September 12, 2023 — Psalm 134

“Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the LORD. May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.”

This is the last psalm of the collection or group called “Songs of Ascents,” and it is written as a doxology. As with many of the Psalms, the author is unknown. The psalm is a summons to praise, and it is probable that it was designed to be sung by alternate choirs – the first two verses representing the people approaching the sanctuary, calling on those including the ministers of religion – to lift up their hands in the sanctuary and to praise the Lord. The second and remaining verses are the response of the priests or the ministers of religion, pronouncing a blessing on the people – a blessing as proceeding out of Zion.

This Psalm actually follows the format of our worship experience — the people come to the house of G-d to offer up prayer, praise and thanksgiving; and they leave having heard the word and having received the sacrament of the table, leaving as people who have been blessed. We should praise G-d continually each and every day, and look for the reasons to do so. There are many reasons why we should be offering prayer, praise and thanksgiving to G-d. Spend time each morning first in thankfulness. Open your heart to the unending love that we all receive through Jesus Christ. Truly, all our requests will come into alignment with G-d’s will when we have done so.

Psalm 134 is a short but precise example of praise and worship, that we see the benefit of reading the Psalms and meditating upon them often. Not only do they form our spiritual life, but they inform our worship life as well.

Let us Pray:

Lord God, where two or three gather in your name, you promise to be with them. Look upon your family gathered in your name, and graciously pour out your blessing upon us; for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Pastor Dave

September 11, 2023 — Psalm 133

“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.”

There are few things as precious in this world as believers who worship together, who pray together, and who choose to live together in unity. And one of the marks of a great church is the sense of fellowship and unity we experience in the body of Christ. Have you ever gone on a road trip with your family? My family did so one year — and by my family I am speaking of my siblings, all of our collective children, plus my Aunt and my parents. It was a long, trying week. But this is how road trips are — they can be really, really good; or they can be really, really bad. Now imagine instead of just your family if you packed in all your relatives and all of your neighbors as well. I am not so sure anyone would want to sign up for that trip today. But that is what was happening with the annual feasts in Jerusalem. The people would travel to Jerusalem for the feasts along with their neighbors, family and relatives. And as they drew closer to Jerusalem more and more people would come together, people from different regions and different tribes, but all coming together for one common purpose – to worship the Lord at Jerusalem.

Psalm 133 celebrates the goodness of the life with which the Lord blesses those who are assembled together. Augustine claimed that the psalm gave birth to the monasteries; at the least, it was an important text for these brotherhoods assembled by the vocation of G-d. In services of Christian unity, the psalm is a witness that G-d is at work building a family – a family that survive and thrive in spite of the barriers that separate and diminish life.

Let us Pray:

Gracious God, you have poured into our hearts the precious oil of your Spirit. Make of us one heart and one will, that as members of the body of Christ, we may be united in the bonds of love; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Pastor Dave