Psalm 134 is the last of the “Songs of Ascent” and the shortest. Yet it’s full of thoughts to occupy my mind today. This is partly where I got the theme for this year at Fellowship Bible Church: “Blessed to be a blessing!” Three times the word “bless” is used. Two times the action is on the worshipper’s part (1 & 2), and once it refers to God’s action toward the worshipper (3). The action of the worshipper to God is because of God’s action toward the worshipper. At the end of the pilgrim’s journey to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, he calls the priests & Levites to continually bless Yahweh and lift up their hands (a common worship practice) to the holy place (either the temple itself or the holy of holies). The priests then give the final blessing to the pilgrim returning home, as God instructed Moses in Numbers 6:22-27. To bless Yahweh meant to thank & praise him as David instructed the Levites to do in 1 Chronicles 23:30. The way they served Yahweh was by blessing him. That’s my calling, too, as a servant of the LORD. I bless God – thank & praise him continually – because he has blessed me far more than I deserve. As British Bible teacher Derek Kidner commented on verse 3: “But the exchange [from man blessing God to God blessing man] is quite unequal: to bless God is to acknowledge gratefully what he is; but to bless man, God must make of him what he is not, and give him what he has not.” I have much for which to bless God, given the fact that he is not obligated to bless me, though in Jesus Christ I have been blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). Perpetual praise & thanksgiving in worship is my privilege & calling today & everyday for God’s continual blessing toward me.
Leave a Reply