Weekly Devotion no 40
8 January 2021
Bible reading – Psalm 134[1]
Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord
who minister by night in the house of the Lord.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from
Zion,
he who is the Maker of heaven and earth.
Reflection
This psalm is a psalm of praise, written for people who were coming up to the temple. It’s interesting that it focuses on those who serve in God’s house, the temple, at night. They wouldn’t have been seen by many – their service to God was relatively private and probably unrecognised by others. And yet they had the one thing that they needed: the opportunity to worship and praise God.
When we worship God, we are doing what we were created to do. Worship is fulfilling and satisfying, it is motivating and sustaining, because it focuses our attention on God and, as we praise him, everything else falls into perspective. Worshipping God reminds us that we are in his presence. We are exhorted in Ephesians 5:19-20 to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
As they worshipped God, he blessed them. The creator of heaven and earth blessed them. But he blessed them from Zion, the place where there had to be a blood sacrifice to cover the sins of the people. God blesses us through the blood of his Son Jesus, shed as a sacrifice to cover our sins. And so, we can praise and worship God knowing that there is no barrier between him and us because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We are reminded that God is the source of all blessing and, through the hopes and fears, prayers and promises, we seek that blessing by praising him and exalting him above all others. As our service of God may go unrecognised by others, may we too lift our hands to praise him today – the creator and sustainer of our lives. Bless the Lord O my soul!
Hymn
Verse 1
All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the LORD with cheerful voice.
Him serve with mirth, his praise forth tell,
come ye before him and rejoice!
Verse 2
Know that the LORD is God indeed;
without our aid he doth us make.
We are his folk, he doth us feed,
and for his sheep he doth us take.
Verse 3
O enter then his gates with praise,
approach with joy his courts unto
Praise, laud, and bless his name always
For it is seemly so to do.
Verse 4
For why? the LORD our God is good,
his mercy is forever sure.
his truth at all times firmly stood
and shall from age to age endure.
Verse
5
To
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
The
God whom earth and heaven adore
Be
glory, as it was of old,
Is now, and shall be
evermore. Amen.
Prayer
O God,
our true life,
to know you is life,
to serve you is
freedom,
to enjoy you is a
kingdom,
to praise you is the
joy and happiness of the soul.
We praise and bless
and adore you,
we worship you,
we glorify you.
we give thanks to you
for your great glory.
We humbly beg you to
live with us, to reign in us,
to make these hearts of
ours a holy temple, a fit habitation for your divine majesty. Amen.
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