Sunday: Lift Up Your Hands in the Sanctuary

Daily Lesson for Sunday 17th of March 2024

Read Psalms 134:1-3. Where is the worship offered here? What is the outcome of the worship of the Lord?

Psalms 134:1-3 recalls the Aaronic priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24-26 (also Psalms 67:1) and highlights blessing as the underlying principle and outcome of the relationship between God and Israel.

Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com

The people bless God in the sanctuary, and God blesses His people from Zion. The blessings extend to all of life because the Lord is the Creator of heaven and earth. The mention of Zion as the place of divine special blessings underlines the Lord’s covenantal bond with His people. It is thus within the covenant of grace that Israel exercises the privilege to bless the Lord and is blessed by Him.

Read Psalms 18:1; Psalms 36:1; Psalms 113:1; Psalms 134:1-3:1, 2; and Psalms 135:1-2. How are the worshipers depicted here?

The Psalms often depict the worshipers as the servants of the Lord. “Who by night stand in the house of the Lord” (Psalms 134:1, NKJV) likely refers to the night guard of the Levites (1 Chronicles 9:23-27) or to the praise that was offered to God by the Levites both day and night (1 Chronicles 9:33).

Because the Israelites worshiped the invisible God, who could not be represented in the form of any image, the sanctuary served to reflect the glory of the Lord and provide a secure environment for sinful people to approach their holy King. This encounter is initiated by the Lord Himself and is regulated by His statutes and decrees.

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5, NKJV). What we see here, in the words of Peter, is a New Testament expression of the same ideas presented in these psalms, that of God’s people, now a holy priesthood, offering praise and thanksgiving to their Lord Jesus Christ, their Creator and Redeemer, for all the good things that He had done for them.

As New Testament believers, we, also, have a priestly role in that we are called to mediate the good news of the gospel to the world. What are the most effective ways we can do this?