Psalm 134 read:
Praise the name of the Lord, praise the servants of the Lord, who stand in the temple of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is good; For the Lord chose Israel for himself; for I have known that the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods; create everything that the Lord wills in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the abysses. Raising clouds from the last of the earth, create lightning into rain, drive winds away from your treasures. Who shall smite the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast; send signs and wonders among you, Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. Smite many tongues and smite mighty kings; Zion the king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, and all the kingdom of Canaan; and he gave the land their inheritance, an inheritance to Israel for his people. Lord, your name endures forever, and your memory endures forever; for the Lord will judge his people, and will pray for his servants. Share your tongue with silver and gold, the work of human hands; they have lips and do not speak; they have eyes and do not see; They have ears and will not hear; below there is spirit in their mouth. May those who create and all who trust in her be like them. House of Israel, bless the Lord; Aaron's house, bless the Lord; home leiiiin, bless the Lord; You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord from Zion, who lives in Jerusalem.
We read the Psalter. Psalms 134-135
Audio |
Conversation with Archpriest Alexy Ladygin about the Psalter.
We continue to study the Psalter, and today we will talk about the 134th and 135th psalms. They are of great importance not only for our home singing, but are also constantly used in liturgical singing - these psalms are combined during the polyeleos.
The 134th Psalm has the pre-writing: Alleluia, 134.
Praise the name of the Lord, praise, servants of the Lord. “Alleluia” is translated as “praise the Lord.” The psalmist David calls on everyone to glorify the Lord for all His great benefits that He does to the entire human race. But he especially calls for praise those who consider themselves servants of the Lord, faithful, who serve Him, stand only on the path of this service and improve in glorifying the Lord.
Standing in the temple of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. The Psalmist indicates a special place where we should glorify the Lord - in the temple of the Lord, in the courtyards of the house of our God. Church prayer is of particular importance. We have more than once explained the words of the Psalmist, who indicates the place of special prayer where the Lord hears us - it is no coincidence that the Lord says: ... where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them. The Lord lives in the temple, the Old Testament Scripture testifies to this, and the holy fathers say that the Lord chose the temple for His home, where His Bloodless Sacrifice is performed, therefore, special prayer, of course, must be performed in the temple: there we must glorify and glorify the name of God and thank the Lord for the great unceasing benefits that He does to each of us.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing to His name, for it is good. The Lord is truly the Giver of all good things that happen to us. He always gives us good, being the Head of goodness and kindness: there is no evil from God, moreover, God, by His Providence, directs all evil to good. The Lord does a lot for each of us, sometimes even when we don’t ask Him, He still participates in our lives and helps us. And when we send our requests to God, the Lord fulfills them. Some say: “Everything is good in my life: I have a job, the children don’t get sick, there is prosperity, and there is peace in the family.” But we must not forget that all this is given to us from God: if the Lord does not help us with His grace, does not cover us, then nothing good will happen in our lives. The Lord constantly gives great mercy to everyone, constantly does good, and for this good we need to thank God.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His own. And so as not to be unfounded, here the Psalmist speaks of the benefits that the Lord specifically showed directly to Israel and His chosen people. Firstly, He gave him a true ministry - not pagan, not to worship idols, but to serve the True God, and then he cares about this people, as he did not care about any other living on this earth: He chooses this people, distinguishes them from others , gives him true worship of God - communication not with soulless idols, but with the True God, Who (if you live a spiritual life) fills you, gives you light in this life. And the Lord not only gives you spiritual benefits, but, if we look closely at the Old Testament, He arranges the life of the Old Testament man: He punishes him, has mercy and protects him upon repentance, gives judgment for certain actions. But the Lord also judges those who cause evil to this people. And here the Psalmist not only calls to praise the name of the Lord, but says that we are obliged to the Lord, for He takes care of us, shows love to everyone: He gives us so many good things in this life that we simply have no right not to glorify the name of God.
