Working the Night Shift — Adam’s Angle

Nobody asks to work the night shift.

It’s dark. It’s lonely. But some things are so important they can’t be dropped after the sun goes down.

Cops keep sleeping people safe. Parents provide for their kids. Chances are that you’ve “worked the night shift,” even if not literally. Has God called you to a place of quiet, faithful service, far away from approving eyes? Then you’re working it, even if you’re not up all night.

If you’re there, you may be tempted to do your task grudgingly, to slack off or to grit your teeth and put in your time until the whistle blows. What does it matter? No one knows anyway.

It matters because you’re missing out on a huge blessing. When you’re called to work the night shift, get cozy with God and worship Him with abandon — the blessing of His fellowship will follow.

Night Owls

In Psalm 134, we catch a glimpse of some night workers: “Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, who serve by night in the house of the LORD” (Psalm 134:1). The Psalmist is calling for the Levites (the priests) who were working in God’s temple by night to bless God.

You’d think it would be natural for them to worship God. They are His people, in His house, doing His work. But even “servants of the LORD” can get inoculated to His wonder. We forget whose we are and that our labor is for Him.

That can especially be the case when we’re somewhere we don’t want to be or when we don’t get a lot of positive feedback from the people around us. The call to bless the LORD is a call to fix our focus on Him — to turn our eyes to His goodness even when we find ourselves in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Drawing Close

The Psalmist continues to urge the priests, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD” (Psalm 134:2). There’s something significant here: the sanctuary that he’s talking about is the Holy Place in God’s temple.

The temple was broken up into three parts: the outer courtyard, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place — where the ark of the covenant was kept. The Holy Place is where the priests used a lampstand, a table for bread and an altar of incense to minister before God. It was also the closest place that a priest (other than the High Priest) could approach God’s presence.

In other words, the Psalmist is calling those priests to draw as close as they can get to God and to worship Him with abandon — lifting up hands in the sanctuary. Even in a lonely place of service in the middle of the night, God need not be far away. Wherever we’re called to be, He’s already there. We need to draw near to Him and focus on honoring Him.

O Sweet Rendezvous

This short Psalm takes a twist in the third and final verse. In the first verses, the priests are urged to bless the LORD. In the last verse, the blessing comes back to them: “May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 134:3).

As it turns out, these priests working the night shift were not totally unseen. God saw their service as they drew near to worship Him. And a blessing was coming their way.

But what kind of blessing was it? The key is that the Psalmist calls for the LORD to bless them “from Zion.” Zion was significant because it was the location of His temple. It was the place where God met with His people. That is to say, the blessing was that of fellowship with God.

This is the bottom line. You may not have a lot going on for you as you work the night watch, but you have the most important thing—God’s very presence.

So, don’t treat your night shift with scorn. Instead, look at it as an opportunity for you to turn your focus and your worship to God. It may turn out to be the place where you’re most blessed by more intimacy with Him.

— Adam Pivec
6/29/08