Song of degrees. This is the last of the psalms called "songs of degrees"; of which See Gill on "Ps 120:1", title. It is thought to be written by David, either when he brought the ark to Zion, 2Sa 6:17; or rather when he numbered the Levites, and appointed them their service, 1Ch 23:26.
So the Syriac inscription,""a psalm" of David, concerning the priests, whom he appointed to wait on the ministry of the Lord in the nights; but, spiritually, an instruction of life.''Aben Ezra connects it with the preceding psalm,"as the dew of Hermon ye shall be that bless; behold, therefore, ye are bound to bless the Lord?'
'Ver. 1. Behold, bless ye the Lord, all [ye] servants of the Lord,.... All men are of right the servants of God being his creatures; and are under obligation, through his providential goodness, to bless and praise him; though they are not all in fact so: but all good men are, being made so by the power of divine grace; which frees them from the servitude of sin, Satan, and the world, and makes them willing to serve the Lord; as they do in righteousness and holiness, with reverence and godly fear, heartily and willingly, and with great pleasure; and yet have no dependence on any service they perform: and as these are under the highest obligations to bless the Lord; the is, to ascribe greatness to him, to give him the glory of his works, and thanks for his mercies, temporal and spiritual; so they do in this way, and for those things, bless and praise him, to which they are here excited;which by night stand in the house of the Lord: according to Kimchi, these were the wise and holy men, that rose from their beds in the night, and went to pray in the temple, and to praise the Lord; and such a holy person was Anna, Lu 2:37; according to R.
Obadiah and Arama, they were such who continued in the chambers of the temple in the night season to study in the law and in the expositions of it: but it is generally interpreted of the priests and Levites, who watched in the temple by night, that it might not be profaned nor plundered; and they were obliged to stand, for none might sit in the temple but a king of the house of David .
The priests watched in three places, and the Levites in twenty one, according to the Jewish Misnah . The Targum is,"who stand in the watch house of the sanctuary of the Lord, and praise in the nights;''which was one part of their service, 1Ch 9:33.
Under the Gospel dispensation all the saints are priests, and they have a place in the house of the Lord; where they wait upon him in his ordinances, and serve him, and which they do continually. Some understand, by "nights", times of affliction, darkness, and desertion.
Maimon. Beth Habbechirah, c. 7. s. 6. Middot, c. 1. s.