Further, the entire psalm will be devoted to the fact that the Psalmist will present some evidence of how the Lord helped the chosen people - he will show the people as a whole, and if the people as a whole receive, it means that each person receives good, fortune, peace, God's guidance, guarantee and deliverance, since we find ourselves members of this society or this chosen people. When we talk about the chosen people, we must always remember that there is Ancient Israel, and there is New Israel - there is a Christian Church, there is a Christian society, there are Christian states. In our own lives, too, in parallel, we can trace these great blessings and mercies that the Lord shows to our people, including punishing them, and exalting them through repentance, and again bringing them into a difficult state, but not giving offense to other peoples; The Lord constantly emphasizes that He is with us, but at the same time deprives us of some blessings - not because He wants to punish us, but seeing that we do not value what we have: we do not value it, which means the Lord is greater than this does not give. The Holy Fathers say this: there is nothing worse than doing good to an ungrateful person. If our modern society is not grateful to God, then it gets what it gets. And if we can be grateful to the Lord for His great benefits, then, of course, the Lord will return the benefits to us and will rejoice with us in our calm, measured and contented life.
As I have known that the Great Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods - that is, “I do not call you to empty praise - I have experienced the great mercy of God and His constant care for me: I had a difficult path and many trials, many enemies, but I defeated them all with the help of God, for the Lord became my Intercessor and protected me, brought me out of all difficult situations.” Why should we believe David? He says: I have known it. And what, the Lord does not benefit another person? Of course, it does good, but we always turn to the example of the lives of the saints - they especially felt this benefit, and most importantly, they accepted it with gratitude to God, without attributing anything to themselves. They clearly put everything in its place: where, when the Lord helped. It’s not that “I was lucky,” as we say, or: “we found good people,” or: “that’s how the circumstances turned out,” or Globa predicted a good astrological forecast for us that day. Of course not. Everything is from the Lord. The saints see this, feel it, and directly point to it. Therefore David says: For I have known. What did you know? For the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods - our Lord is great, He is real and He is above all gods: there is no god that is higher than our God. And those whom you worship, pagan gods, are soulless idols, demons who have taken on this image. There is no one higher than our God and we must serve the True God, the Creator of Heaven and earth.
And then the Psalmist continues this thought: Whatever the Lord willed, do in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the abysses - whatever the Lord willed, He did in Heaven and on earth. We see the heavenly bodies, we see what the Lord has created on earth - what joy, wisdom, and power there is in this! How everything is interconnected - and beautiful, wonderful laws are embedded in this life, in this nature: there is nothing meaningless and chaotic, and we get to know this world by getting to know God and the laws that the Lord has put into this life. If it were chaotic, no science would be able to develop; it would begin and end immediately: it would be impossible to know what follows what, from what, why and how it occurs, from what it follows and what it comes to. But the great mind of God is embedded in nature, and it has laws, it has order. That is why science is developing - it cognizes the Divine world and the nature that the Lord gave to man. In the seas and in all the abysses. The seas also have a special, beautiful world: fauna, fish, plants, and corals. Everything is so amazing and beautiful that when you get into the sea, you look and think: “Lord, what beauty! How pleasing to the eye!” And there is its own life, its own laws - everything develops not chaotically, but according to the laws put into this world by the Lord. And in all the abysses. The psalmist speaks about the deeps, about the earth, but what is under the earth? In those days, the Psalmist did not yet know that there was oil, gas, various natural resources that today form the economy - the Lord also took care of our crazy age, where there will be such material and technological progress that it would be interesting for people to live in our time inquisitive mind and scientific achievements.
Raising clouds from the last of the earth, creating lightning into rain, driving winds from Your treasures - also great depth! How can one not see the Wisdom of God when from the bowels of the earth, from the last lands (the last lands, as the holy fathers say, are water sources, seas, oceans that surround the earth) water rises to the sky, forming clouds, then water flows out of the clouds irrigating and filling the whole earth with coolness and water. One cannot help but admire how lightning flashes and thunder occurs before the rain. We still don’t know how lightning, which cuts out fire but does not dry up the clouds, and clouds that do not cover the lightning and do not extinguish this fire are combined: we can tell all this, but we don’t know how and why this happens. We can describe the laws of nature, we can tell where the wind comes from; where, however, we don’t know, but how it comes from, we can describe - we can say about the Atlantic wind or that some kind of cyclone is coming, but where all this comes from and why exactly it happens, we cannot say: all this is from treasures The Lord takes His own, because He commands the winds. If we cannot stop the wind, we cannot redirect the cyclones, then the Lord - please: when He preached on earth, He stopped the wind with one Divine word, tamed the storms, because it’s all in the hands of God - everything is in the treasury of God Himself, our Father Heavenly. And for this we should praise and glorify Him.
