To Bless and Be Blessed

The word 'bless' is the keynote of this tiny psalm. First it is directed toward heaven ('Bless the Lord'), then it is directed toward earth ('The Lord bless you').

Bless the Lord (vs. 1-2)
Beginning in Psalm 120, the 'Songs of Ascent' envision a journey that ends in the temple courts where, in Psalm 134, the Levites and Israelites greet each other and call each other to worship. Even still we are called to 'stir up one another' in the assembly of the saints (Heb. 10:24-25).

The Levites had the particular privilege of serving God day and night (I Chron. 23:26-30), but their continual worship is an example to the church (Luke 24:53) and a reflection of our eternal state (Rev. 7:15).

V. 2 can be translated 'lift up your hands in holiness.' This reminds us that sanctity is required for worship. I Tim. 2:8 also says something about the priesthood of all believers, or more particularly, the 'priesthood' of men within their families.

The Lord Bless You (v. 3)
To bless the Lord is to acknowledge His awesome character in an act of worship; for the Lord to bless man, God must 'make of him what he is not, and give him what he has not' (Calvin). The benediction of vs. 3 belongs to all of God's people who are made new creatures in Christ and now possess what they could never earn.

The magnitude of God's greatness is captured in reference to creation, but His blessing is received in a particular place - Zion. Even now, His blessing can be discovered in the church.