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The Last Song of Degrees Rev

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The Last Song of Degrees Rev The last song of degrees Rev. A. A. Brugge - Psalm 134 Sing: Psalter 186:4,5 Read: Psalm 134 Sing: Psalter 374:1,2,4,5 Sing: Psalter 372:1,2 Sing: Psalter 444:8,9 In this sermon we will meditate on the final psalm in this series of Songs of Degrees, namely Psalm 134. We write above this Psalm: The Last Song of Degrees. We shall reflect on three thoughts: 1. The praise of the Lord (verse 1) 2. The prayer to the Lord (verse 2) 3. The blessing of the Lord (verse 3) 1. The praise of the Lord On their way to Jerusalem the pilgrims have arrived at the Holy Place. No, not in the Holy Place of the temple, but yet near the Holy Place. Actually, our church services are also a Holy Place. How often do we consider the holy things as but ordinary things? We then view these things without any further thought and often have no notion of the holy character of the service. The pilgrims have arrived at the place where the priests minister. The journey is finished. Now they see the ministry of reconciliation with their own eyes. They are standing in the temple square. Now the altar service is very close. Now they sing an antiphony, namely Psalm 134, in which different groups sing by turns in response to each other. They sing, “Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD”. Thus, the pilgrims sing about the Lord’s service, not about themselves. No, they sing about His service, with a view to their salvation. The crowd of pilgrims has already sung www.sermonweb.org 1/17 “The last song of degrees” (Psalm 134) – Rev. A.A. Brugge fourteen Songs of Degrees, all about the ministry of reconciliation. They have sung about the sacrifice, and of mercy based on the sacrifice. We again read the remarkable word ‘Behold…’! Do take note of the ministry of reconciliation. That is not just any service. The sacrificial animal has been killed; the blood is dripping. The animal is being sacrificed on the altar. How sad it would be if we were just watching this with cold hearts, full of thoughts perhaps of the crosses of your life, full of discontentment about your present situation. Perhaps you are muttering with questions coming up from your heart and spilling over your lips. Behold, how close by is the ministry of reconciliation now. Let it be your prayer that God’s blessing may be for you! You see, this is how this last pilgrims’ song, this Song of Degrees actually starts. It wants us to take note of what the priests are doing. Beloved, the focus of this Psalm is not the priests, neither their labours, their accuracy, their conscientiousness, not their impressive priestly clothes, not their high status. But the central point is their service, the sacrifice that calls for a better Sacrifice. It must be said that the priests and the people have sinned every day. Therefore, they need a different and better Sacrifice! Take note, beloved, that this puts a line through all your lack of commitment, whatever way you look at it, and in whatever way you consider it. A church service is not some ordinary thing. The preaching and the ministry of reconciliation are not just part of life, to which one has become accustomed. Have you ever tasted the necessity of reconciliation? Have you never felt that your debt has to be taken away? Or do you never experience your guilt? ‘Behold!’ Listen! With full liberty this may still be pointed out to you. The message to the priests is: ‘Behold’, be mindful of, your responsibility; ‘behold’, be mindful of, your service. Take heed to yourselves. Having the people in mind, take heed to your service, consider young and old, small and big people. “Bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.” By night also? Yes, also by night! Several passages in the Old Testament, for example, 1 Chronicles 9, show that there were services in the tabernacle and the temple by night as well. Must the service in the sanctuary go on continuously? Yes. And what a blessing it is that the service of the Lamb of God www.sermonweb.org 2/17 “The last song of degrees” (Psalm 134) – Rev. A.A. Brugge goes on day and night in the sanctuary. What a blessing that God’s children may pray to the praying and thanking High Priest by night as well! The services in the tabernacle foreshadowed this. Those services lasted twenty-four hours a day, and they had to go on continuously. That is how the Lord wanted it to be in the Old Testament. Under the Old Testament dispensation He wanted a continuous and perfect service by the priests to the utmost of their strength. Likewise, God’s Child, His Son came into the world and ministered day and night. He was always engaged in God’s work. For instance, at night He was alone on the mountain to pray. The foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests; but the Son of man had not where to lay his head. The zeal of God’s house had eaten Him up, also by night. When this is promised and wished to the priests who are called His servants here, are they subordinates? Are they under dominion? Are they slaves? No, this is definitely not the poet’s intended meaning! God’s servants are ministers to glorify God. To whom do they minister? To those who partook of the temple service at that time. And that applies also to the hearers today! God’s servants are used as clay in God’s hands to His honour and the salvation of our souls. The Lord’s servants stand in the house of the Lord, it says in verse 1; they stand to minister in the service of God. Sometimes it is said: ‘That minister stands in the pulpit of the congregation of…’ What we mean to say is that he is a minister in that particular village or town. The word ‘stand’ in our text points to the ministry for which the preacher has been set apart. This verse is a jewel among these striking Songs of Degrees. “Behold, bless ye the Lord.” Beloved, why do you go to church? ‘Well, because of my upbringing’, answers one. Somebody else says, ‘If my parents did not make me go, you would not see me there.’ Again someone else says in an inattentive manner, ‘I don’t know. That’s what we are supposed to do, aren’t we?’ A fourth person says, ‘I quite like coming together with the congregation, it is rather a social thing to do; we have things in common. But that is about it.’ But what is the real reason for going to church? The answer is very simple, if we but stay with the text: ‘Bless ye the Lord.’ You perhaps now think, ‘Hold on, www.sermonweb.org 3/17 “The last song of degrees” (Psalm 134) – Rev. A.A. Brugge it looks like you are going into a direction we don’t like to become accustomed with. Are you now going to shout ‘Hallelujah’ as well? Do you want to go in the direction of a superficial joy and happiness that lacks the root and has no foundation?’ No beloved, not at all. But if it is well, you go to church in the hope of experiencing something of the Lord; to have communion with Him in your heart and life. Then it is your desire that His service may stir you up to magnify God; no, not praising yourself, but to learn to magnify the Lord. Then it is your desire to be caught in the net of the Gospel. You desire to extend the praise of the Lord. His praise is born when you are stopped on the way to Damascus and ask, “Who art Thou?” That praise which then has begun in you is pleasing to the Lord’s ears. In Paul’s life the longing was born to proclaim the Lord’s praise. “Bless ye the Lord.” That is remarkable! What a wonder to learn to know that longing. For, honestly, true spiritual life is not characterized by gloom, though there definitely is a spiritual warfare with much wrestling and sorrow. But the genuineness and the authenticity of spiritual life consist in honouring God in word and deed. One may become jealous of the words, but this holds true much more for the deeds. Words may make a person think, but setting an example in the deed will inspire others to follow your example! The deeds which call for imitation are followed by “Bless ye the Lord.” Is this what you want to learn about? So that the sound of praise will begin in your life as well? So that praise may arise from the black dust of your guilty, sinful and unrighteous heart! ‘Yes,’ you say, ‘but then there must be something to praise about!’ You are right; there must be something to praise about. But there is one thing you should not forget: you and I have been created and placed on this earth for that purpose. We were made to praise and glorify the Creator, Who has created all. We were created to praise God, but how deep we have fallen: We have become robbers of God’s honour! We have denied God the honour due to Him and with all our strength wanted to put ourselves on the throne, self in the centre.
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