Lift Up Your Hands
Psalm 134 summary: what it means
Psalm 134 is three verses long. It speaks to a particular group: the servants of the LORD who stand by night in the LORD's house. They are told to praise the LORD and to lift up their hands in the sanctuary as they do it. The setting is worship that carries on after dark, kept by people on duty in God's house. The psalm gives them no other task.
The last verse reverses the direction. The people have been told to praise the LORD, and now a blessing is spoken back to them: may the LORD bless you from Zion. The one who blesses is named as the maker of heaven and earth. It is the last of the Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134.
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Psalm 134: Lift Up Your Hands
World English Bible, public domain. allpsalms.com/psalm-134
Psalm 134 commentary: explained verse by verse
Look! Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,who stand by night in the LORD’s house!
Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.
The psalm opens with look, a call for attention. It addresses the servants of the LORD who stand by night in his house, so the praise it asks for happens during the night.
Also read 1 Chronicles 23:30-32, Psalm 126:1, Psalm 120:1, Psalm 103:21
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary.Praise the LORD!
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
The instruction is physical: lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. The KJV words it Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
Also read Psalm 63:2, Psalm 26:6, 1 Timothy 2:8, Psalm 28:2
May the LORD bless you from Zion,even he who made heaven and earth.
The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
The final verse turns praise into blessing. The people who have praised the LORD are now blessed by him from Zion, and he is named as the one who made heaven and earth.
Also read Psalm 124:8, Psalm 20:2, Psalm 128:5, Romans 11:26
A prayer from Psalm 134
LORD, I bless you with all your servants who stand by night in your house. I lift up my hands to you and praise you. Even at night, let my praise continue. Thank you for those who serve you in your house by night. You made heaven and earth. Bless me from Zion, and bless all who serve you through the night hours. Praise the LORD. Amen.
Psalm 134 Bible study questions
- In verse 1, who is called to praise the LORD, and when and where are they standing?
- In verse 3, who gives the blessing, and how is he described?
- What might it be like to praise God at night, as the servants in verse 1 do?
- The first two verses call people to bless the LORD and the last verse asks the LORD to bless them. What do you notice about that exchange?
- Psalm 135:1 and 135:2 also speak to servants of the LORD who stand in his house. How do the two psalms connect?
Questions about Psalm 134
What does Psalm 134 mean?
It calls those who serve by night in the LORD's house to lift their hands and praise him, and ends with a blessing on them from Zion.
Who wrote Psalm 134?
The psalm does not name its author. Its heading calls it a Song of Ascents, the last in the group from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134.
What does Psalm 134:2 mean?
It tells the servants in the sanctuary to lift up their hands and praise the LORD, so the gesture goes with the words.
What does Psalm 134:3 mean?
It is a blessing: may the LORD, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
How many verses are in Psalm 134?
Three. The first two call people to praise, and the third blesses them.
Psalm 134 KJV: the King James Version
Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.1
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.2
The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.3
Psalm 134 in Hebrew
The Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain. Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible, which counts a psalm's heading as verse 1, so they can run one ahead of English Bibles.
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1 שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת הִנֵּ֤ה ׀ בָּרֲכ֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־עַבְדֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה הָעֹמְדִ֥ים בְּבֵית־יְ֝הוָ֗ה בַּלֵּילֽוֹת׃
2 שְׂאֽוּ־יְדֵכֶ֥ם קֹ֑דֶשׁ וּ֝בָרֲכוּ אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃
3 יְבָרֶכְךָ֣ יְ֭הוָה מִצִּיּ֑וֹן עֹ֝שֵׂ֗ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃
Psalm 134 in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible
The Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain. It follows the Greek and Latin numbering, so this psalm is Psalm 133 there.
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1 Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord: Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
2 In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless ye the Lord.
3 May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and earth.
Psalm 134 in Latin
The Clementine Vulgate, public domain, where this psalm is Psalm 133.
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1 Canticum graduum. Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, omnes servi Domini: qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri.
2 In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta, et benedicite Dominum.
3 Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion, qui fecit cælum et terram.
Printable Psalm 134: free, large print and PDF
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Psalm 134 at a glance
| Verses | 3 |
| Heading in the text | A Song of Ascents. |
| Attributed to | Not named in the text. It is the last of the fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134. |
| Type | Song of Ascents and Praise |
| Number in Greek and Latin Bibles | Psalm 133 |
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Psalm 134 in other translations
This page prints the World English Bible and the King James Version because both are public domain. The NIV, ESV, NKJV, NLT and NASB are under copyright, so they cannot be printed in full here. You can read Psalm 134 in those translations at Bible Gateway.
Where Psalm 134 belongs
Songs of AscentsBook 5 of the Psalms
How this page was made
The psalm text comes from public domain translations and is not edited. The summary, the verse notes and the answers are written for this page from the text of the psalm itself. Where a claim goes beyond the text, it is sourced below.
Sources
- Text: World English Bible and King James Version, both public domain, from ebible.org source
- Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Douay-Rheims: Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Latin text: Clementine Vulgate, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Numbering: Greek and Latin psalm numbering, Wikipedia, Psalms source