Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord,
Who [a]serve by night in the house of the Lord!
2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth.
This psalm seems that it may have been something those on “night duty” sang to each other in greeting. Or it may have been the morning watchmen who sang it to the night watchmen when they changed shifts. In any case, it was a song to encourage those who pulled the boring shift, to remind them to bless the Lord, even in the mundane.
That can be a difficult time to praise God, when things are just… blah. Sure, some might have appreciated night duty, because hardly anything ever happened at night. But keeping watch when nothing is happening isn’t exactly easy either. We tend to like keeping busy (even if it isn’t always healthy), but that also is bad for keeping us in tune with God.
So, whether life is flying by, or barely crawling, we need to be reminded by this psalm, to bless the Lord, lift up our hands in praise. He has already blessed us–whether we feel particularly blessed or not–and we must not neglect to remember that, no matter what life has thrown our way. Take time today, and every day, to thank God for everything, something, anything. And maybe your day won’t be so mundane afterward!