Psalms of the Ascents: A call to Worship the Lord

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 134:2

Lift up your hands in the holy place
and bless the Lord!

(CSB)

As we conclude our study of the psalms of the ascents, it is interesting that the final psalm involves the topic of evening worship (Psalm 134).  It is not surprising that one of the psalms is a call to worship.  It is also not surprising that the psalm is part of what those making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem would say on their arduous journey to Jerusalem.  What is interesting is that it is a cry to evening worship. 

Jesus promised us that each day would bring trouble (John 16:32-33).  Fortunately, good news accompanies this bad news with Jesus saying He has overcome the world.  However, as we go through the challenges of each day it is easy to end the day in exhaustion, forgetting to end the day with worship of the one that helped us overcome the struggles we faced during the day. 

James 1:2 reminds us to consider it joy when we face trials.  My first reaction to hearing this was “are you kidding, I am struggling here and you want me to be joyful.”  Our problem with this verse is our equating joy with happiness.  The Greek word for joy in this verse is cara (1) which means cheerfulness, calm delight, and gladness.  In other words, those experiencing a trial can have a calm delight, cheerfulness, and gladness in the Lord.   Happiness involves gladness over good happening in our lives while joy is a calm delight at knowing God is in control of the circumstances occurring in my life.  When these circumstances involve a trial in our life, we can find joy in the Lord, knowing that this struggle is there to make us stronger (James 1:3-4). 

I encourage those reading this to join me in practicing the spiritual discipline of ending the day with prayer and worship of God.  I remember as a child having my mom make sure I said my prayers before going to bed.  Unfortunately, as I have grown older, I have ceased this practice in my life due to exhaustion at the end of the day and falling right to sleep.  My hope is that as we begin this practice, we can sleep better and wake up with the joy of the Lord in our hearts, giving us strength to face the day (Nehemiah 8:10). 

This concludes our study of the Psalms of the ascents.  Next Wednesday we will begin a study of the four E’s of discipleship.  The scriptural foundation for this study will be Ephesians 4:11 but instead of studying the five ministerial offices, the study will focus on the four E’s of discipleship, evangelizing, establishing, equipping, and empowering.  Please invite others who either do not know Jesus as their savior so they can begin the discipleship process through evangelization or know Jesus and desire establishment, equipping, and empowerment in their lives to become better disciples of Christ. 

1. Godrules.net. Cara. www.godrules.net. [Online] Godrules. [Cited: September 30, 2018.] http://www.godrules.net/library/strongs2b/gre5479.htm.