This tiny psalm packs quite a punch. Serving as a benediction for pilgrims who've journeyed through the collection of Psalms of Ascent, Psalm 134 packs references and allusions to just less than half of the others in the collection (see psalms 121, 122, 124, 128, 132, & 133). As such, it concludes the collection by pronouncing a call to worship and a blessing upon the pilgrims as they return to their daily lives.

The life of God’s people is always situated within community. Wholeness of life is experienced both in relationship to God, and to one another. Entering Holy Week, Jesus reminds us that His crucifixion and resurrection were to be remembered, expressed, and experienced within His newly created community.

The Old Testament scriptures aid modern-day faith by offering glimpses of how faith and hope work in practice. These mysterious non-tangible expressions of our soul are always rooted in something concrete. As practitioners of faith and hope, this concreteness tethers our spiritual yearnings to the present.

Yahweh's assurance of freedom is not only a freedom from, but a freedom to. From the outset, two things are clear, 1) Israel's time as slaves to Egypt has come to an end, and 2) this implies a necessary transfer of allegiance from Pharaoh to Yahweh.

We need the presence of God. It is the goal to which we are freed, and the means to our freedom. Without it, we are left to swim in the swirling currents of our oppressor. With it, everything changes.