What else should we glorify God for? The Psalmist further says: Who shall smite the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast. Send signs and wonders among you, Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. How can one not thank the Lord if the Lord leads all the people out of Egyptian captivity, and look how wonderfully He does this: He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, punished the Egyptians with various executions, from Pharaoh to slave, so that the Israeli people could come out of Egyptian captivity. And today the Lord delivers us from this Pharaoh - the enemy of the human race, a demon who wants to cause us great evil, wants to keep us all in slavery, but the Lord still takes care of each of us.
Smite many tongues and smite mighty kings. After the Babylonian captivity, many nations met on the way, and various strong kings, and the Lord struck everyone - he gave strength to the people of Israel that he defeated them, although the people experienced great difficulties and walked through the desert, unable to arm their army or feed it to the full. But the Lord gives strength to this people, and they overcome. Whom?
The Psalmist further writes about this: Zion king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdom of Canaan. The king of the Amorites had a huge army, was very rich and strong, and not everyone could compare with him. Og, the king of Bashan, was literally a giant, he was strong, strong, he slept on a metal, iron bed, that is, he was so strong that they were afraid to fight him. The Lord gave victory to Israel over these kings, although the forces were not equal, and their wealth and capabilities were not there, and the strength of the army was not such, but the Lord gave the opportunity to defeat them, for God was with them, and these kings fought without God.
And he gave the land their inheritance, an inheritance for Israel for his people. Everyone was struck down, including the entire kingdom of Canaan. The Kingdom of Canaan was within Palestine and they were defeated. Different kingdoms lived with their own nationalities, but the Lord allowed them to be defeated, and He gave the entire land that He promised, the Promised Land, to the Israeli people.
Lord, Your name endures forever, and Your memory endures forever. How can I not glorify You, Lord? You care about our people, You gave our people such a victory! We have seen the fulfillment of Your words: Your words are truth. How can you not remember this forever and ever? You have to be the most ungrateful person if you forget about all this. If you forget to worship You, forget to glorify You, what is the meaning of life on earth? David turns today to each of us - each of us must say together with David: Lord, Your name is forever and Your memory forever and ever - we will never, Lord, forget Your mercy, which You have shown to all of us and to all generations human.
Because the Lord will judge His people, and He will pray for His servants - the Lord will judge His people, and when they repent, He will forgive them and give mercy. But He will also judge the enemies who will harm the people chosen by the Lord - both the people of Israel and the people of the New Israel - Christians.
Idol the tongue of silver and gold, the works of human hands. Here the Psalmist reminds us that all idols made of gold and silver are the work of human hands, but not such our Christian images, says John Chrysostom: our Christian images of saints lead us to the Prototype - we glorify those who glorified the Lord, we glorify those who showed his true life. These are not idols that did not exist, a human invention. Our images are raised to the Prototype, and he talks about his service, about the holiness to which they strived. At the same time, silver and gold can now be an idol - our material life can snatch us away from the Lord. If we are not pagans, neo-pagans, then we must be careful, especially warn children, so that they do not fall into this heresy: material life becomes for some a religion - the service of all life and the purpose of life. The Psalmist also tells us about this. How can we serve idols?
They have lips and do not speak; they have eyes and do not see; they have ears and do not hear; for there is spirit in their mouth. The psalmist seems to rebuke: who do you serve? Do you serve those who have neither ears nor eyes, who have no spirit in themselves, soulless creatures that you yourself have invented?
Let those who create, I and all who hope in her, be like them - he says: “You hope in them, serve them, and you will be like them - just as soulless, insane, inhuman, you will become the same inanimate creatures: whoever serves whom, from that and is gaining. When we serve idols, we acquire this rigidity, callousness, and soullessness. Just as our ancestors were cruel, they destroyed everyone and everything, and for them there were no laws, no principles, so it is here: if a person serves idols, then that is what he becomes. When you serve Christ, you are inspired by the Spirit of Christ and the love of Christ, because our God is Love.
House of Israel, bless the Lord; house of Aaron, bless the Lord; house of Levi, bless the Lord. Ye who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. He called on everyone to bless the Lord - priests, Levites, deacons who served in the church, and ordinary people who feared the Lord: everyone bless the Lord, because everyone blesses according to his position. One blessing is priestly and another blessing is human, but he calls on everyone, all people, all classes without exception, to thank the Lord for His constant blessings.
