Tehillim 134 | “You Who Nightly Stand in the House of the Lord”

This brief psalm, which concludes the "Songs of Ascents" (=שירי המעלות), turns to the servants of the Lord who stand in the House of the Lord by night and calls on them to bless the Lord. Several interpretations have been suggested regarding the original setting in which this psalm was recited: It may have been a song sung in the Temple during the night: either every night, or on a special night such as the Celebration of the Place of the Drawing of the Water (=Simchat Beit HaSho’eivah). Many modern commentators, among them Amos Hakham in Daat Mikra, suggest that these are words of farewell from the pilgrims departing Jerusalem. Before leaving, they ask those who merit remaining in the city to continue offering blessings to God in their absence. Another possibility is that this is a psalm of redemption for the exiles returning to Zion, and in that reading, the night is a metaphor representing the “exile". Those who remained faithful servants of God during that "night" of exile now merit to bless the Lord from within the blessing and abundance described in the previous psalm. (133). The choice between these interpretations depends not only on the understanding of this individual psalm, but on how we interpret the entire collection of Songs of Ascents, of which this psalm is the closing line. It is also possible that the psalm was originally written in one context, perhaps as a general Temple psalm or a pilgrim’s song, and was later adopted by the returnees from exile, gaining new layers of meaning over time.

The phrase standing in the House of the Lord nightly expresses steadfastness. Visitors come to the House of the Lord during the day, but those who remain through the night are the true household. Those who stand in God’s house day and night, in every season and in every state: whether the world outside is full of light or darkened, are called to be messengers and bless God on behalf of all. The psalm ends with a reciprocal call: “May the Lord… bless you from Zion.” (134:3) From His dwelling in Zion, God will bless all — those who remain in His house at all times, and to those who must go.