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COMMENTARY ON PSALM 134 A Song ofthe Steps. LSO THIS [PSALM] RELATES to those returned from Babylon. It also offers advice to all the pious to sing God's praises not only by day but also by night. Behold , bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord (v. 1): [1913] it is not for everyone to sing, but for those who have embraced the divine service and place much store by the worship of the Lord. In other words, to those who have been affected by the wounds of sin it is appropriate to weep, to lament, and to request the divine loving-kindness. Those who stand in the house of the Lord, in courts ofour God's house. In urging [them] to sing, he taught also the style of hymn singing. While the divine Paul prescribed the lifting up of holy hands everywhere, it is not least necessary to offer due adoration to God in the consecrated places.1 (2) At night lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless the Lord (v. 2). Having taught [them] the place, he teaches also the time: the night is suitable for hymn singing, providing great tranquillity and being free from many disturbances. He gives instructions about both the raising of the hands and the prevailing custom. May the Lord bless you from Sion, Maker of heaven and earth (v. 3). Lest anyone get the idea that the God of all is confined to Sion, he is right to present him as creator of everything , including all creation in heaven and earth: in heaven are angels, on earth human beings and the things made for their sake.2 1. We regret that the bishop passes up the opportunity, as we noted of the previous psalm on a key Christian virtue, to speak of the liturgy of Old or New Testaments, for which this psalm provides an obvious occasion. 2. Thus closes the group of fifteen Songs of the Steps, or Pilgrim Songs (though Theodoret's LXX text of Ps 135 may also bear such a title). With the 313 314 THEODORET OF C\RUS exception of Ps 132, which he could not allow to pass without a Christological interpretation, if only because of its citation in Acts, these psalms have consistently failed to move him, commentary being concise, if not curt, and Scriptural documentation conspicuously lacking. This lack of enthusiasm is probably not due to stylistic or structural features in the original pointed out by Albright ; to blame may rather be the close traditional association of them with one historical situation, return from exile, as well as the difficulty of tracing them back to David. ...

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