Blessed be the Lord of Zion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem. Why from Zion? The ancient Jews believed that God lives only in Zion and only in Jerusalem. In fact, we know that God is everywhere and everywhere, and we can worship Him, thank and glorify Him in every place. But above all - in the courtyards of the house of our God: in the temple of the Lord, where the Lord indicated a place for our prayer and where He Himself will be present with us and help us in our needs and in our needs.
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Psalm 135 is similar to Psalm 134. It also begins with amazing words of glorification of God. That is why we sing in polyeleos, combining these two psalms. This psalm also calls us to glorify the Lord and thank Him.
Confess to the Lord that He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Confess to the God of gods, for His mercy endures forever. Each line, each verse of this psalm ends with exactly the same words: as His mercy endures forever - for the Lord does good towards the human race, He always does mercy and condescension for us, and calls for you and me to be like that. Why in every line: for His mercy endures forever? God never gets tired, say the holy fathers. We can get sick, become poor, and not have a penny to our name to do some kind of mercy, to do good, but God does this incessantly. Therefore, this psalm is connected with the previous psalm by the same thought, and almost the same words are spoken here by the Psalmist.
Confess to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures forever. Great is the One who performed miracles, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who created the heavens with His understanding, for His mercy endures forever. Who established the earth on the waters, for His mercy endures forever. Great is the One who created the light, for His mercy endures forever. The sun is in the daylight, for His mercy endures forever. The moon and stars in the region of the night, for His mercy endures forever. We return again to the fact that the Psalmist sees the mercy of God in the fact that He so wisely created this whole world - so he arranged the day and night, gave the luminary and filled the luminary with what was necessary so that the sun would turn its rays downward. “Where should the rays be directed?” - you ask. Light a torch or a candle: where does the fire go? The fire always goes up. And the fiery sun directs its rays down, illuminating the earth. You see how amazingly and providentially the Lord works...
He who smote Egypt with its firstborn, for His mercy endures forever. And he who brought Israel out from among them, for His mercy endures forever. With a strong hand and a high muscle, for His mercy endures forever. He divided the Red Sea into divisions, for His mercy endures forever. Again the Psalmist says: look at the mercy of God, in what a wonderful way He brought Israel out... Here the Psalmist repeats what he said in the previous psalm: bless the Lord, because the Lord shows great benefits to the entire human race. Next are the same listings as in the previous psalm:
And He brought Israel through the midst of it, for His mercy endures forever. And he who shook Pharaoh and his strength in the Red Sea, for His mercy endures forever. He who led His people in the wilderness, for His mercy endures forever. He who has smitten the kings is great, for His mercy endures forever. And he that slew mighty kings, for his mercy endureth for ever: Zion, king of the Amorites, for his mercy endureth for ever. And Og, king of Bashansk, for His mercy endures forever. And to him who gave the land their inheritance, for His mercy endures forever. A treasure unto Israel His servant, for His mercy endureth forever. For in our humility we will remember the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. And He delivered us from our enemies, for His mercy endures forever. The Psalmist adds amazing words in this psalm that in our humility: The Lord has mercy not because of our righteousness, but because in humility they endured their sorrows. The Lord saw how they endured this punishment with humility, and for this He gave them His mercy.
Give food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. Indeed, the Lord gives food to every person. Here we can expand and say not only about the chosen people, but also about all people in general: the Lord gives food not only to the chosen people, but also to everyone living on earth. Not only for the righteous, but also for sinners. Not only to humans, but to the entire animal world. And the Lord does not leave anyone with His mercy and His love. It rains on everyone, and the sun shines on everyone. And no reasons of our earthly nature can interfere with this great love of our Lord.
Confess to the Heavenly God, for His mercy endures forever. The psalm ends with these wonderful words: Heavenly God. The psalmist shows that our God is not an idol living on earth, but God who is in Heaven, who through Christ makes His heavenly things an inheritance for each of us: the Lord ascended to Heaven to prepare there, with the Heavenly Father, for each of us. us monasteries. This is why we must thank and glorify God: while He lives in Heaven, He does not forget about man living on earth.
