Psalm 134

Psalm 134

Insights

"Bless the Lord"

Only 3 Verses

This page emphasizes verse 2

This Psalm is a Psalm of Ascent.

To learn what that means, visit our page -  Psalm 120 

Psalm 134
ESV English Standard Version

Come, bless the Lord,
all you servants
of the Lord,
who stand by night
   in the house of the Lord!

2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
    and bless the Lord!

3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
    he who made heaven and earth!

Below is a

good, quick overview

of this Psalm

(I do not know anything about the speaker.)

The word "Bless" is used 3 times in this Psalm.

It is the Strong's Hebrew word # 1288.

The definition of that word is - to bless or to kneel

Emphasizing Verse 2

Verse 2

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and 

bless the Lord!

KJV

Many people have never been to a church

where people

raise their hands in worship.

I was thirty years old before I did.

Yet,

there are multiple

Psalms that speak of

lifting your hands to God.

Examples:

Psalm 63:4b KJV says:

I will lift up my hands in thy name.

Psalm 28:2 ESV says:

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

Psalm 141:2 ESV says:

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,

and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

Since raising hands in worship isn't often discussed, 

this page will share about

this type of worship.

When I started going to a church that

raised their hands

in worship,

I felt uneasy at first. 

Note that

no one made me feel like I had to do it.

That type of worship

was a new experience for me.

Yet, Psalm 63 tells us that

God encourages us to honor him by raising our hands

in praise to him.

Thus will I bless thee while I live:

I will lift up my hands in thy name.

Psalm 63:4 KJV

Lifting Hands or Raising Hands

is a sign of love, a sign of adoration, a sign of surrender

to God.

I stretch forth my hands unto thee:

my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

Psalm 143:6 KJV

Below is a sweet story

about how a little child can lead us.

This event happened at my church

many years ago.

My church at that time did lift hands in worship.

Years ago when my son was in kindergarten,

there was a little girl named

Jennifer

in his class.

She was a wonderful little girl.

Jennifer's mom told me 

that Jennifer wanted to marry my son.

One night, our church was having a special service for children. We invited Jennifer to go with us.

When we got to church, I stayed with the kids for this special children's church.

The service began with a couple of adults leading the children in singing songs to God. 

As we were all singing and enjoying the service, I looked down and saw Jennifer (who was standing in front of me) with her hands up in the air singing to God.

Keep in mind that this was years ago,

and Jennifer went to a very conservative

Methodist church

that would not have held up hands

while worshipping at church.

My first thought was that surely she was copying some other child.

(Sometimes people in our church did hold up their hands but not often in children's church. And I had not noticed anyone raising their hands this night. )

I quickly looked around and saw no other child

nor any adult holding up his hands.

Then I realized that

what happened was

that her love for God had overwhelmed her,

and

she felt compelled to raise her hands.

~

I will never forget that precious picture

of a little child loving God

in the best way she knew how.

 

If you would like to see a video where

a Christian comedian

and

people like me

(who raise their hands in worship)

laugh at ourselves and enjoy hand-raising humor...

click here.

Also consider visiting our Psalm 63 page.

Our Psalm 141 page has a section about raising hands.

To jump to the top of the page, click -   Psalm 134

Psalm 134 first presented in March 2022.