Psalm 134 marks the end of the Songs of Ascents. Over these past few days, we’ve heard songs praising God for His protection in times of trouble (Psalms 120, 121, 124) and psalms rejoicing in God’s presence and abundant blessings (Psalms 122, 126, 128). There has been a call to humility (Psalm 131), the comfort of having a God who keeps His promises (Psalm 132), and the joy of brotherly love (Psalm 133). Now, this section ends with an appropriate summons to praise God.

But what is praise? It may seem strange to have come this far in our journey through the psalms and define praise only now. But the calls to praise God will become louder and more frequent as we draw to the end of the psalter. The word “praise” is used over and over again in the book of Psalms. The essential idea contained in all the words that mean “praise” is this: to express respect, adoration, or gratitude by declaring the greatness, goodness, or worthiness of the object of our praise.

Psalm 134 encourages all God’s servants to praise God. In lifting their hands, the worshippers are making their appeal to God, expressing their dependence on Him. As we’ll see later (Psalms 149, 150), praise was often accompanied by music, dancing, clapping, and other bodily movements. The effect of all this was to increase God’s fame. In the Bible, such praise stems from the heart and is always expressed in words. Sometimes we praise by singing to God, and sometimes by singing about God.

In the New Testament, we see the people of Jerusalem praising Jesus, their King, as He enters Jerusalem. The book of Revelation describes all creation, both creatures on earth and the heavenly hosts, in thunderous, exuberant praise to God (4:11, 5:12–14, 19:1–8). Interestingly, the writer to the Hebrews removes praise from its usual context of communal worship and adds to it another expression of the kind of praise the Lord desires: he calls on us to “continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name” (Hebrews 13:15). God delights in our singing of His wonders. But the praise He most desires is for us to continue to profess our faith in Jesus and to stay committed to Him, despite our trials.

Having called us all to praise the Lord, Psalm 134 ends with a plea to God to “bless you” (v. 3). The “you” here is singular. Yes, the Lord will bless all His people, but His love and care for us is also experienced in a personal and individual way. So, let us praise the Lord!