Psalms 134

General context

The psalm calls on all the servants of the Lord who stand by night in the house of the Lord to bless the Lord. It tells them to lift up their hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. It ends with a blessing spoken to a single person: the Lord who made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

Cited passages: Psalms 134:1, Psalms 134:2, Psalms 134:3

Psalms 134 (KJV)

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "Behold, bless ye the Lord", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. The people addressed are "servants of the Lord" who stand by night in the house of the Lord and are in the sanctuary; the psalm gives them no other name or office. Verses 1-2 address a plural "ye" and verse 3 a singular "thee", and the text does not say who the single person is or whether the servants answer the first speaker. Zion is the one place named. The phrase "that made heaven and earth" matches, apart from the relative pronoun, the description of the Lord in Psalms 121:2 and 124:8. No Selah occurs.

Cited passages: Psalms 134:1, Psalms 134:2, Psalms 134:3, Psalms 121:2, Psalms 124:8

Literary context

Three verses, and the word "bless" in each. In verses 1-2 the servants are told to bless the Lord, twice; in verse 3 the direction reverses and the Lord is asked to bless. The address also narrows from "all ye servants" to "thee". The setting is given in three terms, by night, the house of the Lord, the sanctuary, and the gesture is one, lifted hands. The final line places the maker of heaven and earth in Zion, so the largest description of the Lord in the psalm is joined to the one named place. The psalm is short enough that its whole shape is a command and a blessing, and it ends on the word "Zion".

Cited passages: Psalms 134:1, Psalms 134:2, Psalms 134:3

Key moments

1. Servants by night (Psalms 134:1). Servants who stand by night in the house of the Lord are told to bless him.
2. Hands lifted in the sanctuary (Psalms 134:2). The servants are told to lift their hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord.
3. Blessing out of Zion (Psalms 134:3). The maker of heaven and earth is asked to bless a single person out of Zion.

For reflection

The servants are told to bless the Lord, and then a single person is blessed by the Lord out of Zion. What does the psalm suggest passes between those two uses of the same word?