Psalms 134:1-3: in context

This is one of the shortest psalms, a call to worship addressed to those who serve in the night. Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the LORD's house; lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. And it ends with a blessing in return: may the LORD, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Zion. It is a word to the night-watch, those who kept vigil and offered praise in the dark hours when others slept.

The psalm honors a particular kind of service: praising God in the night. There were those who kept watch by night in the house of the LORD, offering praise in the dark hours when the crowds had gone and no one was watching, faithful in the quiet, unseen watches of the night. The psalm calls them to bless the LORD, and pronounces God's blessing back on them. There is a beauty here worth pondering, in two directions. First, it honors the faithful service done in the dark, unseen hours, the quiet, unnoticed devotion offered when no one is watching. Much faithful service is like this: done in obscurity, in the night watches of life, unseen and uncelebrated, the quiet prayers, the hidden faithfulness, the devotion offered when there is no audience. The psalm says such service, in the night when others sleep, is worthy, honored, and blessed by God, who sees the worship offered in the dark. And second, it speaks to praising God in the night, in the dark seasons of our lives. There are night hours of the soul, times of darkness, difficulty, and trouble, and it is possible, even then, to lift up our hands and bless the LORD. In the night, the psalmist says elsewhere, his song shall be with me. Paul and Silas, in prison at midnight, were praying and singing hymns to God. To praise God in the night, in the dark hours and the hard seasons, when it would be easier to be silent, is a service the psalm honors and God blesses. So this small psalm calls us both to value the faithful service done in the unseen night watches, and to praise God even in our own dark seasons, lifting up our hands to bless him when the night is around us. And to those who serve and praise him in the night, it pronounces the blessing of the God who made heaven and earth. The worship offered in the dark, whether in the unseen hours of hidden faithfulness or in the night seasons of the soul, is seen, honored, and blessed by God.

Am I faithful in the unseen night watches, the quiet, unnoticed service and devotion offered when no one is watching, and can I praise God even in my own dark seasons, lifting up my hands to bless him in the night hours of the soul when it would be easier to be silent, trusting that the worship offered in the dark is seen and blessed by God?