Recorded by Nina Kirsanova
Psalm 134 in Russian:
Praise the name of the Lord, praise you, O servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to His name, for it is sweet, for the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His own. I knew that the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods. The Lord does whatever He wants, in heaven and on earth, on the seas and in all the abysses; He raises clouds from the ends of the earth, creates lightning in the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses. He smote the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast, sent signs and wonders among you, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants, smote many nations, and destroyed mighty kings: Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan. ; and he gave their land for an inheritance, for an inheritance to Israel his people. God! Your name endures forever; God! memory of You to generation and generation. For the Lord will judge His people and have mercy on His servants. The idols of the pagans are silver and gold, the work of human hands: they have mouths, but do not speak; They have eyes, but they do not see; They have ears, but they hear not, and there is no breath in their mouth. Those who make them and everyone who trusts in them will be like them. House of Israel! bless the Lord. House of Aaron! bless the Lord. House Levin! bless the Lord. Those who fear the Lord! bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord of Zion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem! Hallelujah!
Interpretation
- Verse 1-4. It is important for the author to understand how the Jews relate to God. He encourages them to pray as often as possible, because prosperity depends on it. It is important for the people to perform the ritual of prayer every day for His glory.
- Verse 5-8. The power of God is spread not only across the earth's surface, but also in the seas. Faith in Him is important to the Almighty. If faith is strong, the Lord will hear the prayer and will definitely answer it. If faith is weak, then He simply will not hear the request. Jews should not consider themselves superior to Him. The Creator is their patron.
- Verse 9-12. The author tells the story of Israel from its founding to its destruction and restoration. The psalmist seems to be reliving these events with trembling in his heart. After all, the history of the state was not always bad. There were happy moments too.
- Verse 13-14. The power of the Creator cannot be described in words. In prophetic form, the author talks about His miracles and how they influenced history.
- Verse 15-18. Other gods that people worship are mentioned here. The author calls them powerless because they are made in human image. While man is created in the image and likeness of God.
- Verse 19-21. The Lord needs prayers, so the author calls not only Jews to pray, but also other people who are ready to accept God into their hearts.
Praise, servants of the Lord, the Singer knows that only His servants can praise the name of the Lord, for only the servants of God know this name and understand what it means to praise Him.
134:2 standing in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. The singer also knows the structure of the temple with courtyards and that the temple of God is filled with different worshipers: both those who stand directly in the House of God and the courtyard of the temple - this is the priestly tribe of Levi. And those who fill the outer court of the temple: the people of Jehovah, living in their earthly possessions. Both of them know how to praise Jehovah God, and both of them want to be His slaves, obedient to the word of God in everything.
134:3,4 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to His name, for it is sweet. For the worshipers of God, praising and singing to God with the name Jag is sweet. Why?
Because the Lord chose Jacob and Israel for His own. The very thought that among all nations God chose the descendants of Israel as His people is like honey pouring over the heart.
134:5 I knew that the Lord is great, and our Lord is above all gods. To know is not just to know the theory of the greatness of the Lord. This means in practice, in your life and through your own experience, making sure that this is so, experiencing the action of God’s greatness and power. Israel experienced the greatness of their God when leaving Egypt, when He showed the superiority of His power over all the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12)
134:6,7 The Lord does whatever he wants, in heaven and on earth, on the seas and in all the deeps; 7 He raises up the clouds from the ends of the earth, He makes lightning in the rain, He brings out the wind from His storehouses.
The singer knows about the abilities and capabilities of the Creator of the entire universe - in contrast to the knowledge about the God of other peoples. Geneva
: According to the theological views of the Canaanites (and the apostate Israelites), the supreme god of the Canaanite pantheon, Baal, ruled over rain and lightning.
134:8,9 He smote the firstborn of Egypt, from man to beast, 9 He sent signs and wonders among you, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. The 10 plagues for the gods of Egypt were a powerful testimony to the power of the God of Israel. However, the defeat of the firstborn of Egypt was perhaps the most impressive event on earth since Noah's flood.
134:10,11 He struck down many nations and destroyed mighty kings: Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan; God, leading His people out of slavery and directing them to the Promised Land, cleared their path and made it easier, helping them overcome the resistance of the peoples encountered on their way to the Jordan. Sihon and Og were the Canaanite kings who had to be destroyed when Moses led Jehovah's people through the desert into the promised land (Num. 21:21-35).
134:12 and he gave their land for an inheritance, for an inheritance to Israel his people. The land of Palestine (Canaan) was given as an inheritance to the descendants of Abraham, as was promised to him.
134:13,14 God! Your name endures forever; God! The name of God, who gives everything that he planned to become, will never be forgotten and will not change. He was, is and will be a God of great intentions forever. memory of You to generation and generation.
The people of the whole earth, not only Israel, will know this God forever, and they will remember His great deeds, unlike the forgetful descendants of Jacob.
