“Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.” —Psalm 134:1
Ministry, in the will of God, is not a performance designed to draw acclaim from an assembled congregation, but a service before the Lord in which His worship and praise are the chief objectives. The commentators may be right who suggest that this psalm represents the “parting exhortation” of the pilgrims to the temple who are exhorting the night shift in the temple to maintain the ministry of praise throughout the night season just as they had done in leading the congregation during the bustling activity of the day. Personally, I think we can take it to a higher level and see it as an exhortation of the Holy Spirit to the end that the “servants of the Lord,” in this case the priests in the temple, should maintain their ministry throughout the night as they had during the day, being as faithful to Him in solitude as they seemed to be before the watching crowd in the daytime.
First, who are the “servants of the Lord?” In this instance those addressed were undoubtedly the priests, and particularly those whose duty it was to guard the temple through the night watches. We need, then, to take note of the fact that on New Testament ground, every believer is a priest. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ [I Pet. 1:5]” In the plan and purpose of God, every Christian is intended to be a servant of the Lord. Therefore, the ministry, in whatever it may consist for the individual believer, has the common purpose of contributing to the blessing of the Lord. Indeed, the Holy Spirit says, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him [Col. 3:17].” And, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God [I Cor. 10:31].” Again, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the lord, and not unto men [Col. 3:23].”
We are not Christians only on weekends, or only on the day shift, or only when someone is watching. We are invited, yea exhorted to glorify God every day, all day long; “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s [I Cor. 6:20].” The psalmist cries in another place, “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth [Ps. 34:1].” This is the essence of ministry, and it is glorious, for it means that it is as accessible to the least believer as it is to the most prominent. If your role is only to sit in the congregation and sing, sing to the glory of God, and your ministry will rise to his throne with as much significance as that of the preacher.
The plea is for consistency in that which is central to the service of God: true worship. The apostle Paul labored “night and day” (I Thess. 2:9). He prayed “night and day” (II Tim. 1:3). The widows in the early church were eligible for enrollment in the early church if they trusted in God and continued in supplications and prayers “night and day” (I Tim. 5:5), and in fact the scriptures commend “a widow of about fourscore and four years, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day [Luke 2:37],” and she was incorporated in the account of the Savior’s incarnation. Finally let us take note of the four beasts of the Revelation who “rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come [Rev. 4:8].”
Let me take our thoughts in a somewhat different direction, however. There is another kind of “night” coming. The Savior spoke of it saying, “…the night cometh, when no man can work [John 9:4].” He seems to be speaking of a time to come when the public ministry of the word of God will be sharply curtailed. Indeed, it seems as though the twilight is already setting in, with heightened rebellion against spiritual things in the world around us and apostasy progressing in many of the churches. Our duty then, as servants of the Lord, is to maintain our testimony for Him and bless the Lord.
Bless the Lord in private as well as in public, in the night season as well as in the day, and “The Lord that made heaven and earth [will] bless thee out of Zion.”
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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