Bible Strands
Psalms 134:2
Lift up your hands to the sanctuary and bless the LORD!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist, framing this as a song of ascents, addresses the night-shift servants of the LORD stationed in the house of the LORD.
The words — The command opens with se'u (lift up) and yadechem (your hands) directed toward qodesh (the sanctuary), followed by baraku (bless) for Yahweh.
The thread — The posture of lifting hands in prayer or praise appears in Psalms 28:2 and 63:4, while the New Testament echoes the directive in 1 Timothy 2:8.
Why it lands — The text demands a physical posture of raised hands directed toward the sanctuary, paired with the vocal act of blessing Yahweh. It requires worshippers to couple bodily gesture with spoken praise.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.
Cross-references
- Psalms 28:2 Hear my cry for mercy when I call to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.
- 1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.
- Psalms 63:4 So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands.
- Psalms 141:2 May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.
- Lamentations 3:41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:
- Lamentations 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.
- Psalms 26:6 I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,
- Psalms 63:2 So I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory.