Psalm 134:1
“Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord.”
If you aren’t aware of my process for these psalm devotions, I read a psalm and the first thing that jumps out at me or really hits me it what I ramble on about for about 700 words and hope it’s actually worth reading through a second time. As I read Psalm 134, the thing that hit me was the phrase “who stand by night in the house of the Lord”. It struck me as odd. Who stands in the hose of the Lord at night? Night is a time for sleeping, laying down, at the very least sitting and relaxing. So who stands at night? And especially in the house of the Lord? So I took another sip of coffee to help my brain really turn on for this morning, and tried to think what this phrase could possibly mean. Then it didn’t take very long to realize this actually makes a ton of sense.
Why would you go to the house of the Lord, for the Israelites returning from the exile (since this is a psalm of accent), the house of the Lord would be the temple. For us, the house of the Lord would be church. Now for the Israelites, I believe they would go to the house of the Lord at night for two reasons. {Disclaimer this is just my own thoughts – no actual proof}. One, because when you live in an extremely hot climate, night time was the cool time of the day to gather together indoors. Two, because you work all day so then you head to the temple during the evening after work. This is when it struck me and I really felt quite silly. I spend several evenings a week at church into the late hours of the night. Why? Because that’s when people are free from work and other responsibilities. We have Bible studies, small groups, council and other board meetings, and even worship services (advent and Lent) in the evening. People come to the church at night because they have been at work all day and evenings work best to gather at the house of the Lord. I see this every week, and yet it took me far too long to realize this phrase of standing in the house of the Lord by night isn’t that strange at all.
So who is the psalmist talking to in this psalm? You! And me! And everyone who is going through real life. Pretty much anyone who isn’t a monk who hides in seclusion, praying seven times a day and reading scripture non-stop. In my mind, this psalmist is speaking directly to the average Joe, the basic believer who has a real life, who has to work for a living, who has a family and kids, who understands time is limited and goes by quickly, and yet still makes time to come stand in the house of God by night. The people who have a million things going on in their life, but still dedicate an hour or more to come to church other than Sunday morning. For all the busy parents who get their kids fed and in bed and then one of them slips out to make the evening Bible study or meeting. For all the hard working people who come straight from work to make our supper and Advent services. For all the young adults working two jobs but still make praise band practice once a week. The psalmist is calling all believers, to come! Come, bless the Lord. Even if you have to do it in the wee hours of the night, still come lift up your hands to the holy place. Find that time, no matter when it is, to come gather together as His people and bless His name. And as you do so, may the Lord bless you! I could be wrong with all of this, but to me this psalm makes perfect sense as I live and see Christians striving to give time to God, no matter when that time might be. And like the psalmist, I pray that God may bless them as they do so.
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