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ASCENDING TO THE HOUSE OF GOD(Our Praise in the Sanctuary - Psalm 134)
Pastor Don Fortner
“Behold,
bless
ye
the Lord,
all
ye servants of the
Lord,
which by night stand in the house of the
Lord.” —
Again, the psalm begins
with the word “behold,” as with
the sound of a trumpet, calling the servants of the Lord, the Levites who
ministered day and night in the temple, to bless the Lord. Those Levites
were responsible to keep the fire on the altar constantly burning (Lev.
6:13; 24:2-4). But the psalmist was distinctly inspired to identify these
servants of the Lord as those who “stand by night in the house
of the
Lord,” as if to suggest
that they arose from their beds in the middle of the night to go into the
sanctuary of God, watching and praying to prevent profane men from
plundering and desecrating it.
Let
every gospel preacher follow their example. In this time of great darkness
let the servants of God vigilantly watch and pray, holding forth the light
of the gospel. But in this gospel age our Lord Jesus has made all his
saints priests and kings unto God. He causes all to stand as priests in
his house. And we are all commanded to do one thing in his house. —
“Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord!”
In the house of God there is no place for anything except the worship and
honor of our great God. May God fill us with “the Spirit
of judgment and the Spirit of burning,” ever making “the
Branch of the
Lord
beautiful and glorious in our midst” (Isa. 4:2-4).
“Lift
up your hands in
the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” — As in the typical Old
Testament age men lifted up their hands in the sanctuary, let believing
souls, who are God’s true sanctuary (Ezek. 37:28), lift up holy hands (1
Tim. 2:8), with holy hearts of faith (Lam. 3:41) to the triune God, “looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 21), and worship, ascribing all
blessedness and praise to God alone.
“The
Lord
that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.” — These seem to be words
that were chanted by God’s saints to one another. They precisely express
that which should be our hearts desire and prayer to God for one another
as we gather in his house. Everywhere, in all things, let God be praised
by his people. And let us earnestly seek God’s blessing upon our brethren.
Let us do so at all times; but especially as God’s people gather in the
assemblies of public worship to sing his praise and hear his Word, let it
be ours to earnestly pray that he will bless them out of Zion, for Christ’s sake.
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