Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 134

Behold - As if calling attention to the fact that they were there, or had come.

Bless you the Lord - Praise Yahweh. This call expresses their desire that God should be praised and calls on those who presided over the public worship of the sanctuary to engage now in that service as expressive of their feelings.

All you servants of the Lord - The priests or ministers of religion, appointed especially to this service.

Which by night stand in the house of the Lord - This refers to a class of singers in the temple who devoted the night, or a part of the night, to praise; and it is possible that this service, as it was subsequently in some monasteries, was continued by succeeding choirs throughout the entire night. Thus, in 1 Chronicles 9:33, it is said, And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free, for they were employed in that work day and night.

This class is particularly addressed in this psalm, as if they were especially favored, or as if they especially possessed the ear of God in the silence of the night when the world slumbered around them.

There is something favorable to devotion in the silence of the night: when the world sleeps, when we are alone with God, and when it seems as if God would more particularly attend to our cry, since the rest of the world is still and, as it were, does not need His care.

All this may be fancy; but the effect may be to make the mind more solemn, and better suited for devotion.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary - Margin, In holiness. The Hebrew word properly means holiness, but it may be applied to a holy place. See (Psalms 20:2). The lifting up of the hands is properly expressive of prayer, but the phrase may be used to denote praise or worship in general.

And bless the Lord - In the night-watches - while all around is still, - let there be one place where the voice of praise shall ascend on high.

The Lord that made heaven and earth—The great Creator of all things. This is probably the language of those who were in this way employed in the service of the Lord at night; their response to the address in the first two verses.

Bless thee out of Zion—That is, bless those who in this way approached the sanctuary, and called on those within to praise the Lord. This is the answer. Let the blessing of God rest on you. It is language showing that they appreciated the kind and encouraging salutation, and that they reciprocated the feelings and the good wishes of those who came to worship.

In the name of the Lord whom they served, therefore, and appealing to him, they pronounced a blessing on those who in this way approached the sanctuary. People do not come near the house of God—the place of public worship—with kind and sympathizing feelings without a blessing from the sanctuary, without a response that welcomes them and meets all their aspirations. There is always in Zion—in the church—a voice, by day and night, which pronounces a blessing on those who wish it well, who seek its good, and who desire to partake of the favor of God.

Out of Zion—That is, may God speak to you out of Zion; may he confer on you such blessings as properly go out of Zion, or such as Zion (or his church) can furnish. Do not go away unblessed; do not go without a token of divine favor—for God will bless you.