14 For the Lord will judge His people and have mercy on His servants. The mercy of the Lord towards His people and towards His servants will also be manifested at His general judgment over the wicked of the whole earth: all who do not recognize God’s great intentions in him will not be able to take advantage of the mercy of God, who has mercy on everyone who has accepted His Christ.
134:15-17 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of human hands: 16 They have mouths, but speak not; They have eyes, but they do not see; 17 They have ears, but they hear not, and there is no breath in their mouth.
The futility of relying on idols depicting pagan gods is very subtly noted: the statues are dead, lifeless, although they look like living people with ears, eyes and lips.
134:18 Those who make them and everyone who trusts in them will be like them. Also dead will be all those who despise the living God of Israel and give preference to useless toys - the products of their own hands. Even if all the worshipers of idols still look like living people, then spiritually they are already dead, and after spiritual death physical death inexorably follows.
134:19,20 House of Israel! bless the Lord The singer calls on all of Jehovah's people to glorify the Lord, but he identifies three special groups within them:
House of Aaron! bless the Lord. The first group are the anointed priests, from whom the high priest was called to officiate in the Holy of Holies
House Levin! bless the Lord. The second group is the faithful assistants of the priesthood, the tribe of those anointed to serve God at His temple, from whom the priesthood was chosen. Sometimes the Levites were also called to perform priestly duties (2 Prol. 29:34, 35:14, 1 Prol. 23: 3,4
Those who fear the Lord! bless the Lord. The third group was all the rest of Israel and the proselytes who worshiped Jehovah and desired to serve Him.
134:21 Blessed be the Lord of Zion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem! Hallelujah! The singer directs blessings to the God who lives in Jerusalem - namely, the God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah. There are simply no other Creators of the universe. That is why he ends his song with the words “Praise Jag!”
Recommendations
- Parallel Latin/English Psalter/133 (134) Archived May 7, 2022 at the Wayback Machine Mediumist.net
- Samet, Rav Elchanan (2018). "Shiur No. 08: Psalm 117 - "Glory to the Lord, all nations", the shortest psalm in the book of Tehillim." Yeshivat Har Etzion. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- Psalm 134
- Henry, Matthew. "Psalm 134." Bible Study Tools. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- Jerusalem Bible (1966), footnote to Psalm 134.
- "Treasury of David by Charles H. Spurgeon: Psalm 134." christianity.com. 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- "Midrash Tehillim / Psalm 134" (PDF). matsati.com. October 2012. p. 1. Received September 15, 2022.
- Gelbard, Shemuel Pinnas (1998). Rite and Reason: 1050 Jewish Customs and Their Sources
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1
. Feldheim Publishers. paragraph 82. ISBN 9780873068895. - Nulman, Macy (1996). Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer: Ashkenazi and Sephardic Rites
. Jason Aronson. item 303. ISBN 1461631246. - ^ a b
Brauner, Reuven (2013). "Shimush Pesukim: A Complete Index to the Liturgical and Ceremonial Uses of Biblical Verses and Passages" (PDF) (2nd ed.). paragraph 49. - "General". DailyTehillim.com. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
- Berkowitz, Adena K.; Haut, Rivka (2007). Shaare Simcha: The Gateway of Joy
. Publishing house "KTAV" p. 36. ISBN 9780881259667. - Sutton, Rabbi Abraham (2018). Breslov Siddur: Shabbat/Yom Tov
. Breslov Research Institutepp. 184–185. ISBN 978-1-928822-84-4 - "Psalmody of Saint Benedict." University of Toronto. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
- "Psalm 134 - ChoralWiki." www0.cpdl.org
. Retrieved February 22, 2022. - “Texts 2004 (Section: Songs).” Church of Ireland
. - “Come, all you servants of the Lord.” gymnary.org
. Retrieved September 13, 2022. - Free scores of Ecce nunc benedicite (Tomás Luis de Victoria) at the Choral Public Library (ChoralWiki)
- "Laudent Deum: Sacred Music of Orlande de Lassus" (PDF). Chandos Records. 2011. p. 10. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
- Free scores of Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum (Orlando di Lasso) at the Choral Public Library (ChoralWiki)
- Whole Book of Psalms (miscellaneous): Points for the International Music Library Project
- Psalm 134: Free assessments at the Choral Public Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free assessments Behold, now praise the Lord (Benjamin Rogers) at the Choral Public Library (ChoralWiki)
- Meditation on Psalm 134 (Hill, Malcolm): Points to the International Music Library Project
When Psalm 134 is read. Key situations
It is not entirely correct to divide everything conditionally and firmly differentiate. However, Psalm 134 is most applicable when:
⭕ The prayer is read to thank and praise the Lord.
