"May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who is the Maker of heaven and earth." (Psalm 134:3)
Psalm 134, the last of the Songs of Ascents, is a night psalm, a call to worship addressed to the servants of the LORD who minister in his house at night. Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. The night ministers, perhaps the Levites who kept the Temple fires burning through the darkness, are called to praise. No moment is too small, no hour too obscure, for the worship of God. The darkness is not exempt from praise.
The collection that began in Psalm 120 with a cry of distress from an alien land ends here with a blessing: May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who is the Maker of heaven and earth. The pilgrimage is complete. The one who cried out from Meshech is now standing in the Temple, lifting hands in the sanctuary, and receiving the blessing of the Maker of heaven and earth. This is the arc of every Christian life: from the distress of the far country to the blessing of the Father's house. The Songs of Ascents are the map of the journey every soul makes, and the map ends in blessing.
Brothers and sisters, the night ministers of Psalm 134 are also an image of those who pray when no one is watching: the early morning prayer before the house wakes, the midnight rosary, the prayer during a wakeful night. These are acts of praise in the darkness, and they are received by the Maker of heaven and earth with no less attention than the worship of the great assembly. Lift your hands in the sanctuary of the night.
Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, receive the praise of your servants who minister through the night. Bless us from Zion. Let no hour of darkness be empty of your praise, and let the blessing of this final song of ascent rest on all who have made the pilgrimage. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.