Lord to bless the Lord. The title "servants of the Lord" could refer to Israelites in general (as it seems to in 135:1); but since they are said to stand by night in the house of the Lord, it seems better to take these words as addressed to Levitical personnel, whether priests (1 Kings 8:10-11) or attendants from the non-priestly Levitical families (1 Chron. 9:33). The worshiping congregation calls on them to lift up their hands to the holy place and bless the Lord (cf. Ps. 28:2).