⭕ In the evening, before going to bed, we also thank the Lord for a well-spent day and ask him to keep us safe during the night.
⭕ In the morning we pray to thank God for preserving us last night, to ask for His Fatherly blessing and help for the day that has begun.
⭕ In order for the work to be done successfully and safely, we must also, first of all, ask God for blessings and help for the upcoming work, and at the end thank God.
Text
Hebrew Bible Version
Below is the text of Psalm 134 in Hebrew:
| Poem | Hebrew |
| 1 | | Please contact us ית־יְ֜הֹוָ֗ה בַּלֵּילֽוֹת |
| 2 | Home page |
| 3 | Please contact us |
King James Version
- Behold, bless you LORDER, all you servants LORDER who stand in the house of LORDER at night.
- Raise your hands in the sanctuary and bless LORDER.
- LORDER Who caused heaven and earth to bless you from Zion.
Background and themes
In the New King James Version, this psalm is entitled "Praise the Lord by night in His house."[3] Nonconformist minister Matthew Henry notes that, as the last of the Songs of Ascension, this psalm serves as a fitting conclusion to the singing of all the Songs of Ascension to the Temple in Jerusalem which took place during the day. , as he encourages "ministers to continue their work at night, when the celebrations of the day are over." The psalm can also be interpreted as a "dialogue" as the priests and Levites serving in the Temple in verses 1 and 2 are instructed to spend their time on the night watch in acts of devotion rather than in small talk; and in verse 3 these devotees are asked to pray for the one who commanded them in verse 1—either the High Priest or the captain of the night watch.[4] The note in the Jerusalem Bible suggests that the dialogue involves pilgrims and temple officials.[5] By analogy, Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon states that verse 1 was recited by festive pilgrims leaving the temple in the pre-dawn darkness; seeing the guards with lamps on the wall of the temple, they said goodbye to the faithful guardians of the sanctuary. In turn, in verse 3 the priests invoke their own blessing for the departing pilgrims. Spurgeon extrapolates from this the need for congregations to pray for those who minister to them and for ministers to pronounce blessings on their meetings.[6]
The Midrash Tehillim connects the content of this psalm with several Jewish customs. Rabbi Yochanan says that "the servants of the Lord who stand in the house of the Lord at night" mentioned in verse 1 refer to those who are engaged in the night time. The study of the Torah, which God views in the same light, "as if they were engaged in the ministry of a priest in the house of the Lord." The midrash links the raising of hands in preparation for the blessing of the Lord in verse 2 with the practice of raising the cup of wine with both hands to say a prayer. Birkat Hamazon (Grace after eating). The Midrash further relates this verse to the Priestly Blessing, as Rabbi Simeon ben Pazzi says, A Cohen who has not ritually washed his hands cannot raise them to invoke the Priestly Blessing.[7]
The Zohar also explains that verse 2 refers to the kohanim (members of the Jewish priestly class) giving the Priestly blessing to the congregation in the synagogue with their hands raised. Before pronouncing the blessing, kohans must ritually wash their hands. They don't do it themselves; rather, hand washing is performed by members of the Levitical class, "who are themselves holy." If the Levite is not in the synagogue, the firstborn pours water, since he is also called “holy.”[8]
Music settings
Among the hymns based on Psalm 134 is "Come, All ye Servants of the Lord," Arlo D. Duba wrote in 1984 to the tune of Old Hundredth.[17]
Thomas Luis de Victoria set the psalm in Latin, Ecce nunc benedicite
, for double choir.[18]
The Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus wrote the motet Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum
for seven voices a cappella, using a wide range from low bass to very high soprano.[19][20]
John Dowland contributed a setting in English to the collection: “Behold and have due” The entire book of psalms
with works by ten composers, published in 1592 by Thomas Este.[21][22]Benjamin Rogers set an English version of The Book of Common Prayer,
Behold Now Praise the Lord
, for 17th-century a cappella choir.[23]
Malcolm Hill wrote in English for mixed choir and organ in 1996 entitled Meditation on Psalm 134.
[24]
